6 Best Crowdfunding Platforms To Raise Money For Your New Business

Technology has been magical in helping business ventures get capitalized. Funding a project typically comes in different ways. The traditional way of getting a business started is by taking a loan, using your savings, or looking for investors. However, there are now more ways to financially support your startup. Crowdfunding is gaining popularity in the 21st century because of its efficiency. From real estate crowdfunding to using crowdfunding to raise money for your new business, if you aren’t leveraging this movement, you stand to get left behind.

When people put together small amounts of money to provide capital for a business venture, we call that crowdfunding. This relatively new funding process has been a huge success in counties like the US. If you’re interested, here are the best crowdfunding websites to raise money.

Top Crowdfunding Sites 2020

Kickstarter

The company name might ring a bell since its name remains sound on the internet. Kickstarter is one of the biggest corporations that are involved in crowdfunding. It assists tech and creative entrepreneurs in funding their projects before taking a loan for capital money. It has already funded 182,000 projects by raising an amount of almost $5 billion since 2009. People who wish to fund projects may look up different categories including art, film, and publishing.

Kickstarter is highly suggested on the fundraising side because of its commendable ease of use. You may begin your funding journey by setting your goals and a timeline. Afterwhich, they must first approve your campaign before launching. You will receive a small given each time you raise an amount per individual.

What makes Kickstarter a unique crowdfunding platform is its all-or-nothing system. You will not get your funds unless the campaign is already completed. More so, the funder will only get charged after settling everything.

Indiegogo

Indiegogo is almost the same as Kickstarter. The only difference between the two is the all-or-nothing system. The former does not exercise the policy where you can only get funds once your campaign is finished. With Indiegogo, users have two choices – fixed and flexible funding methods.

The fixed method applies if you need to raise a certain amount of money. This also means the funds are returned to your donors if your campaign goals are not achieved. Flexible funding is more applicable for campaigns where you can benefit from any funding. This is where you can get your money, regardless if you meet your goals or not.

Patreon

This crowdfunding platform is quite fitting for creators such as YouTubers, bloggers, or podcasters. Patreon differs from other websites through its system of collection. If other platforms have one-off campaign donations, Patreon contributes an amount for every content or monthly. However, you should know that this website only works best if you regularly share your work. Otherwise, pledgers might cancel their subscription to you.

Patreon houses two million active users, as of writing. It might not seem like it but this website is the fifth largest crowdfunding platform. If there is any drawback from using Patreon, it is only the fact that the company does not market creators.

Causes

Causes is more suitable for non-profit organizations. It is the largest crowdfunding platform for projects that involve political, social, and cultural issues. It is more of a social than a business network. Causes currently houses 186 million users in more than 150 countries. What is good about this crowdfunding site is that it is free of charge since it runs on ads.

When you create your account, you can do more than just raising money. You may collect donations, raise awareness, or share relevant information on your crowdfunding page. What makes Causes a great platform as well is its feature where you can find communities with the same interests. When using the platform, you can also start petitions for your advocacies.

GoFundMe

You might have seen this website name at least once on social media for charitable causes and emergencies. It is also one of the largest crowdfunding platforms out there, along with Indiegogo, Kickstarter, and Patreon. GoFundme can work for business ventures as well. The company gets a 2.9 percent processing fee and 30 cents for every donation made on your campaign.

This crowdfunding site does not have an all-or-nothing system. Hence, you can keep whatever you were able to raise. If you live in the United States, GoFundMe is an even better option for you. They do not charge personal campaign funding fees for US residents. The site was able to successfully fund many projects already. This includes Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund with $24.2 million and Las Vegas Victims Fund with $11.8 million.

If you wish to raise money for service-based causes like medical reliefs, GoFundMe is an excellent option. However, you should know that you may not be able to raise as much capital for business startups. This is because only one out of ten campaigns is usually funded on the website.

Circle Up

This crowdfunding platform is most suitable for those people in consumer brands. Circle Up has raised $260 million for almost 200 startups already. What the site offers are both credit financing and equity capital. It is also a great avenue for experts, retailers, and as well as entrepreneurs to connect. Some of the perks of using Circle Up is having access to special credit lines and market insights.

While most sites are used to start ventures, this platform is more suitable for entrepreneurs who wish to do scaling. However, you should be fairly competitive if you want to get chosen since they have a strict selection process.

Start Raising Money

There are several websites that you can choose from to start your crowdfunding journey. Just make sure to be meticulous when committing to any of the platforms available online. You should select the crowdfunding site that would serve your needs best. To do so, you first have to evaluate what kind of fundraising you are aiming for.

If you wish to start a business, Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Patreon, and Circle Up are more suitable. Otherwise, choose GoFundMe or Causes. Understanding your plans and projects is the key to finding the perfect crowdsourcing platform for you.