What Is Crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is a process in which someone asks for financial support from a large number of people. Crowdfunders set a fundraising goal that they want to reach and ask for individuals to donate small amounts of money to help reach that goal.
Although crowdfunding is commonly thought of as a strategy for business start-ups or projects, it’s also a good way for individuals, charities and other organisations to raise money. Explore more about how crowdfunding works.
What are the advantages of crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding’s main benefit is that the benefactor does not have to ask for a large amount of money from a single individual, investor or organisation to raise the funds they need.
Many people use crowdfunding when funding from the government and charities falls short, relying on the kindness of their community. Crowdfunding often takes place online, removing the traditional barriers that typically exist when asking for support and simplifying the process. Learn more about the advantages of crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding on GoFundMe
GoFundMe is one of the major crowdfunding sites to use donation-based crowdfunding. In donation-based crowdfunding, people search for and support a cause by donating to it without receiving anything in return. The person running the fundraiser isn’t obligated to pay back donors or give them anything else in return for their contributions.
Crowdfunding can work for anybody, and there is no cause too big or small – the beauty of crowdfunding is that it exists to help an array of people and needs. At GoFundMe, we empower people to rally support for personal and charitable causes. Crowdfunding is made easy and risk-free, with a clear interface, quick withdrawals and a 0% platform fee. See how GoFundMe compares to other crowdfunding platforms.
In 2023, 39M+ donations were made on GoFundMe to help others. Every year we see millions of people all over the world use crowdfunding to help each other and securely get funds to those who need it.
Find out more about crowdfunding
Starting a crowdfunder can be very simple, but it’s often hard to know where to start.
From wondering how exactly you enter your details, to consider what detail to even enter – there can be a lot to consider.
The best starting point is to look at our guidelines to help you out. This can help to maximise your fundraiser’s potential and get the most out of your fundraising journey.
Find out more about crowdfunding
Crowdfunding FAQs
Here we’ve taken some of the most common questions we get about crowdfunding and where to start.
We’ve taken a look at what people are most eager to know.
Can you crowdfund for anything?
You can crowdfund for almost any charity or personal cause, with some exceptions.
GoFundMe has strict terms of service that must be abided by.
How much money can you crowdfund for?
Crowdfunding goals are flexible and you can increase your goal incrementally as you go.
If you see more donations come in than you expected you can increase your goal at any point.
You can also thank donors as you go and continue to raise money.
Who receives the money raised from crowdfunding?
You can either choose to set yourself up as a beneficiary, or someone else.
If you choose yourself, the donations will be transferred to your bank account.
You can also choose to designate someone else as the beneficiary, so the money goes to them.
Is crowdfunding free?
It is free to start a crowdfunder.
When donors donate there is an option for them to leave a tip.
Donor contributions to GoFundMe are totally optional, though.
Do you pay tax on crowdfunding?
Donations made to a personal GoFundMe fundraiser, rather than a charity fundraiser, are generally considered to be personal gifts and aren’t guaranteed to be tax-deductible. But you can always check with a tax professional to be sure. You won’t be issued a tax receipt from our company.