Crowdfunding campaigns have quickly become one of the most reliable ways for nonprofits of all sizes to engage with supporters while raising funds online. This method of fundraising is a smart choice if your organization is looking to immediately engage supporters and encourage donations.
Whatever your reason for choosing to start a crowdfunding campaign, we’ve compiled this list of our favorite nonprofit crowdfunding platforms to help you cut through the clutter!
Some platforms simply aren’t designed with nonprofits in mind at all, while others are designed for specific types of nonprofits like schools and churches. Some offer features and fundraising software that your campaign might find essential, while others offer the bare necessities to stay focused on your fundraising goals.
So that you’re well-equipped to choose the right one for your team, we’ll review everything you need to know about each platform, including key features and pricing information. Here are the 11 best nonprofit crowdfunding platforms that we’ll cover:
- Fundly: All-Around Best Crowdfunding Platform for Nonprofits
- Bonfire: Best Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform for Custom Products
- Qgiv: Best Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site for Social Media
- Donately: Best Crowdfunding Platform for Stylish Donation Pages
- Snowball: Best Crowdfunding Platform for Growing Nonprofits
- StartSomeGood: Best Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site for Global Projects
- Causes: Best Crowdfunding Site for Social and Political Causes
- DonorsChoose: Best Crowdfunding Platform for Teachers and Schools
- Kickstarter: Best Crowdfunding Platform for Community and Creative Projects
- FundRazr: Best Crowdfunding Platform for Enterprise-Level Groups
- Double the Donation: Best Tool to Integrate with Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platforms
We’ve done the research, so you don’t have to! Before diving into these leading nonprofit crowdfunding platforms, we’ll review the essentials of this fundraising method and how you can narrow down your options.
Nonprofit Crowdfunding FAQ
Are you new to crowdfunding? No worries! It’s pretty straightforward and easy to catch on to. In no time, you’ll be a crowdfunding expert and able to launch your mission forward with this addition to your fundraising strategy. Let’s explore some questions you might have as you get started.
How does crowdfunding work for nonprofits?
The fundamentals of crowdfunding are the same no matter who’s running a campaign — whether you’re an individual, business, or nonprofit. The main difference is that nonprofits must first register as a 501(c)(3) organization in order to use many of these platforms (more on this later).
Once you’ve done that, you’ll simply set up a donation page, where you’ll funnel supporters to contribute to your cause. Ideally, you should customize your page with some information about your cause and the particular program or activity you’re raising money for, though customization capabilities will vary depending on your nonprofit crowdfunding platform. Then, donors will be able to contribute to your campaign and be inspired to share the link with their networks.
Which crowdfunding platform is best for nonprofits?
There’s no one-size-fits-all platform for crowdfunding. Rather, the right choice for your organization depends on your cause, size, budget, and the scope of your campaign.
For instance, the best choice for selling merchandise alongside your campaigns is Bonfire, whereas if you’re looking for an option targeted toward schools, DonorsChoose might be the best option. That’s why this list is broken down into categories — that way, you can find the best fit for your particular needs!
How can my nonprofit get started with crowdfunding?
Any nonprofit that completes the proper legal registration processes can take advantage of the benefits of crowdfunding. As mentioned, you must register as a 501(c)(3) organization with the IRS before you can begin crowdfunding for your cause.
Make sure you’re also registered to fundraise in the states where you’ll be soliciting donations. Each state has its own fundraising legal requirements that you have to follow in order to legally solicit funds from its registrants. Considering that you’ll be collecting donations online, the safest choice is to register in all jurisdictions where registration requirements exist.
Once you’re registered, you can select a nonprofit crowdfunding platform and launch your first campaign. Walking through the right registration processes first will give you peace of mind that you’re crowdfunding legally.
How to Choose the Right Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
As we’ve mentioned, the “right” nonprofit crowdfunding platform depends on your organization and campaign’s unique needs. As you explore the different options in our list, consider these different components that should factor into your decision:
- Customization. Make sure you have the ability to showcase your cause on your donation page. To give you some freedom in how you express your mission, some crowdfunding platforms allow you to add a description, use your brand’s colors, and add custom images or videos.
- Promotional Tools. The success of your crowdfunding campaign depends on how well you spread the word and effectively inspire people to give. Some of the best nonprofit crowdfunding sites offer integration communication tools, such as easy social share buttons.
- Data Access and Insights. Next to vital funds, the best thing your campaign will provide you with is data. The platform you use should give you access to your campaign’s data, such as donors’ contact information and potentially how they came across your campaign. That way, you can stay in touch and create even more successful campaigns in the future by promoting them using the right outlets.
