12 Best Crowdfunding Sites to Raise Money and Pre-Sell Product Ideas

Raising capital for your projects or businesses can be daunting, especially for early-stage startups.

The popular choice among entrepreneurs is to raise money through a traditional business loan. Apart from angel and accredited investors, venture capital firms, bank loans, and other business loans, another viable fundraising option is crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding is essential for raising money and pre-selling product ideas to an interested crowd. With so many crowdfunding websites available, choosing the best one to suit the unique needs of your fundraising campaign is no easy task.

This blog post will cover the 12 leading crowdfunding platforms to help you start raising money for your projects and businesses.

How to Choose the Right Crowdfunding Site

A crowdfunding process is a form of a fundraising effort with low risk. Your online fundraising efforts need to be directed at ensuring they help develop your products and services.

1. Nature of Crowdfunding Campaign

When choosing an online fundraising website from the various fundraising platforms available, you need to consider the crowdfunding campaign best suited for your fundraising goal.

Crowdfunding can be either equity-based, reward-based, or donation-based, and your choice of what crowdfunding site to use should depend on what area the fundraising site was designed to cover.

An equity crowdfunding platform gives a percentage of their business to investors, unlike a rewards crowdfunding platform which offers investors no financial return on investments (ROI).

For donation crowdfunding platforms, contributors do not see returns or rewards on their donations.

2. Crowdfunding Platform Fees

When selecting the best crowdfunding sites to collect online donations for your business, you need to consider factors such as their crowdfunding platform fees, payment processing fees, and other information on display on their crowdfunding space.

Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns in History

Selecting the best crowdfunding website for your project can impact your fundraising campaign positively. You must make an informed choice to get the best possible crowdfunding industry offers.

Some of the most successful campaigns include:

• Pebble Time – $20,338,986 raised
• Coolest Cooler – $13,285,226 raised
• Frosthaven – $12,969,608 raised
• Kingdom Death: Monster 1.5 – $12,383,139 raised
• Travel Tripod By Peak Design – $12,143,435 raised

Best Crowdfunding Sites to Raise Money

Here are the best crowdfunding websites to raise money and pre-sell product ideas in 2022.

• Kickstarter
• Indiegogo
• Patreon
• Crowdfunder
• GoFundMe
• Fundable
• Crowdcube
• Mightycause
• SeedInvest
• CircleUp
• LendingClub
• Start Engine

1. Kickstarter

Best Overall Crowdfunding Platform

Kickstarter is one of the top crowdfunding sites, with over 20 million backers pledging over $6.7 billion to projects on this site. With total pledges of over 82 million, Kickstarter has successfully funded over 225,000 projects.

Key Features

• Funding Model: Kickstarter uses an all-or-nothing funding model. This model ensures that all projects reach their pre-set funding goals before users can withdraw the funds.
• User Experience: Kickstarter runs on a user-friendly website and mobile app to provide the best user experience to its users.
• Ease of Access: Users find it relatively easy to browse through projects and make pledges on the Kickstarter platform as they emphasize making the site easy to use.
• Reward-Based: This reward-based fundraiser website offers backers several incentives for supporting projects, such as exclusive pre-order discounts, the first available project prototypes, and t-shirts.

Pros

• Acts as a support community for your business
• You maintain control of your business, and it provides you with fast cash
• Generate campaign attention on your crowdfunding page

Cons

• You can not pledge towards your project.
• No funds withdrawal for your project until it reaches its pre-set funding goal.
• Does not support fundraising for charity purposes

Kickstarter Statistic

Commissions and Fees

Kickstarter charges a fixed 5% commission on all successfully processed payments. You get charged 3% + $0.20 per transaction for pledges over $20 and 5% + $0.05 for pledges under $10 as payment processing fees.

If you reach your pre-set funding goal, you must wait 14 days for funds to be available for withdrawal.

2. Indiegogo

Best Crowdfunding Platform for Community Projects

Indiegogo is one of the best crowdfunding platforms bringing over 800,000 innovative ideas to the limelight since its inception, with over 9 million backers across 235 countries that have raised over $2 billion.

