Crowdfunding sites have become popular with those looking to raise money for various causes. There are options for charitable giving, specific initiatives, and startups. If you want to raise money for your business, here’s a guide to finding the best crowdfunding sites for your needs.
What is Crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is an innovative fundraising method where monetary contributions are sought from a large number of people, typically via the internet.
This approach democratizes the funding process, enabling individuals, startups, and businesses to raise capital by reaching out to potential donors or investors through crowdfunding platforms.
These platforms serve as a digital space where campaigns are hosted, detailing the purpose, goals, and rewards of the project. Crowdfunding has become popular for a variety of projects, from launching new products and artistic endeavors to supporting social causes and personal campaigns.
- READ MORE: What is Crowdfunding?
Is a Crowdfunding Site a Good Way to Raise Money?
Crowdfunding can be an effective way to raise funds, particularly for ventures that resonate with a broad audience. It’s especially suitable for unique, innovative, or niche projects that might not easily fit traditional funding models.
The key to a successful crowdfunding campaign lies in offering value that excites and engages potential backers. If your project or product fills a distinct gap or offers something novel, people are more likely to contribute.
However, it’s crucial to manage a crowdfunding campaign responsibly. This includes being transparent about the use of funds and ensuring that any promises made, such as delivering products or perks to donors, are fulfilled.
Careful planning and realistic budgeting are essential to ensure that the project can be actualized if the funding goal is met.
Crowdfunding not only helps in raising capital but also in validating the market demand for a product or idea, making it a powerful tool for businesses and individuals alike.
How Do You Choose the Best Crowdfunding Platform?
Once you’ve decided to try crowdfunding, it’s important to consider what fundraising platform best suits your goals. These tips can help:
- Consider your crowdfunding goals: What are you hoping to fund with these sites? Some have specific requirements, like funding for specific projects or charitable initiatives. Others are more general.
- Create financial projections: Consider how much you want to raise, and calculate all relevant costs like platform fees and payment processing fees to see what platforms will net you the most money.
- Find a platform that’s popular with your target audience: Crowdfunding sites don’t just facilitate donations; some also help campaigns get discovered. Increase traffic by choosing sites that are popular with likely donors.
- Determine if you want to go all or nothing: Many sites in the crowdfunding space allow you to keep whatever money is raised. Others have an all-or-nothing model, where you only get paid if your goal is met. If you cannot move forward without a specific amount earned, this model may work for you.
- Compare features: Other features to consider include the ability to offer gifts, space for adding media to explain your project or startup, and integrations with social platforms.
Our Methodology: How We Chose the Best Crowdfunding Sites
In guiding individuals and organizations to choose the most suitable crowdfunding platforms for their projects or causes, we use a specific set of criteria. These criteria help in identifying platforms that offer the best combination of reach, usability, and supportive features for successful fundraising. Each criterion is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 indicates the least importance and 5 the highest importance in our review process:
- Platform Reputation and Success Rate
- Importance: 5
- The site’s reputation in the crowdfunding community and its track record of successful campaigns are crucial for establishing trust and effectiveness.
- User Interface and Ease of Campaign Creation
- Importance: 4
- The platform should have an intuitive user interface, making it easy for campaigners to set up and manage their projects.
- Fees and Pricing Structure
- Importance: 5
- Understanding the platform’s fee structure, including any hidden costs, is essential for campaign budgeting and financial planning.
- Payment Processing and Security
- Importance: 5
- Secure and efficient payment processing mechanisms are vital to ensure safe transactions and build donor confidence.
- Range of Projects Supported
- Importance: 4
- The platform’s suitability for different types of projects, including creative, entrepreneurial, social, and personal causes, is important for aligning with campaign goals.
- Outreach and Marketing Tools
- Importance: 4
- Tools and features that help campaigners promote their projects, such as social media integration and email marketing, can significantly impact the campaign’s reach and success.
- Backer Engagement and Communication
- Importance: 4
- The platform should facilitate effective communication and engagement between campaigners and backers.
- Support and Resources for Campaigners
- Importance: 3
- Access to support services, including customer service, and resources like fundraising guides and best practices, can aid campaigners in running successful campaigns.
