Fundly and FundAnything are two unique crowdfunding platforms that let you raise money for literally almost anything.
In this post, I’m going to explain how both of these platforms work and give you the information you need to decide if one is right for you.
Fundly
The Fundly crowdfunding platform has helped over 100,000 donation websites raise more than $300 million since they launched in 2009! Fundly was acquired by NonProfitEasy in 2015. Mark Feinberg, Fundly’s President, talked about the acquisition in a Forbes article:
“NonProfitEasy, the integrated and affordable data management solution for nonprofits, has acquired Fundly, a top online crowdfunding platform for individuals and organizations…
The goal is to bring consistency across all products and to offer any organization, regardless of size, a seamless and affordable way to manage all their data needs.”
Fundly is optimized to be viewed and managed on a range of mobile devices with Fundly’s free mobile app. Mobile optimization is a priority for a lot of crowdfunders. This way you can access the platform from just about anywhere, at any time. Fundly also offers flexible funding and quick fund withdrawal.
Categories: Clubs & Community, Creative Projects, Fraternities & Sororities, Fun & Special Events, Kids & Family, Medical & Health, Memorials & Funerals, Military, Non-Profit & Charity, Pets & Animals, Politics & Public Office, Religious Organizations, Walk/Run/Rides, Schools & Education, Sports & Teams, Trips & Adventures
Cost: Starting a campaign on Fundly is free. They charge a platform fee of 4.9% of funds raised, and there is a credit card processing fee of 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction (varies for international projects)
Campaigns: At the time of writing, A Ray of Hope is a live Fundly campaign that has raised over $178,000 from 90 donors. The campaign’s creator, Lee Morgan, is trying to raise “raising $280,000 to build the first educational and therapy center for children with special needs in Tiruvannamalai, India!”
Another bonus about Fundly is that people can run offshoot campaigns of your own – this one had seven fundraisers leveraging their own networks to support the cause!
Reviews
Fundly’s reviews are mostly positive, and there are no indications that they scam their customers in any way. Customer’s enjoy the platform’s functionality and customer service, and they come highly recommended by non-profits of all sizes.
FundAnything
FundAnything is another crowdfunding platform that you can use to raise money for a variety of causes. Setting up a campaign takes about fifteen minutes and the platform seems to focus on creating a user-friendly experience.
Categories: Art, Business, Education, Hopes & Dreams, Medical, Music, Business, Pets, Film & Video, Non-Profit, Theatre & Dance, Volunteering, Web Projects, Writing, etc.
Cost: Like Fundly, launching a campaign on FundAnything is free, but the rest of their pricing structure is a little different. They offer flexible funding but if you don’t reach your goal the platform charges 9%. If you do reach your goal, the platform refunds 4% (so you pay a 5% platform fee). Transaction fees are approximately 3%.
Note: A 9% platform fee is pretty high compared to most platforms, so if you choose this site I suggest compensating by setting the lowest funding goal that you can realistically manage. Of course, you can always aim higher once you reach your initial goal.
Campaigns: In 2013, Penn Jillette from Pen & Teller launched a campaign on FundAnything that raised over $1 million dollars.
That project got a lot of media attention at the time, and prompted Tech Crunch to speak with Brad Wyman, chief crowdfunding officer of the platform at the time. They shared:
“FundAnything hopes to make its mark as a place where no idea is turned away and where celebrities help “uplift” those who don’t have a large audience of their own. Each section of the site has celebrity endorsements, and those celebrities help pick and choose projects they think are worthy of more attention.
For example, Donald Trump heads up the small business and foundations section of the site and he personally contributes to these campaigns. They also hinted that Pitbull is coming on board shortly. Aside from having celebrity sections of the site, they also actively seek campaigns they can fund with celebrities who have rabid fan bases, because their audiences also get in front of the other projects and everyone wins. In the first 100 days of business, they had their first successfully completed $1 million campaign with comedian/podcaster Adam Carolla.”
Although Donald Trump has since cut ties with the platform, the site still proudly boasts quite a few success stories.
Reviews
Reviews of FundAnything are mostly positive. People enjoy the easy setup and fund withdrawal, good customer service, and helpful advice that the platform provides. Overall, they are a reliable platform that does what they can to help their customers succeed, as all platforms should.
One thing that I noticed doing research for this review is that FundAnything could do a better job educating people about the platform and crowdfunding in general. Their ‘About Us’ section, for example, is very brief and doesn’t really give you any sense of the platform’s personality.
Conclusion
Fundly and FundAnything are great donation-based crowdfunding platforms that are perfect for individuals, non-profits, and other projects that don’t quote fit the mold of other crowdfunding sites. Both Fundly and FundAnything have received mostly positive reviews and have good customer service, which is one of the key elements of a good platform.
If you need more help figuring out what platform is right for your project, check out this post.