Key Features

• Funding Model: Indiegogo allows you to take your funds after the deadline, irrespective of whether your funding goals have been met. You can set fixed or flexible funding goals. The minimum funding goal is $500.
• User Experience: This platform offers a very user-friendly experience with a 24-hour customer service team available at the desk to attend to you.
• Easy Transition: Indiegogo allows you to run fundraising campaigns on its platform, even if you initially used another fundraising platform. However, it charges an 8% platform fee and a maximum fee of 15% on funds gotten from Indiegogo.
• Integration: You can integrate other software tools such as Twitter and Meta to your Indiegogo account to help promote your fundraising campaign.

Pros

• 24-hour customer support line
• Flexible funding
• A broad range of funding for projects
• Free to set up a campaign, excluding the 5% charge on funds raised and credit card processing fee

Cons

• Not enough visibility like other crowdfunding sites
• Indiegogo takes a percentage of what you raise, irrespective of if your funding goals are met

Indiegogo Statistic

Commissions and Fees

Indiegogo charges a 5% fee on all fundraising campaigns plus a third-party processing fee, usually 2.9% + $0.20 but this can vary based on the payment processor. You attract a $25 international transfer fee when sending funds to non-US banks.

3. Patreon

Best Crowdfunding Platform for Creative Projects

Patreon is the best crowdfunding platform for creative projects used by top artists like Amanda Palmer, Cory Henry, Ben Folds, and Jacob Collier. It hosts over 6 million patrons, with its over 200,000 creators estimated to have earned over $2 billion.

Key Features

• Funding Model: Creators can generate funding from their fans thanks to Patreon’s monthly membership funding model. Fans can purchase monthly memberships from their select creators for exclusive content and community access.
• Integration: Patreon integrates well with other apps such as Vimeo and MailChimp. It allows creators to add patrons to private channels created.
• Automated Early Access: This feature allows creators to schedule early releases of their creative content to all their patrons.
• Polls and Voting: Patreon has an in-built tool for conducting polls available to all their creators.
• Tracking of Benefits: This tool helps creators keep track of their benefits and when they are due, so they do not lose track of them.

Pros

• Charges no upfront cost
• Artists get paid on a fixed, regular basis
• You can easily connect your account to your bank or any payment platform
• As a patron, you get exclusive access to early music

Cons

• Charges a percentage from the Artist's funds
• Charges up to 5% credit card processing fees
• Patreon does not market creators compared to other crowdfunding websites.

Patreon Statistic

Commissions and Fees

Creators on Patreon can opt for a monthly charge or per creation.

Apart from the 5%-12% platform fee as a percentage of your earnings, Patreon charges an additional payment processing fee of 2.9% + $0.10 for donations of over $3. Micropayment rate is 5% + $0.10 for donations of $3 or less.

4. Crowdfunder

Best Crowdfunding Website for UK Startups and Businesses

Crowdfunder is the best crowdfunding website for equity crowdfunding in the UK, with over 1 million supporters and growing and 70 partners collaborating with them. This platform has raised over £250 million from over 300,000 projects.

Key Features

• Funding Model: Crowdfunder allows you to raise capital through donations, rewards, and community shares. With over 12,00 venture capitalists and angel investors on the platform, this equity crowdfunding platform helps you raise funds for your business.
• Interactive Sessions: The Crowdfunder team hosts regular live and interactive sessions to share tips on making the best of this fundraising site and running a successful campaign.
• Extra Funding: Crowdfunder successfully oversees millions of pounds and additional funding from its partners.
• Shopify Integration: This equity crowdfunding platform integrates seamlessly with your Shopify store. Crowdfunder allows you to transform a product page on your online store into a fundraising page easily and complete with the key fundraising milestones.

Pros

• Charges no platform fee for charity fundraisers
• A large community to support great ideas
• Offer rewards in exchange for your pledge

Cons

• As a UK-based crowdfunding site, this limits its operations.

Crowdfunder Statistic

Commissions and Fees

Crowdfunder charges no platform fee for charities and persoal fundraisers but charges 1.9% + £0.20 and VAT transaction fee.

