YouCaring is a California-based online fundraising platform that launched in 2011. Co-founders Brock Ketcher, Naomi Ketcher, and Luke Miner were inspired to launch YouCaring after spending time abroad on international mission trips. They started a platform where students could raise money for tuition and other expenses, but since then it has blossomed into something much bigger.
YouCaring’s belief is that: “No one should have to face hardship alone. That’s why day by day, dollar by dollar, we are working to create a global giving community on a scale unseen in human history. We are aiming to change the world for good.” Their mission is to use technology to make this happen.
Today, YouCaring has helped its users raised a combined total of over $400 million dollars. Their platform has hosted over 250,000 fundraisers supported by 5.5 million people, making YouCaring a leader in the online fundraising world.
Their focus on compassionate crowdfunding and supporting humanitarian causes has made this platform a go-to for people looking to raise money for meaningful causes.
Categories
Medical, cancer, memorial, school, charity, nonprofit, pets, breast cancer, tuition, faith, adoption, emergencies, family, veterans, volunteer, sports, groups, ALS, community, neighbors, and mission trips
YouCaring Features
- Daily access to funds: YouCaring users have daily access to funds throughout the duration of their campaign, so they can use the money they need when they need it the most.
- Mobile friendly: Choosing a mobile-friendly crowdfunding platform is important because many people are surfing the internet on their mobile devices these days, and you can make an impression on someone even when they are out and about.
- Real-time customer support: You want to choose a crowdfunding platform that has customer service agents who can speak on the phone, not just give you canned email responses. Because of the volume these platforms get it can be hard to meet demand for all of their users’ questions, but YouCaring ensures their fundraisers get the support they need from real people when they need it.
- Easy 5-minute setup: Setting up a YouCaring campaign is really simple and doesn’t take long at all.
- Social integrations: YouCaring makes is easy to share your fundraiser on Facebook and Twitter.
- Safe and secure: All donations on YouCaring are processed using industry-standard Secure Socket Layer encryption or SSL.
- YouCaring also offers its users tips, resources, and ideas to help them run successful fundraisers
Pricing
Running a YouCaring campaign is free for fundraisers, so they get to keep as much money as they can for the important things.
The platform does not charge its customers any platform fees, only a credit card processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 is deducted from the funds raised. YouCaring works with both WePay and PayPal.
Instead, the platform suggests a donation when the donor contributes to a campaign. The algorithm seems to make this between 5 – 10% of the total contribution.
Benefits and Drawbacks
Pros
- Easy, hassle-free set-up
- Fundraisers can add offline donations accepted by cash or check to give an accurate funding total
- Ability to post updates for supporters to see
- No fees, all funds raised go to the cause
- Helpful staff
- Simple social sharing tools
- No funding limits or deadlines
Cons
- Occasional issues with PayPal’s payment processing. Customers have said that they heard payment processing was down from potential donors, and wished YouCaring had warned them.
- YouCaring is funded by donations and adds on a “suggested amount” when people are donating to your cause. Some donors find this frustrating, and don’t know how to remove the suggested charge.
- Because of the YouCaring business model, you can’t offer rewards or equity like some of these platforms.
- Fees can only be released to the person who started the fundraiser. This causes problems when a person raises money on someone else’s behalf and then misuses the funds when they are withdrawn. UPDATE: “Last year we added an option so that the fundraiser organizer can transfer the funds to the beneficiary or someone related to the cause at any time. It can go directly to their bank account or a check made out in their name.”
Success Stories
Friends launched a YouCaring campaign to raise money to help ALS patient, Anthony Carbajal, cover his medical expenses. The campaign raised $266,663 from nearly 7,000 supporters who poured their love out to Anthony and his loved ones, not only in the form of money but also in the kind comments and stories that they shared.
“We’re so grateful for YouCaring. It’s a platform that’s free and makes it easy to share our story. It’s difficult to share your hardship, but YouCaring makes it easier to talk about it and explain your needs,” Anthony shared, “I encourage everyone who is going through some kind of challenge or hardship in their life to consider using YouCaring.”
Another campaign, the Mary Kathleen Wilkins Education Fund, has allowed friends and family to support a young woman who lost her parents in a tragic accident in 2014. The fund has raised over $20,000 and received 770 shares on social media.
Conclusion
YouCaring is a crowdfunding platform whose emphasis is on care. They offer a service that is still new and has a few kinks to be sorted out, but overall YouCaring offers millions of people the opportunity to raise money in emergencies or for the causes that really matter to them.
“Annual out-of-pocket medical expenses in the U.S. have risen to $400 billion, or $1,254 per person.”
These days, unexpected costs can take us by surprise and put us in a difficult situation very easily. Crowdfunding platforms like YouCaring that let you raise money for free and give you the tools you need to succeed at online fundraising has changed a lot of lives.
To learn more, check out this post for my comparison of YouCaring and GoFundMe.
Feel free to leave any questions or comments below!