- Flexibility in Fundraising Models
- Importance: 4
- The availability of different fundraising models, such as ‘all-or-nothing’ and ‘keep-what-you-raise’, provides flexibility for different campaign needs.
- Transparency and Accountability Measures
- Importance: 4
- Measures to ensure transparency and accountability, such as clear project descriptions and the use of funds, are important to maintain credibility and trust.
By applying these criteria, we aim to guide users toward crowdfunding sites that are not only effective in raising funds but also offer a supportive, secure, and user-friendly environment for various types of campaigns.
- READ MORE: What is Go Fund Me?
Best Crowdfunding Sites
If you’re looking for crowdfunding platforms to launch your business or creative projects, here are some of the best crowdfunding sites to consider.
1. Kickstarter
Kickstarter is one of the biggest names in the crowdfunding space. So it has a solid reputation and lots of tools for engaging with backers. It’s mainly for creative projects, from comics to music. And you must run a successful campaign to receive funds.
2. Indiegogo
Indiegogo connects small businesses with early adopters. It’s ideal for innovative projects and companies that solve a specific need. In addition to crowdfunding, they also connect companies with experts for things like prototyping and marketing.
3. GoFundMe
GoFundMe is among the best crowdfunding sites for individuals. But it may also apply to businesses, especially those looking for general community support, since it supports a range of projects. This may be the best crowdfunding site for charitable initiatives or social causes.
4. Fundable
Fundable offers a crowdfunding platform specifically for businesses. There are several models to choose from based on your company’s goals. It’s also popular with potential investors and offers many tools for engaging with backers.
5. Fundly
Fundly is a fundraising page for individuals and nonprofits. So it’s not ideal for general business crowdfunding. However, it may be relevant for certain initiatives with a social angle, or business owners raising money for personal causes.
Raising funds for charity may also help businesses build a community and gain interaction online. However, you’ll need to find a separate platform to fund startup-related projects.
6. Kiva
Kiva is a microloans provider focused on developing markets. But it also provides a crowdfunding site with both private and public fundraising periods. This differs from other crowdfunding websites in that you’re actually funding a loan rather than a gift.
If approved, your business goes through a private fundraising campaign where you raise funds from your own connections and followers. This proves your character and general belief in your idea. Then there’s a public period where Kiva shares your loan with their entire lending community.
7. Patreon
Patreon is a platform that allows creative business owners to raise money through memberships. For example, a content creator may offer exclusive content just for paid subscribers. It’s not strictly fundraising but does allow businesses to raise money from multiple donors in a secure, engaging way.
Equity Crowdfunding Websites
Equity funding sites let investors provide funding for early startups and projects in exchange for a small share of the company. This is like buying stocks, but for smaller companies that are not publicly traded. Here are the top options in this niche.
8. SeedInvest
SeedInvest is an equity crowdfunding site that connects visionary startups with angel investors. The site curates campaigns to appeal to relevant investors and provides support and flexible fundraising options.
9. EquityNet
EquityNet is a marketplace for private investor deals. They screen users to connect businesses with accredited investors.
10. Wefunder
Wefunder is an equity fundraising site with a low investor limit. Many of these sites target large venture capital firms. But you only need $100 to invest on Wefunder, expanding the range of potential donors.
Niche Crowdfunding Platform Options
There are also crowdfunding websites that cater to specific industries or project types. If you want to reach niche audiences, consider the options below for your fundraising efforts.
11. Seed & Spark
Seed & Spark is one of the best crowdfunding platforms for filmmakers and storytellers. It focuses on new creators, important stories, and diverse voices. Not only does the platform allow creators to raise capital for projects, but it can also help you build an audience of interested viewers by engaging with them on the site and via email.
12. Experiment
Experiment is a crowdfunding page for scientific research. Labs and companies in the science field can engage with backers, sharing their ideas and goals on the site and focus on raising funds from individuals rather than large grants.
Once projects are funded, you can also share your progress and results with interested parties on the site. Topics range from mathematics and social science to ecology and medicine.