The fundraiser website charges 5% platform fee and a transaction fee of 2.4% + £0.20 + VAT for rewards-based fundraisers.

5. GoFundMe

Best Crowdfunding Website for Personal Fundraising

GoFundMe is the best crowdfunding website for personal fundraising, with over $9 billion raised from its community of over 120 million donors.

This fundraising platform is supported in 19 countries and has quickly become the world's largest crowdsourcing platform for raising money.

Key Features

• Customizable Campaigns: GoFundMe offers easily customizable campaigns without requiring developers' coding to reflect your non-profit brand. You can customize your buttons, logos, donation, and a ticket to match your brand or fundraising needs.
• Registration and Ticketing Tool: This platform allows you to manage ticketing and registration components for your fundraising events.
• Reporting: GoFundMe offers an advanced reporting feature that provides data insights needed to track and measure the success of campaigns.
• Ease of Use: This fundraising website provides an easy way for you to collect donations.

Pros

• GoFundMe offers a funding guarantee
• Zero platform fee
• There is no time or deadline limit for fundraising campaigns
• 24/7 expert customer support

Cons

• GoFundMe does not offer its services to all countries
• There is no guarantee of success on this platform

GoFundMe Statistic

Commissions and Fees

GoFundMe is a free crowdfunding website that does not charge any platform fee for campaigns launched in US dollars. However, it charges a one-time debit and credit card fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per donation.

6. Fundable

Best Crowdfunding Website for Small Business Owners

Fundable is the best business crowdfunding website for small businesses operating as a reward and equity-based crowdfunding platform with over 377,000 entrepreneurs. Small businesses have raised millions in private capital from investors worth over $568 million.

Key Features

• Flexibility: Fundable offers rewards and equity-based crowdfunding campaigns complementing each other.
• Customer Service: This platform offers supportive customer service and quickly links users to potential investors. It provides a very knowledgeable platform to answer questions about the forum.
• Transparency: The terms and conditions of the fundable platform are well spelled out in an easy-to-understand manner aimed at providing the best sales and advertising transparency.
• User Experience: Fundable offers support to companies to navigate through the fundraising process. It provides them the option of launching as either a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign or an equity-based campaign.

Pros

• Rewards and equity crowdfunding options
• Low fee range for successful campaigns
• Good customer support

• Allows you to pre-screen your campaigns to benefit your backers
• Helps market your fundraising campaigns

Cons

• Campaigns need to be pre-screened before gaining approval
• Its monthly flat rate can hurt the campaign

Fundable Statistic

Commissions and Fees

Fundable rewards campaign uses an all-or-nothing model, with the average campaign pegged between 60-90 days. This crowdfunding website charges a flat monthly cost of $179 and a payment processing fee of 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction.

7. Crowdcube

Best Equity Crowdfunding Website for European Market

Crowdcube is the best equity crowdfunding site that has raised millions of pounds for various UK-based businesses. This platform provides them access to investors looking to buy in on business ideas early on and consolidate early-stage companies' benefits.

Key Features

• User Experience: This platform makes investing look so easy as it offers an excellent platform for investors to invest in business ideas before the business commences day-to-day operations.
• Tracking and Reporting: You receive notifications when opportunities you have invested in have reached or are close to their milestone target. You can track your recent investment’s status on the site.
• Security: Crowdcube requires user authentication either via Touch ID or passcode before you can confirm your new investments.
• Ease of Access: With Crowdcube, you can either use your web browser or opt for the app function on your device with operational handover support. Crowdcube allows you to browse and invest in mini-bond opportunities.

Pros

• Excellent form of investment
• Great offerings
• Easy sign-up process
• Tax benefits
• Good market coverage

Cons

• Lack of transparency
• Poor customer service

Crowdcube Statistic

Commissions and Fees

Crowdcube charges investors 7% of funds raised if you hit your funding target and a 0.75%-1.25% completion fee. The amount charged as payment processing fees vary.

8. Mightycause

Best Crowdfunding Website for Non-Profit Fundraising

Mightycause is the best crowdfunding website for non-profit fundraising that has supported over 150,000 causes since its inception in 2006. Its services include various online and mobile products such as personal crowdfunding.

