The short answer
Use both, for different jobs. A crowdfunding platform is good at bringing in people who don’t know you yet. Your own website is where you build a relationship with the people who do. Most strong fundraising programmes run campaigns on a platform and keep monthly giving, Zakat and long-term appeals on their own site.
What a platform does well
- Reach. Platforms such as LaunchGood have their own communities of givers, especially in Ramadan and Dhul Hijjah.
- Speed. A campaign page can be live in hours, which matters in an emergency.
- Social proof. Totals, supporter counts and progress bars encourage people to join in.
- Trust for new donors. A familiar checkout can reassure someone giving to you for the first time.
What your own website does well
- The relationship. You hold the donor’s details and consent, so you can thank them, update them and ask again.
- Monthly giving. Regular gifts, Gift Aid and Zakat are easier to manage in your own systems.
- Your brand. The whole page tells your story, with no other appeals beside it.
- Search. Pages on your own site build up search rankings year after year.
What a steady programme builds
ONSUR’s community page on LaunchGood shows 87 campaigns and more than $1.6 million raised from 47,200 supporters. It didn’t get there with one big appeal. Each campaign brought supporters who came back for the next.
Read the ONSUR wildfires case study.
How to choose, appeal by appeal
- Emergency appeal: a platform for speed and reach, and your own site for existing supporters.
- Seasonal appeal: a platform campaign in Ramadan or Dhul Hijjah, with Zakat and monthly giving on your own site.
- Monthly giving: your own site, every time.
- One project with a clear target: a platform, where a progress bar and a deadline do a lot of the work.
Connect the two
The risk with platforms is that donors stay the platform’s, not yours. Ask for consent to stay in touch where the platform allows it, thank every donor and send an update, and invite them to your own site for monthly giving. That is how a campaign becomes a relationship.
Checklist
- The job of each appeal decided: reach or relationship
- Platform campaigns for new donors and emergencies
- Monthly giving and Zakat on your own site
- A consent and thank-you plan for platform donors
- Each campaign leading into the next
Need a hand?
Annual plans, campaign pages and the promotion behind them, for charities raising on LaunchGood and other crowdfunding platforms.
Crowdfunding campaigns