GoFundMe

• Fund Type
• Fees
• Maximum Allowed Raise
• Deadlines
• GoFundMe Charity
• Administrative Work Options
• Receiving Funds

Fund Type

GoFundMe uses a 'Keep What You Raised' funding type. With GoFundMe, reaching your goal is not required. This works well because you keep each and every donation you receive, no matter if you are running a personal campaign or a campaign on behalf of a team or organization. Some other crowdfunding campaign platforms operate under an "all-or-nothing" model, meaning that if you don't reach your fundraising goal, you won't receive any money.

Fees

GoFundMe doesn't charge anything to create and share your online fundraising campaign, nor do they charge for using the platform. GoFundMe is almost entirely free except for the payment processing fee or transaction fee, which is approximately 3 percent and will be deducted from each donation. This fee helps GoFundMe remain as a safe place to donate.

There is no partial or non-completion fee in the case you do not complete your campaign. There are crowdfunding companies that do charge you a fee if you fail to meet your campaign goal, so this is definitely a perk of going with GoFundMe.

Maximum Allowed Raise

Many crowdfunding platforms using donation models for individuals have a maximum amount or limit to what funding amount you can raise. GoFundMe has no funding limit. This lets you raise as much as you want or need in one campaign.

Deadlines

With GoFundMe, there are no deadlines or time-limits. Your campaign will remain live until you choose to stop donations or remove the campaign altogether. In some cases, users have left their campaigns up indefinitely as a lasting memory of all the wonderful comments and support they received. This is a great policy for personal fundraisers. Sometimes people can't donate within 30 or 40 days (a typical deadline for many crowdfunding platforms), so having an indefinite deadline can work well.

GoFundMe Charity

Through GoFundMe Charity, charities across North America can support and amplify their causes, subscription-free. Designed specifically for nonprofit organizations, the platform provides access to a variety of resources, including donor analytics and event registration software and more. 

Administrative Work Options

GoFundMe offers users several automated features for administrative tasks, which are extremely helpful for individuals trying to run an effective campaign without past experience. Even if they have experience, admin tasks take a lot of time and can get confusing the larger the donator pool gets.

GoFundMe's automotive administrative task features include: Thank You Messages: You can thank donators individually by selecting a recent donation and clicking the 'Say Thanks' button. GoFundMe will let you personalize the message and send it directly to the donor's email address.

Update Feature: In doing so, you can choose to share the post with your current supporters and donors - you can even share the Update on Facebook to attract more support. Update messages can also include up to 3 photos or videos. GoFundMe's 'Update' feature is a great way to keep your campaign fresh and your donators up to date without having to do it manually, which would take a lot of time away from campaigning.

Quick Assistance: GoFundMe will generally respond to your emails within 30 minutes during the day with any questions you have about your campaign.

Receiving Funds

Typically on crowdfunding platforms you have to wait until the end of your campaign to begin collecting funds. With GoFundMe, you can request your money right away as the donations come in or you can choose to withdraw your balance directly to your bank account (campaigns in the US may also request a check). Withdrawals may be made daily, weekly, or monthly and will always process for the full available balance in the user's WePay account. Funds may be received via electronic bank transfer within 2-5 business days, or paper check within 7-10 business days. (Daily checks are not available, weekly or monthly only.) 

Although you can request a withdrawal at any time, the time it takes to receive funds is a bit long when compared to other crowdfunding sites that can sometimes do it in as soon as 24 hours.

• Model Type
• No PayPal

Model Type

GoFundMe operates as a Donation Model. Equity model campaigns are not offered through GoFundMe. A donation model is a good thing for personal fundraising, but GoFundMe recommends signing up with your Facebook account if you want to appear in GoFundMe's Public Search Directory. 

Although this is optional, it actually isn't if you want your campaign to be featured publicly on their website. Not everyone has a Facebook account or wants to open one, or perhaps they would prefer to keep their profile off a public platform like GoFundMe.

No PayPal

It's important to note that although PayPal Giving Fund is GoFundMe's payment processor for their charity campaigns, there is still no PayPal for personal fundraising.