Deciding on Fundraising Websites: GoFundMe, Continue to Give, or KickStarter

by Christy Gilbertson

Life has a plethora of choices. So many choices in fact it can be quite overwhelming. For example, at the grocery store you have hundreds of varieties when it comes to one kind of food. Ice cream has several options along with juice, cheese, cereal, and chips. Even ketchup has quite a few varieties to choose from. Other areas of life also have a wide range of choices including what church to attend, what college to apply for, where you're going to live, what job you're going to take, and so on. As individuals we are bombarded with thousands of choices every single day. Therefore, how does one choose? We all want the best for ourselves. For those of us involved in ministry we also want the finest for our area of service. Often, we can easily weed out the choices that do not quite fit our needs or wants. However, what happens when the stakes are high and the selections are close in comparison? When it comes to fundraising for our ministries (or individual needs), we need to make a wise decision on how it should be done and thoroughly investigate all the choices. To make the burden a bit lighter we have provided for you a comparison of the top three choices for fundraising; Kickstarter, GoFundMe, and Continue To Give.

Analysis

Kickstarter

I will first introduce the company Kickstarter. For those of you unfamiliar with this company, here is a brief introduction. Kickstarter's main focus is to help launch projects (and careers in some cases) of creative people heavily involved in the arts. They are quite a good organization for that mission, however there are some drawbacks. Since the company was designed for artistic creators it does not accommodate well for those who want to raise money for medical needs, funerals, or personal missions; more commonly referred to as crowdfunding. In addition to this, there are a lot of things an individual needs to do in order to be successful with Kickstarter. Before sign-up, an individual is requested to limit the time frame on fundraising for their project to no more than 60 days. Budgeting is highly recommended in order to be prosperous, and if your goal is not met, you do not receive any of the pledges for your project. Additionally, the Kickstarter website is confusing to navigate which leads to difficulty in finding answers to questions you may have. Last, Kickstarter charges a five percent fee and a three percent plus twenty cents processing fee (5% + 3% + .20) for every donation received. Overall, every pledge loses over eight percent of its weight. Based on those facts, they do not sound like the best organization to partner with for fundraising needs.

GoFundMe

The second company under review is named GoFundMe. This particular company is well-known for fundraising for all kinds of individual needs. Their opportunities include fundraising for medical, education, sports, funeral, and trip expenses along with pet expenses. Individuals may raise money for themselves, or for another individual. Reaching your financial goal is not a requirement in order to receive the funds donated and unlike Kickstarter there is no time limit required. GoFundMe offers a wide variety of opportunities to share your fundraising idea on several social media websites providing an easy way to connect with family and friends. While this company sounds perfect to fundraise for your individual needs it does come with one big disappointment. GoFundMe deducts five percent from every donation received automatically to cover the company's costs plus an additional processing fee of three percent for every donation received as well (5% + 3%). Combined, it is a total of approximately eight percent of funding lost which is slightly less than Kickstarter, but not by much.

Continue to Give

The final company I'll review today is a company called Continue to Give. This organization is dedicated to your success. They provide everything that you need in order to succeed in fundraising. Continue to Give is fast to setup and easy to navigate. Some of their features include instant receipts, mobile giving, Facebook integration, and a free fundraising page on their website. They allow for images to be uploaded onto their site along with promotional videos for your mission. They not only work with individual crowdfunding like Kickstarter and GoFundMe, but they also work alongside of missionaries, churches, and other organizations to help a wide variety of people and groups reach their financial goals. One of the best parts of Continue to Give is their commitment to your dream by keeping their prices low. This company takes one percent plus thirty cents (1% + 3% +.30) for every donation given. That is right around four percent total and it is the lowest priced organization for individual crowdfunding plus their transaction costs are as low as .5% + .30 for churches and charities! That is genuine in their desire to help people. They are honest, and fair in all aspects of their business and offer outstanding customer service according to Capterra software reviews.

The Best Solution

Life will continue to bombard you with everyday decisions. But because of the information you received on fundraising, this is one area that will no longer be a burden. And while it may still be a mystery as to which ice cream you go home with, there is no confusion when it comes to which company to partner with for your financial fundraising needs. Register today and start fundraising immediately. It is that easy!