GoFundMe: Difference between revisions
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The company was founded in May, 2010 by Brad Damphousse and Andrew Ballester. Both had previously founded Paygr which is a website dedicated to allowing members to sell their services to the public.<ref>{{cite web | last=Tech Crunch| title=Paygr Looks To Combine Facebook And PayPal In A Marketplace For Local Buying And Selling | url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/07/paygr-looks-to-combine-facebook-and-paypal-in-a-marketplace-for-local-buying-and-selling/| accessdate =16 June 2012}}</ref> Damphousse and Ballester originally created the website under the name "CreateAFund" in 2008 but later changed the name to GoFundMe after making numerous upgrades to the features of the website.<ref>{{cite web | last=Create A Fund | title=Big News – CreateAFund Has Joined Forces With GoFundMe | url=http://www.createafund.com/index.php?route=home/pricing| accessdate = 21 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Crowd Funding Web Watch 2012 | title=Soliciting Donations From Individuals | url=http://libwww.freelibrary.org/rfc/rfc_downloaddoc.cfm?form=WebWatch_2012_Crowd_Funding| accessdate = 21 June 2012}}</ref> |
The company was founded in May, 2010 by Brad Damphousse and Andrew Ballester. Both had previously founded Paygr which is a website dedicated to allowing members to sell their services to the public.<ref>{{cite web | last=Tech Crunch| title=Paygr Looks To Combine Facebook And PayPal In A Marketplace For Local Buying And Selling | url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/07/paygr-looks-to-combine-facebook-and-paypal-in-a-marketplace-for-local-buying-and-selling/| accessdate =16 June 2012}}</ref> Damphousse and Ballester originally created the website under the name "CreateAFund" in 2008 but later changed the name to GoFundMe after making numerous upgrades to the features of the website.<ref>{{cite web | last=Create A Fund | title=Big News – CreateAFund Has Joined Forces With GoFundMe | url=http://www.createafund.com/index.php?route=home/pricing| accessdate = 21 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Crowd Funding Web Watch 2012 | title=Soliciting Donations From Individuals | url=http://libwww.freelibrary.org/rfc/rfc_downloaddoc.cfm?form=WebWatch_2012_Crowd_Funding| accessdate = 21 June 2012}}</ref> |
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==Crowd funding== |
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{{main|Crowdfunding}} |
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Crowdfunding (alternately crowd financing, equity crowdfunding, or hyper funding) describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Crowdfudning occurs for any variety of purposes, from disaster relief to citizen journalism to artists seeking support from fans, to political campaigns, to funding a startup company, movie or small business or creating free software. |
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==Business model== |
==Business model== |
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Revision as of 02:31, 1 November 2012
| File:Gofundme logo, April 2012.png | |
Type of site | Crowd funding for Donations |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Headquarters | , |
| Revenue | unknown |
| URL | www |
GoFundMe is a crowd funding platform that allows people to raise money for events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses.[2][3] The company is based in San Diego, California and is one of the largest crowdfunding websites currently operating.[4][5]
History
The company was founded in May, 2010 by Brad Damphousse and Andrew Ballester. Both had previously founded Paygr which is a website dedicated to allowing members to sell their services to the public.[6] Damphousse and Ballester originally created the website under the name "CreateAFund" in 2008 but later changed the name to GoFundMe after making numerous upgrades to the features of the website.[7][8]
Business model
GoFundMe allows users to create their own website to describe what they are raising money for.[2] During this process, members can enter the fundraising cause, the amount they hope to raise, and even upload photos or video.[9] Once the website is created, GoFundMe allows users to share their project with people through integrated social network links (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and email. People can then donate to a user’s cause through the website and track the progress of their funding. Those who donate can also leave comments on the website in support of the project. GoFundMe generates revenue by automatically deducting a 5% transaction fee from each donation a user receives. If the user receives no donations, then no charge is made.[10]
GoFundMe is unique to crowdfunding in that they are not an incentive-based crowdfunding website. Although they do allow projects that are meant to fund other projects for musicians, inventors, etc., the business model is set up to allow for donations to personal causes and life events such as medical bills.[11][12][13] GoFundMe also has a special section dedicated solely to users who are trying to raise money to cover their tuition costs.[2] One of the most notable tuition projects involved helping a user raise $25,000 to pay out of state tuition to a PhD program after that user was selected among 125 applicants into that program.[14]
