Raise Money For

Life Events
Crowdfunding
101:
Raise Money For
Nonprofit Causes

Raise Money For

Raising
Creative Projects

Raise Money For

Anything with
a Crowdfunding

Money and
Campaign

Awareness
Online

WHAT IS CROWDFUNDING?
Crowdfunding is a fundraising technique
that harnesses the power of social sharing
and personal networks. Individuals ask
for donations from their friends, family
members, and peers and can create an online
crowdfunding page to tell their story, upload
photos, and accept donations.
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WHO USES CROWDFUNDING?
Individuals all across the world use
crowdfunding to raise money for various
projects, expenses, and life events. People
have used crowdfunding to pay for medical
bills, college tuition, mission trips, and
entrepreneurial projects. Crowdfunding has
become a cornerstone of personal fundraising.
WHY DOES CROWDFUNDING WORK?
Crowdfunding primarily works because of the
power of social media. But it also empowers
people to tell their own stories, which can be
really impactful to their network of friends
and family members. Since crowdfunding
campaigns are highly shareable, it’s easy to
spread the word and raise funds.
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TOP CROWDFUNDING
CAUSES
One of the best things about crowdfunding is that you can use to raise money for virtually
anything.

If you have a creative project that you need to raise money for,
crowdfunding can help.
If you recently lost a loved one and need to cover funeral costs, you can use
crowdfunding.
If you want to support a particular charity or cause, you can raise money
and awareness with crowdfunding.

We’ve listed 16 of the most popular reasons that people turn to crowdfunding to raise money.
Each category will take you to a specific fundraising page with more information about that
particular cause, project, or event. Have fun exploring how you can use crowdfunding to raise
money!

ANIMAL CAUSES NONPROFIT CAUSES

CLUBS AND POLITICAL

ORGANIZATIONS CAMPAIGNS

ENTREPRENEURIAL
RELIGIOUS CAUSES
PROJECTS

FRATERNITIES AND RUNS, WALKS, AND

SORORITIES RIDES

SCHOOLS AND
KIDS
EDUCATION

MEDICAL EXPENSES SPORTS TEAMS

MEMORIALS AND TRIPS AND

FUNERALS ADVENTURES

MILITARY AND WEDDINGS AND

VETERANS HONEYMOONS

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BENEFITS OF
CROWDFUNDING

RAISES MONEY QUICKLY RAISES AWARENESS

With the right crowdfunding platform and
ample promotion, a crowdfunding campaign
has the potential to raise quite a lot of money
in a very short amount of time.
In fact, many campaigns reach their goal in
just 40 days!
Crowdfunding can help you spread the word
about an injustice, problem, disease, or social
issue while you raise money. It’s an effective
way to educate your peers.
The more people know, the more willing
they’ll be to give!

BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER

People love to come together under one
common cause. It gives them a sense of
purpose and empowers them to raise money
for something they care about.
Crowdfunding brings people together for just
that!

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HOW DOES A CROWDFUNDING
CAMPAIGN WORK?
1. Choose a Crowdfunding
Platform
When choosing a crowdfunding platform,
you’ll want to look at price and ease-of-use.
You don’t want to select a platform that takes
a large cut of the funds you raise, and you
also need a platform that is easy for your
supporters (and you!) to use.
3. Tell Your Story and
Add Media
Your crowdfunding campaign should be
unique to you! Add images and videos about
you or the cause you’re raising money for. You
should also tell your story and offer up your
fundraising reasons. Having these elements
on your crowdfunding page will tie donors
more closely to your cause.
5. Monitor Your Campaign’s
Progress
You’ll need to keep tabs on your fundraising
progress throughout the duration of your
campaign. If you reach your goal early, then
that’s great! If you are still a little behind,
consider sharing your campaign page a few
more times and adding more updates, photos,
and videos to engage donors.
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2. S et a Goal and
End Date
How much money do you need to raise? When
do you need to raise it by? These are essential
questions to ask before you officially launch
your campaign. If you worry that you might
set your goal too low, don’t worry! Many
platforms allow you to raise above and beyond
your initial number.
4. Promote Your Crowdfunding
Campaign
Let your friends, family members, and
coworkers know about your campaign by
sharing it via email, Facebook, Twitter, and
other social channels. Some platforms will
even have pre-written templates for you to
use when promoting your campaign.
6. Acknowledge Your
Supporters
Regardless of whether or not you reached
your fundraising goal, you should thank your
supporters for their donations. If you have
a few key supporters, you should send them
personalized cards or give them a call. You
can also post an update thanking everyone for
their support.
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CROWDFUNDING
STATISTICS

$7,000 $88
The average amount a charity crowdfunding The average donation amount give to a
campaign raises crowdfunding campaign

15.17% 126%
The percentage of crowdfunding donations How much more crowdfunding campaigns
that are made on a mobile device raise when organizers post updates

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CROWDFUNDING TIPS
AND BEST PRACTICES

Post Regular Updates Use Images and Videos

Your donors want to know the progress of
your crowdfunding campaign. When you
have updates or reminders, post them on
your crowdfunding campaign’s page to keep
supporters in the loop. Posting updates also
shows that you’re invested in your campaign.
Updates don’t have to be lengthy posts. It can
be something as simple as “We’ve reached half
of our goal! Thanks, everyone!” The key is to
interact with your supporters and make them
a part of your campaign.
A crowdfunding campaign can’t survive
on just words alone. You should definitely
include images and videos that are related to
the cause, project, or event that you’re raising
money for. This helps donors connect to your
cause and see what their donations are going
toward.
You can create a schedule and post an image
or a video once a week or once every few
days. Including media will further engage
your supporters and show them the results or
progress of their donations.