- Budget. Whether you work for a grassroots organization or an enterprise-level nonprofit, you likely want to limit upfront costs. That way, more money will go into your cause rather than paying platform fees. Look for a nonprofit crowdfunding platform that limits upfront costs and platform fees.
These are the core considerations you should bear in mind when narrowing down your options, so sit down with your fundraising team and create a checklist of “must-haves” before making your selection. You can’t go wrong when you spend plenty of time considering your organization’s needs and finding a nonprofit crowdfunding platform that meets your criteria.
1. Fundly: All-Around Best Crowdfunding Platform for Nonprofits
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform Overview
Fundly is a leader in nonprofit crowdfunding for good reason! With an intuitive, blog-like feel, it’s a fantastic choice both for nonprofits of all sizes and individuals seeking to fund personal philanthropic projects. This is because Fundly allows users to keep all the funds they raise, even if they don’t reach their initial goal.
It’s incredibly easy to start a crowdfunding campaign on Fundly. Check out some of their current projects to get a sense of whether this is the right choice for your cause.
Features of this Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site
Whether your mission is to provide disaster relief or house the homeless, crowdfunding is easy on Fundly thanks to the platform’s smart features. Here are some of the ways that Fundly simplifies the entire crowdfunding process:
- Easy customization and media uploads for your campaign pages
- Blog-like posts and commenting features to engage your supporters
- Mobile app for 24/7 campaign management wherever you are
- Social media integrations for automatic sharing and updates
- Campaign marketing tools and support
- Merchandise as add-on and reward options
With plenty of support and fundraising guides on their site, you can easily run a successful and professional-looking campaign for your cause!
Pricing For Fundly’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
Fundly offers a straightforward pricing structure. They charge a platform fee of 4.9%. Credit card processing is 2.9% + $.30 per transaction.
Check Out Fundly’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site!
2. Bonfire: Best Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform for Custom Products
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform Overview
As the industry leader in custom merchandise fundraising, Bonfire offers one of the most unique and flexible nonprofit crowdfunding platforms available. Including branded merchandise or custom t-shirts is always a great way to incentivize more people to give to your campaigns. Perfect for fundraising events, 5Ks or races, demonstrations, and everything in between, Bonfire makes raising funds with t-shirts easier than ever.
Catch your donors’ attention with Bonfire’s well-designed products. You’ll have complete creative control of your design, so you can create products that communicate your cause with a range of t-shirt styles, colors, graphics, and more.
After launching your campaign, direct supporters to your fundraising page to order their own merchandise. Once you reach your order goals, Bonfire will ship each product directly to your donors and send you 100% of the funds you raised. No need for your team to worry about distributing your merchandise or spending money on unnecessary platform fees!
Features of this Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site
As a unique custom t-shirt and crowdfunding platform, Bonfire is a perfect choice to engage donors in unique ways. Bonfire stands out from the pack for a number of other reasons, too. Here are some of the platform’s key features and benefits:
- Fully customizable prices and fundraising goals
- Dedicated campaign pages and online stores for your products
- An intuitive t-shirt design platform with free templates and design resources
- High-quality apparel in many styles, including sweatshirts and tank tops
- Smart campaign reporting and management tools
Plus, if you verify your nonprofit on Bonfire, you’ll gain access to a suite of nonprofit-specific tools and features like downloadable supporter lists, direct payouts from Giving Campaigns that supporters launch on your behalf, and a customizable organization page to tell your cause’s story.
Pricing For Bonfire’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
Starting and running a product crowdfunding campaign on Bonfire is 100% free! You have the autonomy to set your own prices and fundraising goals.
You’ll receive all your raised funds once your goal is met. If you choose to enable additional fundraising options to your campaign, Bonfire keeps just 8% of each extra donation made to your campaign, which is reduced to 3.5% for verified nonprofits.
Explore Bonfire’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform!
3. Qgiv: Best Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site for Social Media
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform Overview
Qgiv is a frontrunner in the development of sophisticated online fundraising tools for nonprofit organizations. They even offer peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities if any of your core volunteers want to fundraise on your behalf!
As a general fundraising platform, Qgiv offers one of the most comprehensive suites of tools on the market. Among these are extremely effective social media tools like customizable fundraising thermometers and Facebook donation form integrations. Social media plays a huge role in the success of online fundraising, so these tools can have a major impact on your crowdfunding campaign if you leverage them effectively.
Features of this Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site
Qgiv makes an excellent fundraising platform for nonprofits of any size! Check out all the useful features they offer to help set you up for successful online fundraising:
- Dedicated campaign pages with integrated social sharing tools
- Custom crowdfunding campaign thermometers to track progress
- Text-to-give tools and mobile-optimized donation forms for on-the-go giving
- Peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities and campaign management tools
- Individual donor account creation
With all these tools in your fundraising arsenal, your nonprofit’s next crowdfunding campaign is guaranteed to quickly reach its goal!