Notable projects
| Project Name | Amount Raised | Notes | Link| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tallest American Man Needs Shoes | $46,180 | Tallest man in America, Igor Vovkovinskiy, raised $16,000 for custom made shoes.[15] | [1] |
| Send Ocean Skys on Vacation | $30,160 | Cancer-stricken patient with only 6 months left to live requests funding to go on vacation. User’s goal was to raise $2,500 but ended up raising over $30,000. User was an avid user of Reddit and the $30,000 raised for this project was donated primarily from other Reddit users[16] | [2] |
| 3 Little Girls Need Your Help | $73,047 | Close to $75,000 was raised to help the parents of 3 girls diagnosed with MPS pay for medical expenses.[17] | [3] |
| Wheelchair Basketball to Briarcliff | $27,048 | Child in wheelchair attempting to save $1,000 for the sponsorship of a wheelchair basketball team has $250 taken from him during a robbery. Goal was to raise $1,000 but project raised a total of $27,048 from donations.[18][19][20] | [4] |
| Support All Kids Billboard Project | $16,145 | In reaction to billboards put up by the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (“CHA”) in the Atlanta Georgia area, Ragen Chastain raised $16,000 to put up billboards to the contrary. The CHA billboards were anti-obesity billboards featuring children with comments such as “fat kids grow up to be fat adults.” The money raised was use to put up billboards with comments such as “shame is bad for your health; we stand for healthy children of all sizes.”[21][22] | [5] |
| Canadian Comedy Legend Mike MacDonald Get Healthy | $36,491 | Comedian Mike MacDonald raises over $35,000 to help with medical bills associated with his diagnosis with Hepatitis C.[23] | [6] |
Awards and recognitions
GoFundMe has been the only crowdfunding website to receive a 5 star rating by Crowdsourcing,[24] GoFundMe was also named as the best crowdfunding website by Crowdfunding Reviews.[25]
See also
External links
Examples
http://www.gofundme.com/Flood-Child-Care-Sad
References
- ^ "Gofundme.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ^ a b c Bloomberg Businessweek. "Moneymaking Ideas". Retrieved 16 June 2012.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "How to fundraise". Gofundme.com. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
- ^ CNN. "Financia tus proyectos con donaciones". Retrieved 16 June 2012 (Spanish Language).
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help); Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Killer Start Ups. "GoFundMe.com – Raising Money Online". Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ^ Tech Crunch. "Paygr Looks To Combine Facebook And PayPal In A Marketplace For Local Buying And Selling". Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ^ Create A Fund. "Big News – CreateAFund Has Joined Forces With GoFundMe". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ Crowd Funding Web Watch 2012. "Soliciting Donations From Individuals". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Thrillist. "Go Fund Me". Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ^ "6. Will GoFundMe charge me any fees?". GoFundMe. 10 May 2010.
- ^ Daily Crowd Source. "Raising Money For Medical Expenses". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ Daily Crowd Source. "Kickstart Yourself? Not So Fast!". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ New York Times. "It's Not Billions, Bit It Can Help Rescue An Artist". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ USA Today. "Web Pleas Help Immigrants Pay For College". Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ^ Huffington Post. "America's Tallest Man, Igor Vovkovinskiy, Needs $16K For Shoes". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ Digital Trends. "Reddit Readers Donate $30,000 To Cancer-Stricken Redditor". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ Help Our Girls. "Beg Family's 3 Precious Girls". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ News Observer. "Strangers Donate To Handicapped Cary Boy After Theft". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ Huffington Post. "Nolan Turner, Disabled 12 Year Old, Gets $25,000 In Donations After Having Money Stolen". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ New Observer. "Cary Students Learn Empathy Through Wheelchair Basketball". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ BBC News. "Georgia Obesity Campaign Sparks Fierce Online Reaction". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ San Francisco Weekly. "S.F. Fat Activists Oppose Atlanta's Anti-Obesity Campaign". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ CBC Canada. "Canadian Comedy Legend Mike MacDonald Needs Your Help". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ Crowdsourcing. "GoFundMe.com Receives 5 Stars – The Only Crowdfunding Website With This Achievement". Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ^ Crowdfunding Reviews. "GoFundMe". Retrieved 21 June 2012.