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A few questions to ask when choosing a crowdfunding platform

 

• Why am I raising money?

Have a clear understanding of what you are raising for and why you believe your friends and family will want to support your cause.  A successful campaign has a clear defined purpose and call to action.  It will also always start with support from the people closest to you.  

 

 

• What are the fees associated?  

Just because a platform advertises it is free to start a campaign does not mean the platform does not take any money.  Make sure to dig in to the fees associated with having a campaign.  Every platform will have a processors fee, if they are processing credit cards online.  Remember you will want to look into if there are additional monthly fees, or often a % of donations go to platform fees and are deducted from each donation.   It may be free to start a campaign, but when donations start coming in you don’t want to suddenly  realize 10%+ is going to the platform and processors.

 

 

• Is it a KIA or AoN platform?

Does this look like secret code to you?  Well let us explain.  KIA means Keep it all and it is how GiveSendGo.com runs their platform.  The money you raise, you keep.  You don’t have to raise a certain goal or achieve a % to be able to transfer your donations to your bank.  The money given, is yours.   AoN is an All or Nothing platform which means what it says. You either raise all the money you set in your goal or it all donations get sent back to your donors.-  On GiveSendGo.com you do have the ability to wait to transfer your donations to your account so if you need to refund a donation it is easy. 

 

 

• How are funds disbursed?

Again, many different platforms have many ways of handling your donations.  At GiveSendGo the money is donated to YOU so it goes directly into your payment processor account and you have full control over your donations and how, when and where they are paid out to you. 


Hope this helped give you some direction as you investigate. Make sure to continue to check out GiveSendGo.com for all your crowdfunding needs! 

 

We got an email today from one of our campaign owners. She was responding to our email that goes out that asks if they have anything we could be praying for.  She was asking for help sharing her campaign.   I went to her campaign and saw a story of depression. desperation and self harm.  

GiveSendGo was built as a platform to help people raise money, but it is in the core of who we are, that we are more than just a fundraising platform. We want to be a light to people going through dark times in their lives. We want to be able to offer Hope to the hopeless, and not just because that sounds like a great Christian phrase, but because we believe there is Hope.

 

We responded to her email with this message:

“Hi  xxxxxxx , 

Thanks for contacting us. As I read through your campaign I hear the desperation in your plea and will be praying for you.

1. sounds like you need more help than just people giving you money. I would recommend getting some emotional help where you live. Are there any centers that help people who are depressed / self-harming and homeless? Do you have a church that you would feel comfortable going to and talking with the pastors etc ? If you would like us to research some places for you to connect around you, we will be happy to do so and send you some contacts to reach out to.

1. believe Jesus loves you more than anything and that he provides hope even in the most hopeless situation, which is what your campaign sounds like you are in. Please let us know if you would like us to send resource connections for you to reach out to around where you live.

”

I started thinking , “What if this girl writes back? I guess I will get on the phone and start finding resources in and around her area. I wondered if any Churches in her area would be receptive to helping her if I call?

 

That stopped me in my tracks. What?? I was wondering if the local body of Christ would stop their leadership training classes and sermon prep, their Sunday School or small group times to help someone who was definitely in the “least of these” category.   Wow, that made me sick to my stomach.    Made me think of the different churches I have been apart of. Would they open their doors and resources to help someone, a person who was not a member, a person who had made some bad decisions in their lives, a person who was hurting, mistrusting, and felt unlovable? I came to the unfortunate conclusion that most likely they would not. 

 I am not talking about throwing some money at an unknown situation. I mean embracing the very, very uncomfortable, the unknown, and rolling our sleeves up and deciding to “shine brightly”.

Will we choose to  give with out needing something in return, to show love to someone who might not even seem to want or deserve it. 

 

I know we all would want to say YES,  yes we would stop what we are doing and start share Hope with this person.  But do we?  There are hurting people all around us that might not ever want to step into our church building,  people that are  living  their life feeling hopeless. People that might take all you give to them and then fall back into their destructive way of live.  Is it worth the risk? Is it worth the heartache and frustration?    I think if we were to ask the one who chose to give up everything to rescue us- the one that shows love to us when we fall back into our destructive way of life,

He would say Yes. It is worth the risk .  Love with no strings attached. That is what is means to be a Christ follower. That is how we will see the world change. That is how we will change. Love.

If you, your church or ministry are interested in being on our Hand on the ground team, please send us your name address and contact information.  If a need or someone in your area ever contacts us and needs to be loved on  from someone locally, we would put you in touch. Just through email.  We would send an email to you with the persons emails and a little of their  story we know , and we would send them your email and phone number to help make a connection with resources in your areas.

 

 

 

 

What can you use GiveSendGo.com for? 

FOR THE CHURCH

GiveSendGo is a tool for the Church to help people in need of financial support, prayer, and Hope.  Whether family in the community that just lost a house in a fire, or raising money for your youth group to go to camp,  GiveSendGo gives Christians a resource to bless others in a very real and hands on way. It's changing the whole concept of passing the offering plate and making it reach far beyond the walls of the church and involving the entire community.


FOR MINISTRIES
 
Whether it’s helping build houses with Habitat, working along side crisis pregnancy centers, college ministries, or missionary organizations, GiveSendGo is here to make it easy to raise the money needed.  With easy set up for Organizations, automated reciepts and customizable thank you emails, GiveSendGo helps provide a place for Christian ministries and parachurch organizations to raise the money  for all the  people, projects, and programs that need funding. GiveSendGo is a tool to help ministries easily and effectively raise money for causes that matter.


FOR  INDIVIDUALS
 
You don’t need to be a church or ministry to use GiveSendGo. Whether you have a co-worker with medical bills they need help with,  or you are  preparing to step into the adoption, GiveSendGo is a tool you can use to impact the world around you for Jesus. FOR ANY NEED!   GiveSendGo wants to help you fundraise to spread the Hope of Jesus in the world. 
 
God so loved the world that He gave His son... (John 3:16)
When we give, we are reflecting the very heart and nature of God.  GIve is the first word in our name. Give-Send-Go . We give because Jesus gave.  We give to share hope with the world. We give because together we can make a difference in our world.