HOW IT WORKS
Our guide to crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a new way for you to raise money online for your not-for-profit, charity, social enterprise, community project or person in need.
1
Before you start
Before starting, find out what crowdfunding is, if you’re eligible, how much you can raise and what the fees are.
2
Create your page
Design your crowdfunding page. You can customize content, images, video, set your target and timeframe and more.
3
Promote your campaign
Create a campaign team, send out your campaign via email, Facebook and Twitter and get donations.
4
Get paid
As funds come in, they’ll be transferred to your bank or PayPal account directly. You’ll get 100% of what you raise and we’ll take care of receipts.
5
Follow up
The fun part. Do your project, send your donors progress updates and deliver your perks.
What is crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is a way for you to fundraise online for a project, person or cause. At its simplest, you’ll create a crowdfunding page online and promote it to as many people as you can. We’ll collect and transfer the funds to you. You then do your project and then follow up with your supporters to show them what you’ve spent the money on.
Simple.
The most common campaigns on HelpTheOppressed.com are:
- Non-profits, charities and social enterprises looking for funding for a social cause project, product or program
- Individuals looking for funding for a sick friend, family member, or colleague
- Individuals and organisations looking to fund animal vet bills
- Individuals or teams doing a challenge and raising funds for a charity or non-profit
Are you eligible?
To be eligible to run a crowdfunding campaign on HelpTheOppressed.com, you’ll need to satisfy three criteria:
You must be fundraising for a social, community or political cause
You must be fundraising for a project with a defined outcome
A reasonable person must be able to understand where the money is going
We don’t care about your legal structure: you can be a registered charity, a private for-profit company, an individual just starting up or anything in between – we don’t believe your legal structure dictates your ability to make social change.
For political cause campaigns, particularly for political candidates and community protests, we only accept campaigns that align with our other social cause areas. If you don’t believe in addressing climate change or supporting refugees, or you’re protesting against marriage equality, we’re unlikely to approve your campaign.
Due to regulatory issues, our lawyers won’t allow us to run campaigns involving raffles, guns and firearms or the direct offer of financial products including debt, equity or profit shares.
How much can you raise?
How much you raise depends on how much effort you put into preparing for your campaign and promoting it to your supporters. The biggest campaign so far has raised $345,000/£203,000/€235,000 but most successful campaigns raise on average $7,000. Read more about this in the Setting your target section.