09 Nov Kickstarter vs GoFundMe: Choosing the Best Platform for Your Crowdfunding Campaign

What is crowdfunding? It is a Do-It-Yourself approach to raise money for your business idea. While there are several crowdfunding platforms out there, it pays to know which is best for your needs. Two of the most popular platforms to fund your new business are Kickstarter and GoFundMe.

Both places have their strengths and drawbacks. We take a look at which one works better for you and what you should know before taking the plunge.

Kickstarter vs GoFundMe – The Key Differences

Kickstarter is for folks who want to build a new product or service. It is a particularly attractive option for financing technology and art projects. You should keep in mind that Kickstarter is built for teams, entrepreneurs and businesses primarily.

GoFundMe, in contrast, is primarily for people who want funding for charitable and personal causes, though you can use it for business as well. It is geared mainly towards individuals rather than large organizations. That makes it ideal for social workers, people who want to fulfill their personal ambitions, and as a way to support your preferred charitable organizations.

In short:

Kickstarter – Best for commercial and creative projects.

GoFundMe – Best for supporting startups with a social element, i.e. medical, educational, charitable organizations. Also great for personal causes.

Kickstarter vs GoFundMe – when do you get access to funding?

At Kickstarter, you only get access to money once the funding goal has been met. Otherwise, no money is collected and no fees are levied. You can set a period of how long you want to keep raising money from 30 to up to 60 days. Kickstarter recommends a 30 day period for ideal results.

With GoFundMe, you can collect funds without meeting your funding goal. You don’t need to set a funding period, even though you get a prompt for it while registering your project.

Kickstarter vs GoFundMe – The Fees

For Kickstarter:

Kickstarter charges a flat 5% of your project’s total funding as platform fee.

Additionally, it cuts 3%+ $0.2 per pledge once you meet your funding goal.

Keep in mind that these fees are only levied if your project meets its funding targets.

For GoFundMe:

Starting November 2017, GoFundMe no longer charges a platform fee for projects. 

However, there is still a 3% charge per transaction to its payment processor. 

There is a ‘tipping’ option for all donation pages, through which you can voluntarily donate any amount at GoFundMe.

Kickstarter vs GoFundMe – Difficulty Level

Getting a project approved via Kickstarter can be very hard. However, their approval process generally does a good job filtering out shady projects, resulting in less risk to backers. To start a project, you will have to fill out all information as accurately as possible. In case Kickstarter needs any additional scrutiny for your project, expect a 3 day wait before your page is live.

With GoFundMe, you can get your project live within an hour once you have entered the details of your campaign, your funding goal, and any rewards you want to offer. You will need to sign up with your Facebook account if you want your campaign to be publicly featured on GoFundMe.