13. CrowdStreet
CrowdStreet offers a unique model for crowdfunding property investments. It’s not a crowdfunding platform in the sense many businesses are used to, where you simply get money from many sources for a project.
However, it does allow real estate investors to come together to purchase properties. It’s a similar concept to REIT investing, but where all parties own a larger share of specific properties, instead of a whole portfolio of investments.
14. Unbound
Unbound is a crowdfunding site for books. Authors can easily post their projects along with a description to entice interested readers. Then they basically pre-order titles to allow authors to start raising money while they write.
The site also hosts a reading club and has special initiatives to call attention to new and unique projects.
15. Slated
Slated is another crowdfunding campaign that focuses on the film industry. Filmmakers can post their projects for free and begin raising money from accredited investors.
The platform also features easy-to-use tools that help filmmakers successfully create their projects. For example, they match users with executive producers and talent and even provide support with marketing.
Comparison of Top Crowdfunding Sites
This comparison table provides a snapshot of the main features, target audiences, and unique offerings of each crowdfunding platform listed in the article. Use it to quickly identify which site aligns best with your fundraising goals and project type.
| Platform | Target Audience | Funding Model | Unique Features | Ideal for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kickstarter | Creative Projects | All-or-nothing | Project-focused, Rewards System | Comics, Music, Arts |
| Indiegogo | Small Businesses, Innovators | Flexible or Fixed | Prototyping Support, Marketing Connections | Innovative Projects |
| GoFundMe | Individuals, Charitable Causes | Flexible | Community Support, Social Cause Focus | Personal, Community Projects |
| Fundable | Businesses | Flexible or Fixed | Investor Attraction, Various Models | Business Startups |
| Fundly | Individuals, Nonprofits | Flexible | Social Angle Initiatives, Online Interaction | Social Causes, Personal Fundraising |
| Kiva | Microloans, Developing Markets | Loan-based | Private/Public Funding Periods | Small Business Loans in Developing Areas |
| Patreon | Content Creators | Membership | Exclusive Content for Subscribers | Artists, Creators |
| SeedInvest | Startups | Equity | Access to Angel Investors, Curated Campaigns | Visionary Startups |
| EquityNet | Businesses | Equity | Private Investor Deals, Accredited Investor Network | Established Business Ventures |
| Wefunder | Varied, Startups | Equity | Low Investment Threshold | Accessible Investment in Startups |
| Seed & Spark | Filmmakers, Storytellers | Flexible | Audience Building, Creator Focus | Film and Story Projects |
| Experiment | Scientific Research | Flexible | Lab and Science Project Funding, Results Sharing | Research in Various Science Fields |
| CrowdStreet | Real Estate Investors | Investment Pooling | Property Investment Crowdfunding | Real Estate Investments |
| Unbound | Authors | Flexible | Pre-order Book Funding, Reading Club | Book Publishing |
| Slated | Filmmakers | Flexible/Equity | Tools for Filmmakers, Investor Matching | Film Industry Projects |
What Is the Most Popular Crowdfunding Website?
Kickstarter is still the online fundraising platform that has successfully funded the most business-related projects. Other crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe are also quite popular, though many focus on individuals, nonprofits, and community projects more than business ventures.
What is the Best Equity Crowdfunding Platform?
If you’re interested in investing in early-stage startups, equity crowdfunding sites let businesses run fundraising campaigns by offering small shares in their company.
Top equity crowdfunding sites include SeedInvest, EquityNet, and Wefunder. Wefunder is best for new investors since there is a low threshold for investing.
For startups, SeedInvest offers access to screened investors and can help your initiatives gain traction with venture capitalists by curating startups for their interests.
READ MORE:
- What is Crowdfunding?
- What is Kickstarter?
- What is Indiegogo?
- What is Go Fund Me?
- What is Patreon?
- Crowdfunding Examples
Image: Envato Elements
Hello Annie,
Crowfunding sites are a great way to raise funds for a goal. I have used Patreon for my crowfunding task and it is really a best crowdfunding sites. Thanks for sharing this list.
Regards,
Vishwajeet Kumar