The subject of crowdfunding keeps popping up because of the insatiable and unending need of man. Crowdfunding is a method of soliciting funds from a large group of people, either to satisfy a personal need or for a project. And there are several personal crowdfunding sites that are often utilized, and we have listed a number of them.
Millions of people are constantly looking to raise funds to pay medical bills and school fees for their relatives or themselves but you find that there are more donors than people in need on several personal crowdfunding sites.
We have written extensively on crowdfunding but the focus here is on sites for emergencies and personal needs. However, your ability to identify the right and most trusted personal crowdfunding sites is what will likely help you reach your goal of raising money.
How to identify the right crowdfunding site
Currently, there are millions of crowdfunding sites to pick from. There are those that take a percentage of the funds raised while others don’t take a dime. There are also those that require that your goal is completely reached before they allow for withdrawal.
Meanwhile, we take a swipe at what you should look out for if you need crowdfunding for a personal need.
- Types of Campaigns: Some platforms do not allow fundraising for personal projects while others do. Ensure you look out only for sites that allow for personal projects or causes. Kickstarter, Patreon, and Indiegogo do not allow fundraising for individuals but for businesses.
- Ease of Use: Some platforms are very easy to navigate and others have tutorials on how to share on social media. Go for such platforms.
- Payment Processing: It may be quite difficult to redeem monies donated if you are not very well acquainted with their payment process. Most of the platforms have PayPal as their medium of payment and there are countries that are very well in tune with the use of Paypal or a similar type of account.
- Fees: Set up and commission vary, depending on the website – there are sites that charge for upfront payment while others don’t. There are sites that take a percentage for funds raised but others don’t take any cut. However, none of the platforms is 100 per cent free because of fees charged during payment processing.
Top Platforms for Personal Crowdfunding
In no particular order, we bring to you the top platforms for personal crowdfunding.
GoFundMe
This is the most popular and largest crowdfunding site. find a piece of elaborate information about Gofundme on here.
However, the major disadvantage of this stems from the competition is getting from the other platforms, which may lower its funds.
FundRazr
FunfRazr is a relatively smaller platform but with its speed, function and easy-to-use design, see a lot of people using the platform.
- Types of Campaigns: They allow for funds to be raised for individual, business, and non-profit purposes.
- Ease of Use: Their setup is about the fastest and easiest to use. Sharing to social media pages like Twitter and Facebook is much easier on this platform because of their built-in sharing tools.
- Payment Processing: Payment is not restricted to a Paypal account. Other payment options like credit cards, WePay and Stripe are their other modes of payment. You can choose to access funds only when your goal is reached.
- Fees: They have options for fees, these range from third-party processing fees to donor tips which makes it really flexible for users.
- Advantages: They allow for the integration of personal websites, and advance social sharing options through their feature-rich campaign pages. They also stand apart because users can deliver gratitude gifts or make a wish list like a flight ticket that can be sponsored by donors.
- Disadvantages: They are one of the smallest crowdfunding sites and potential donors are not very well aware of them.
Fundly
Despite being relatively unknown, Fundly has raised over $330 for its users. They have a “no raise requirement” policy which makes it one of the most reliable personal crowdfunding sites
- Types of Campaigns: This platform is used to raise funds for personal or charitable causes. You can raise funds for a trip to another planet on Fundly.
- Ease of Use: Their platform is very easy to use because of the ease to add images, text, and video campaigns. They are connected to Facebook which means your campaign is automatically shared with the social media app. Fundly also has a blog page that talks about how to use its platform.
- Payment Processing: Unlike other platforms, they accept all times of credit cards. While they allow you to keep all of the funds raised, a processing fee is charged.
- Fees: It is free to set up and start a campaign on Fundly. 2.9% is taken as a processing fee and they also charge a 4.9% fee for all donations.
- Advantages: Fundly have very reliable customer service and they allow for the creation of customizable campaign pages which can also see users come up with their own in-house phone cases, mugs, bags, and T-shirts.
- Disadvantages: They do not have enough traffic and they also charge a fee for every amount raised.
GoGetFunding
Gogetfunding started operating in 2011 but they are uniquely built with a very flexible and unique way of raising money for personal causes.
- Types of Campaigns: Various campaigns can be carried out on this platform but the most successful have been charitable, personal, and medical projects.
- Ease of Use: They have a blog that describes how to use and navigate their platform but they are truly easy to use.
- Payment Processing: They accept payment via Paypal, Stripe, and all major credit cards. They are unique because they allow for funds to be accepted even when the goal is not reached. But for payment processed through Paypal, payment can take several days to process.
- Fees: Like Fundly, Gogetfunding also charges fees for money raised, and they take 2.9% as processing fees. They also take 4% of the total fundraised as their commission.
- Advantages: They utilize their social media feeds like Facebook and Twitter on the homepage of their website, so it is easy to share causes. They also have tools to check if a campaign is properly put together to attract donors.
- Disadvantages: They charge a fee for any amount raised.
Plumfund
Plumfund is one of the most trusted crowdfunding platforms. They have raised more than $500 for both personal and other causes. You can raise funds for baby showers, travel, education, and even wedding on this platform.
- Types of Campaigns: Although, you can raise funds from this platform for many purposes they are one of the best if you are looking to raise funds for personal goals.
- Ease of Use: While they do not have blogs or video lessons on how to use their site, their platform is very easy to use.
- Payment Processing: They have various payment platforms that users can choose from.
- Fees: They do not charge any fee but a third-party processing fee of 2.9% for payment.
