Tips for creating an online fundraiser

Online fundraising platforms have quickly become a vital way of raising money for charities and individuals who want to secure funds quickly and easily for a worthy cause. The various options available enable fundraisers to make an emotional connection with donors through regular project and scenario updates, which can provide donors with an immediate sense of impact.

We’ve picked out a handful of the most popular fundraising websites with a rundown of what they do, giving you a better understanding of which one will work best for your unique activity.

JustGiving

This long-running fundraising site’s mission is to make sure that no great cause goes unfunded. Since the concept was founded in 2001, JustGiving has helped people in 164 countries raise over $4.2 billion for all kinds of things. The current number of charities signed up for JustGiving is around 25,000, so isn’t it time you joined?

One good aspect of JustGiving is that it never shares a user’s data without their express permission. They never sell or trade personal information with third parties, or use people’s generosity as a way to upsell any products or services. Honest, reliable and effective.

Facebook Donations

Facebook recently got in on the fundraising trend for its UK and Europe users, adding features that let you donate directly to selected charities and causes. Since Facebook has such a high user count, using this option is a great way to get more people than ever involved in raising money, as it’s directly accessible from their feeds.

This facility has been available in the US since 2015 and has made it easier than ever to raise millions of dollars for charities, such as garnering more than $10m of donations to help people affected by Hurricane Harvey. The donation platform is made prominent to users in several ways, one being that two weeks before a user’s birthday, they will be prompted to set up a donation button for one of several charities recommended by Facebook.

If you work at a local charity, it’s definitely worth setting it up so that it can benefit from Facebook’s fundraising tools.

IndieGoGo

Possibly the best name ever, IndieGoGo is a great crowdfunding website if you’re looking to source money for an exciting new product or piece of media. There's also no better place for discovering ingenious products as soon as they emerge from the minds of creative entrepreneurs around the world.

If you’re just looking to donate, you have the option to "back” a product, meaning that you're joining a group of insiders and early adopters that add momentum to great projects in various stages of development, from early concepts all the way to ready-to-ship products. Donating often gives you special perks, such as early access to products and exclusive merchandise to thank you for your support.

If you’re looking to be more on the development side of things, IndieGoGo can help you to find backers all over the world to invest in your product, ensuring that the word gets out and enabling you to reach your fundraising goals with a ton of new fans in tow.