Offer Incentives
Offering incentives works better for certain
types of crowdfunding campaigns over others.
They typically fit well with crowdfunding
campaigns that are set up to raise money for
entrepreneurial and artistic projects, trips and
adventures, or sports teams or clubs.
You can offer different types of incentives for
different giving levels. For example, if you’re
raising money for your school band, a $50
donation might correspond with discounted
tickets while a $150 donation might result in a
private concert.

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4 EXAMPLES OF GREAT
CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS

TYPE OF CROWDFUNDING FUNDRAISING GOAL

CAMPAIGN Fundraising Goal: $25,000
“Supporting Women in Tech” is an educational Money Raised: $27,013 (1.08X the original
crowdfunding campaign. goal)
Days Remaining: 0

PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT THIS

This campaign aims to raise money to send
female students to diversity conferences
CAMPAIGN
Since this campaign was started by the
to learn more about a careers and job
Indiana University Foundation, they included
opportunities in the technology and
their branding on the donation page. The
computing industries.
buttons are the school’s colors, and they’ve
placed the school’s logo at the top of the
campaign page.
This branding helps to establish donors’ trust
and makes the page appear legitimate.

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4 EXAMPLES OF GREAT
CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS
TYPE OF CROWDFUNDING
CAMPAIGN
“Gianna’s Fight Against Leukemia” is a
medical crowdfunding campaign.
PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN
This crowdfunding campaign was set up by a
family member to help Gianna’s mother and
father cover expenses while they focused on
getting their daughter healthy.
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FUNDRAISING GOAL
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Money Raised: $26,466 (2.65X the original
goal)
Days Remaining: 0
WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT THIS
CAMPAIGN
The images in this crowdfunding campaign
really help it stand out. The organizer has
posted close to a dozen photos of Gianna and
her friends and family members.
These pictures help to connect people to the
campaign and create a sense of sympathy for
the family.
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4 EXAMPLES OF GREAT
CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS
TYPE OF CROWDFUNDING
CAMPAIGN
“A Ray of Hope” is a nonprofit-based
crowdfunding campaign.
PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN
This crowdfunding campaign aims to
raise money to help an individual build an
educational and therapy center for special
needs children in India.
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FUNDRAISING GOAL
Fundraising Goal: $300,000
Money Raised: $251,963 (84% complete)
Days Remaining: 57
WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT THIS
CAMPAIGN
It’s been shown that crowdfunding campaign
organizers who share their campaign via
email and social media receive more donations
and support.
This organizer decided to use email to reach
out to her friends, family members, and peers,
and it clearly worked!
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4 EXAMPLES OF GREAT
CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS
TYPE OF CROWDFUNDING
CAMPAIGN
“A Brother for Samir” is a crowdfunding
campaign for a child and a family.
PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN
This crowdfunding campaign was set up to
help a woman travel to Morocco to adopt
another child, a brother for her son, Samir.
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FUNDRAISING GOAL
Fundraising Goal: $13,800
Money Raised: $14,602 (1.06X the original
goal)
Days Remaining: 0
WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT THIS
CAMPAIGN
This crowdfunding campaign was able to
surpass its goal thanks to the updates that the
organizer posted. There are seven updates in
all, and each one gives supporters some kind
of news about the adoption process and the
woman’s trip to Morocco.
The updates also include photos of the sons
at various stages of the adoption process,
which helps to further connect donors to the
crowdfunding campaign.
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TOP CROWDFUNDING
PLATFORMS

Fundly
Fundly is the perfect platform if you or your
organization is looking to raise money for
a project, cause, life event, or for any other
reason.
Fundly is easy for campaign organizers and
donors to use and looks great on desktops,
laptops, smartphones, and tablets.
Fundly also allows organizers to customize
their donation pages with images, videos,
color schemes, and more to give them a truly
unique feel. Start your fundraising campaign
right now.
Booster
Booster is a crowdfunding platform with
an interesting twist: they help people raise
money by selling t-shirts via an online
storefront.
All that campaign organizers have to do is
customize their t-shirts and tell their story on
their crowdfunding campaign’s page.
Booster then fulfills the orders that come
through the donation page. The campaign
organizer only has to pay for the t-shirts they
sell, so there’s no overstock!

Kickstarter
Kickstarter is used by individuals who
are looking to raise money for artistic
projects, entrepreneurial endeavors, or other
enterprises.
Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform,
which means that if you don’t hit your
fundraising goal, you don’t receive any of the
funds.
This can be a great motivator for some
campaign organizers, but it can be stressful
for others. Make sure that you do your
research before starting a Kickstarter.

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Additional Resources For Your

Fundraising Success

7 Tips for Fundraising Success 10 Fundraising Examples

Every crowdfunding campaign could use a
little help every now and then!
Whether you need advice about shooting
and uploading crowdfunding photos, writing
descriptions and updates, or sharing your
fundraiser with your friends and family
members, we’ve got your back.
Click here to learn more about the top seven
crowdfunding tips that can be used for all
types of fundraising efforts and campaigns!
You’ve heard the stories about fundraisers
surpassing their goal, but how often does that
really happen?
The answer? More frequently than you might
think! In fact, individuals and organizations
often meets and exceed their goal when they
use Fundly to set up a fundraiser and share it
with their friends and family members.
Check out these ten crowdfunding campaigns
that all exceeded their fundraising goals by
sizable margins in just a matter of weeks!

Get the Inside Scoop

on Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding has been used to raise money

from everything from creative projects to
medical costs and more!
Why is it so popular? Well, it might have
something to do with the fact that a
crowdfunding campaign is insanely easy to
set up and share with your friends, family
members, coworkers, and other peers.
See for yourself! Take a look at our Ultimate
Guide to Crowdfunding and learn how you can
make the most of this fundraising craze!

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Crowdfunding
101:
Raising
Money and
Awareness
Online