By now, you've probably seen many crowdfunding (or online fundraising) campaigns via sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo being shared by your friends on Facebook or Twitter.
It's a pretty simple process: you set up a campaign page on a site, and pump your social networks and email contacts to get donations. Sounds easy enough, right?
However, the devil is in the details, and more of these crowdfunding sites are popping up every year.
So where does a newbie even start?
Good news. The Geek's done most of your work for you.
A Crowdfunding Comparison in Half the Time
The chart below lists seven key crowdfunding options for you and their features, which will save you loads of time. Click it for a larger view, or feel free to print, save, and review it.
The seven crowdfunding sites listed:
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| Crowdfunding Comparison Chart compiled Feb. 21, 2012 by Mellissa Thomas |
An additional bit of info for you: Go Get Funding and Peerbackers require you to sign in in order to make a donation (which I personally found a bit strange).
However, to its credit, Go Get Funding flexes much more social media muscle, providing fundraisers with the AddThis social bookmarking plugin on their campaign page as opposed to the usual trio buttons (Facebook, Twitter, and Google+).
UPDATE 2.25.2012: According Sam of Go Get Funding (who was kind enough to comment), the site has removed its incentive requirement and plans to remove its donor sign-in requirement, which will be much more convenient.
Furthermore, the site plans to implement a new "Progress" tab on fundraiser sites, recognizing the top donors.
"[The] new 'Progress' tab...will display a chart of both donations and visitors", Sam explained.
"The really nifty thing is that the visitor chart will record who has shared the fundraiser on social networks. This will then be plotted on the chart and everyone will be able to see the impact it has had on traffic and donations.
"That gives others more of an incentive to share as they'll be publicly recognized."
Great way to get folks engaged, in my opinion.
UPDATE 2.25.2012: According Sam of Go Get Funding (who was kind enough to comment), the site has removed its incentive requirement and plans to remove its donor sign-in requirement, which will be much more convenient.
Furthermore, the site plans to implement a new "Progress" tab on fundraiser sites, recognizing the top donors.
"[The] new 'Progress' tab...will display a chart of both donations and visitors", Sam explained.
"The really nifty thing is that the visitor chart will record who has shared the fundraiser on social networks. This will then be plotted on the chart and everyone will be able to see the impact it has had on traffic and donations.
"That gives others more of an incentive to share as they'll be publicly recognized."
Great way to get folks engaged, in my opinion.
But Wait, There's More...
These seven aren't the only ones. There are now niche sites following in Kickstarter's footsteps, including tech fundraising-only sites like FundaGeek, hardship fundraising sites like MicroGiving, and others.
What About You?
Have you raised money using one of these sites before? What was your experience?
If you're new to online fundraising, which site are you considering? Leave your comments or questions below.
Thanks for reading!
Hi Mellissa,
ReplyDeleteThis is Sam from Go Get Funding - thanks for giving us a mention :)
Just to clarify, donor incentives are no longer required - we changed that a few weeks ago.
Also, we've got a huge new array of features coming in the next few weeks that I wanted to give you the heads up about.
Firstly, all projects will get a new 'Progress' tab which will display a chart of both donations and visitors. The really nifty thing is that the visitor chart will record who has shared the fundraiser on social networks. This will then be plotted on the chart and everyone will be able to see the impact it has had on traffic and donations.
That gives others more of an incentive to share as they'll be publically recognized.
Also, we're adding another new feature which will let visitors donate without having to register. Thanks for reiterating the need for that.
I welcome you (and others) to connect with us at any point in the future to see what we're up to and what's next in the pipeline. We're dedicated to going above and beyond to become the leading fundraising site.
Hope to connect again soon :)
Sam
Sam,
DeleteIt's my pleasure to mention your site - we freelancers and entrepreneurs need all the options we can get.
Thanks for the clarification and updates. The "Progress" tab and social sharing recognition are an awesome idea - it's actually one of the key ways to engage people and build communities. High five on that.
Glad to hear you'll be updating the sign-in requirement and have done away with the incentive requirements, though I'm learning the hard way that incentives are always a good idea for fundraising.
I'm running a fundraiser on GoFundMe myself that hasn't gotten very far, and in my research to do this article and chart, I found the lack of incentives is one of the reasons why.
Thanks for checking out the article and taking the time to comment!
Happy to catch you'll be overhauling the mark in necessity and have done away with the motivating force necessities, however I'm studying the hard way that motivators are dependably a great thought for raising money.
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ReplyDeletehttp://www.rallyup.com