Pricing For Qgiv’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
Qgiv offers several tiered service plans. Its starter package is completely free to use; you just pay a standard fee of 3.95% + $.30 per donation.
Their “Giving Essentials” level plan is their most popular package, offering access to even more great crowdfunding tools!
Check out Qgiv’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Tools!
4. Donately: Best Crowdfunding Platform for Stylish Donation Pages
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform Overview
Donately understands that where you’re directing your online donors is just as important (if not more important!) as how you attracted them in the first place. The giving process is the optimal time to reinforce brand awareness and remind donors of why they’re giving in the first place.
This is especially true for crowdfunding campaigns! Audiences from your website and social media pages should all be directed to a single, cleanly organized donation page. That’s where Donately comes in. Its stylish donation tools can make the perfect addition to your nonprofit crowdfunding campaign. Within minutes, you can launch beautiful donation pages that are fully branded to your cause.
Features of this Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site
As a comprehensive online fundraising platform, Donately puts the user experience first. Imagine how these features can improve the entire user experience for both your donors and fundraising team. Between streamlining the donation process and improving the flow of data during your crowdfunding campaign, here’s how Donately can help:
- Fully customizable and beautifully designed donation pages
- Embeddable and mobile-optimized donation forms to go on your website
- Recurring donations to inspire continued support for your cause
- Peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities and management tools
- Automatic donation data reporting
- Full integration with top apps and marketing tools
Being able to direct all your online donors to a single, well-designed donation page from Donately goes a long way to simplifying your crowdfunding campaign and reminding donors of your cause!
Pricing For Donately’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
The suite of tools in Donately’s fundraising platform is free to use and requires no contracts! Their Startup plan starts at just a 4% platform fee.
Standard fees of 2.9% + $.30 also apply to each credit card donation, as Donately partners with the leading payment processing services Stripe and PayPal.
Explore Donately’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site!
5. Snowball: Best Crowdfunding Platform for Growing Nonprofits
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform Overview
Trusted by more than 15,000 organizations, Snowball offers a powerful set of online fundraising tools for growing nonprofits to unlock new levels of engagement from their donors.
Their toolkit makes it incredibly easy to get up and running online fast, and then quickly put together a nonprofit crowdfunding campaign that’s sure to inspire your audience. Coupled with smart marketing strategies, a streamlined donation page and social sharing tools will go a long way to get your campaign off the ground.
As an end-to-end solution, it’ll empower your team to go beyond crowdfunding and manage your year-round fundraising process.
Features of this Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site
Snowball’s full toolkit of fundraising features is easy to use, both for your team and donors. You’ll center your crowdfunding campaign around an online donation page, but you’ll also be able to offer additional ways to engage with your cause beyond that campaign. The Snowball suite includes:
- Streamlined, customizable donation pages
- Social sharing and peer-to-peer fundraising options
- Text-to-give tools for easy on-the-go giving
- Fundraising thermometers to showcase your campaign’s progress
- Event ticketing tools, which are great for when your campaign will lead up to an event
- An integrated CRM to store donor data and form lasting relationships
No other fundraising suite offers this range of functionality for a low price for smaller nonprofits! Plus, Snowball prioritizes the user experience with its innovative, fast transaction process. You’ll be building stronger relationships with donors in no time.
Pricing For Snowball’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
The core set of Snowball’s tools is free to start using and includes essential features like mobile donation pages and a basic CRM! There is a standard processing fee of 2.9% + $.30 per transaction.
Their complete set of fundraising tech starts at $999/year plus a reduced per-transaction fee.
Check Out Snowball’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform!
6. StartSomeGood: Best Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site for Global Projects
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform Overview
StartSomeGood’s nonprofit crowdfunding platform is an excellent choice for global-oriented social change initiatives. With a focus on positive social impact, StartSomeGood serves as a great partner for your project and can help you widen your reach.
Many nonprofit crowdfunding platforms suffer from offering too general a service. StartSomeGood instead provides great tools and support by focusing on a single sector of the nonprofit and philanthropic world. Since its inception, it’s been recognized by Forbes, ABC, The Guardian, and many other well-known entities for its impact on the sector.
StartSomeGood embraces its mission to help global-oriented social change initiatives gain traction and believes in empowering causes with effective technology and coaching.
Features of this Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site
StartSomeGood goes above and beyond to help your projects succeed by providing these unique and helpful features for its crowdfunding users:
- Personal support and coaching before and during your campaign launch
‘Tipping Point’ funding that won’t charge donors until you reach a minimum - Access to exhaustive support and educational fundraising materials
- Valuable connections to corporate and government matching grants
If your crowdfunding project is fully realized and focuses on global social issues, StartSomeGood might make an excellent partner.
Pricing For StartSomeGood’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
StartSomeGood makes it free to set up and use the platform. When your project reaches its funding goal, StartSomeGood will charge a 5% service fee on all donations that are successfully processed.
Explore StartSomeGood’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site!
7. Causes: Best Crowdfunding Site for Social and Political Causes
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform Overview
Causes takes a unique approach to crowdfunding — it essentially functions as a social media platform!
Individual users or nonprofits create profiles, share their passions, and connect with others. When ready, they post a new campaign and start spreading the word about whatever political or social matter inspires them. Powered by an extended social network, Causes is a powerful tool for nonprofit organizations of all sizes to connect and engage supporters in new ways.
Features of this Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site
As a unique blend of social network and crowdfunding platform, Causes offers a number of features geared towards creating meaningful connections:
- Personalized profile pages for individuals, nonprofits, and companies
- The ability to create connections and build networks around shared causes
- Custom pages for any new campaigns you start
- ‘Personal campaign’ peer-to-peer fundraising tools
- Petition capabilities for organizations running advocacy campaigns
Only tax-exempt nonprofit organizations are eligible to start and manage campaigns, but the networking structure of Causes makes it easy for every supporter to get involved in promoting your campaign.
Pricing For Causes’ Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
As primarily a type of social media platform, Causes is entirely free to use. If your nonprofit creates a crowdfunding campaign, you’ll pay only the standard donation processing fees.
Check Out Causes’ Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site!
8. DonorsChoose: Best Crowdfunding Platform for Teachers and Schools
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform Overview
Designed specifically for teachers and schools to fund special projects, DonorsChoose is the best crowdfunding platform that will help your school create a valuable learning environment for your students!
Plus, as a nonprofit itself, DonorsChoose functions as a unique partner for schools. Each DonorsChoose campaign lists specific materials that a class needs, from crayons and books to cleaning supplies and technology. When the required funds are raised, DonorsChoose purchases the materials and ships them to the school! It’s an incredibly simple and transparent process, and donors will be much more likely to give when they can trust the money will be used how they’re promised.
As it currently stands, you can keep your campaign page up and running for up to 4 months. With access to more than 5 million donors nationwide, 70% of DonorsChoose projects reach their fundraising goals.
Features of this Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site
As a unique type of nonprofit crowdfunding platform, DonorsChoose offers the features you’ll need to reach your goals for your next classroom project, including:
- Custom campaign pages where you can request specific items and fundraise
- Social media sharing tools to maximize your campaign’s reach
- Media uploads to tell your story and describe your needs
- Streamlined campaign setup so you can start fundraising as quickly as possible
DonorsChoose is a perfect partner for educational projects and has a proven track record of helping teachers quickly and easily complete their projects. Whether you’re stocking up on notebooks or looking for lab equipment, this platform will help deliver whatever you need straight to your classroom door.
Pricing For DonorsChoose’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
DonorsChoose is completely free for teachers to use! Any materials that DonorsChoose purchases for your project belong to you.
Explore DonorsChoose’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site!
9. Kickstarter: Best Crowdfunding Platform for Community and Creative Projects
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform Overview
While not geared towards nonprofit organizations, Kickstarter is a leader in entrepreneurial crowdfunding. Individuals, companies, and nonprofits of all sizes post their creations, ideas, and creative projects on the platform to gauge public interest and offer special rewards for support.
If you work for a nonprofit that’s looking to gain funding for a creative project or entrepreneurial concept, definitely consider promoting your campaign on Kickstarter.
Note, however, that you cannot accept donations on Kickstarter. Rather, donors pledge payments that will only be processed once you reach your funding goal, and these funds must be used only to complete your project. Bear in mind that Kickstarter takes an all-or-nothing approach, so if you don’t reach your campaign goals, you won’t receive the funding, and pledged funds will be refunded.
Features of this Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site
Kickstarter supports a wide variety of creative and entrepreneurial projects, some of which include arts and crafts, design and fashion, film and video, and technology. Here are some of the key benefits of using this site:
- Customizable project pages where you can explain your project and how you’ll use any funds you receive
- Up-to-date campaign stats on your fundraising page to showcase progress toward your project’s funding goal
- Access to a network of 20 million campaign backers (AKA funders), 7 million of which are repeat backers
- Email marketing tools to help spread the word about your project
Kickstarter prioritizes transparency and truthfulness on its platform, so campaign creators are required to provide tangible prototypes of their proposed project.
Pricing For Kickstarter’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
If your project is fully funded, Kickstarter charges a 5% service fee in addition to the variable payment processing fees applied to each pledge.
If your project is not successfully funded, no one is charged!
Check Out Kickstarter’s Crowdfunding Site!
10. FundRazr: Best Crowdfunding Platform for Enterprise-Level Groups
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform Overview
FundRazr is a leading crowdfunding platform that’s designed for nonprofits to attract and retain donors so that they can launch their work forward. While certainly useful for organizations of any size, it offers a suite of nonprofit crowdfunding tools that are especially well-suited to the needs of large organizations.
Marketed as an enterprise-class nonprofit crowdfunding platform, FundRazr provides a combination of powerful technology, affordability, and ease of use — great for less-tech-savvy nonprofit leaders who still want to take advantage of online fundraising. There’s no need to reach out to a web developer to get started when you can do it all yourself.
Features of this Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site
FundRazr’s features what might be the perfect tools for your organization to break through an online fundraising slump, such as:
- Quick campaign setup
- Advanced social media tools
- Scalability for handling multiple projects at once
- Donor engagement options like rewards
- Customized automatic tax receipts for donors
- Campaign template and cloning capabilities to streamline future campaigns
- Corporate sponsorship and branding tools
As a nonprofit crowdfunding platform, FundRazr offers heavy-duty but fully user-friendly tools ideal for larger nonprofits looking to engage their online supporters.
Pricing For FundRazr’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
FundRazr offers a basic package of its fundraising tools for free. You’ll just pay standard processing fees of about 2.9% + $.30 per transaction.
The Pro Toolset, however, includes the full range of FundRazr’s tools and support and is available for a platform fee of 5%. However, you give donors the option to fully or partially cover those costs when they give.
Explore FundRazr’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform!
11. Double the Donation: Best Tool to Integrate with Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platforms
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform Overview
While not a nonprofit crowdfunding platform itself, Double the Donation is a tool you can use side-by-side with your crowdfunding tools to maximize your donation revenue. Double the Donation offers a comprehensive database that allows donors to search for their employers and determine whether their donation to a crowdfunding campaign can be matched.
A matching gift is a charitable donation that a company makes to match an employee’s donation to a nonprofit. With Double the Donation, all users need to do is search their company’s name to find the guidelines for submitting a matching gift request through their employer. This software can be used next to your crowdfunding campaign and through year-round fundraising to increase the donations you receive. That way, donors can easily multiply their impact without reaching back into their wallets!
Features of this Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site
Double the Donation can give you searchable and user-friendly matching gift information from anywhere on your website. Based on your plan, here are some of the features you can use to maximize your fundraising revenue:
- Automated match-identification using the emails that donors provide during your fundraising campaigns
- Customized reminder emails to donors to drive matches to completion
- Access to matching gift forms and instructions for nearly 25,000 companies that offer these programs
- A plugin that can be embedded into your donation forms and other pages on your website
Double the Donation empowers your donors to make a larger impact when giving to any of your fundraising campaigns. In no time, you’ll start raising more through your crowdfunding and year-round campaigns.
Pricing For Double the Donation’s Nonprofit Crowdfunding Platform
Double the Donation’s standard plan is recommended for organizations that are already receiving matching gifts and starts at $1,200 per year. Their enterprise-level plan offers more robust functionality, and you’ll have to request a quote based on your organization’s matching gift needs.
Check Out Double the Donation’s Matching Gift Tools!
Additional Resources
Conducting a crowdfunding campaign can be a smart move for any nonprofit organization that’s looking to build brand awareness and raise money quickly.
They’re often very easy to set up and can be extremely successful when managed properly with the right nonprofit crowdfunding platform. If you plan on conducting a crowdfunding campaign in the future, be sure to reference this list as you research platforms. The tools and websites listed here certainly don’t represent all of your options, but they do represent the best ones available!
If you’re interested in other kinds of fundraising, be sure to check out some additional resources, too:
- Top 20+ Nonprofit Consulting Firms for Nonprofit Organizations. If your organization needs some more direct fundraising guidance, hiring a consultant can be a great idea. Check out our top picks!
- Top 18+ Fundraising Software Solutions for Your Nonprofit. Check out our top picks for fundraising software solutions designed to help your nonprofit reach and exceed its goals!
- The 13 Best Fundraising Sites for Individuals & Nonprofits. Are you still not sure you’ve found the right platform? Check out even more nonprofit crowdfunding sites to make sure you find the perfect fit for your campaign.