Key Features

• Customer Support: Mightycause offers support options to its users through phone support, FAQs or forums, 24/7 customer live reps or an extensive knowledge base.
• User Access: This platform offers mobile access to its users in addition to its crowdfunding website to provide users with unlimited access to their platform.
• Integration: Supports third-party integrations with several other platforms such as CRM tools like Salesforce and social media tools to provide the best possible experience to its users.
• Customer Management: Mightycause has an extensive feature to effectively manage pledges received on its platform.
• Training: Users get a series of training options in the form of in-person training, webinars, live online training, and recorded videos to make it easier for them to use the platform.

Pros

• Excellent tracking system
• Adequate customer support
• Simple and effective to use for any organization
• No platform fee
• Flexible policies

Cons

• Lack of customization on monthly disbursement reports

Commissions and Fees

Mightycause offers two pricing plans: Essentials and Advanced plans. Both plans have an average donation processing rate of 1.2% + $0.29.

9. SeedInvest

Best Crowdfunding Website for Companies to Secure Funding

SeedInvest is an online fundraising site for companies to secure funding from vetted startup investment opportunities. This platform has helped over 250 startups raise more than $410 million in funding.

Key Features

• Ease of Use: SeedInvest is relatively easy to invest on this platform as the average time required to support SeedInvest is about 2 minutes; so far, all requirements have been met.
• Customer Service: This crowdfunding website has a lengthy FAQ page with answers to potential questions that you might have concerning the fundraising site.
• Accessibility: SeedInvest allows you to easily browse through a long list of startups made available on its website with their detailed information.
• Auto Invest: Provides an auto invest section to help you opt-in on deals where you can legally invest.

Pros

• SeedInvest offers a high internal rate of return on investments
• Access to 620,000+ investors
• No charge for unsuccessful fundraising

Cons

• Fees for raising money are high
• Intense vetting process

SeedInvest Statistic

Commissions and Fees

SeedInvest charges a 7.5% placement fee and a 5% warrant coverage on the total amount raised. Charges include a fee for marketing, legal expense, and escrow reimbursements which ranges from $0-$10,000.

10. CircleUp

Best Crowdfunding Site for Consumer Goods Businesses

CircleUp is the best crowdfunding website for consumer goods businesses, with over 900 professional investors on its platform. CircleUp has raised over $390 million in investment for over 255 different startups.

Key Features

• Quality Network of Investors: CircleUp connects you to a wide range of recommended service providers that help shore up your experience on the platform. You also get to network with like-minded entrepreneurs.
• Reporting: Enjoy access to high-quality industry-level reports and insights on various CPG categories and brands.

Pros

• CircleUp has a long track record of success
• A wide range of selection opportunities
• A registered and certified broker-dealer
• Exceptional interface for browsing through investment opportunities

Cons

• Only accredited investors can invest on CircleUp.
• You need a minimum revenue of $1 million to enter the list.

CircleUp Statistic

Commissions and Fees

CircleUp charges a commission solely dependent on the number of funds raised on its platform.

11. LendingClub

Best Overall Peer-To-Peer Lending Platform

LendingClub is the best overall peer-to-peer lending platform that enables borrowers to get unsecured personal loans between $1,000 and $40,000 for a standard loan period of 3 years.

The loan to be obtained is issued based on the borrower's credit score, credit history, and debt-to-income ratio.

Key Features

• Loan Selection and Investing: You can manually browse through the available loan listings to evaluate each loan you want to invest in with LendingClub. If the listings are too long, use the filter option to narrow your search to specific criteria of your choosing.
• Automation: LendingClub also offers an automated screening and investing feature to invest in a reasonable amount of loans without needing to approve each one.
• Customer Service: This platform provides a 24/7 customer service hotline and its customer service chat platform to readily deal with the needs and questions its users face while using its website.
• Flexibility: LendingClub loans are very flexible, with a two-day approval window. You can change your payment due date to fit your schedule with a three-year repayment term.
• Customer Experience: Runs a fully online loan application and approval process while providing access to a member center to help manage your money and credit.

Pros

• LendingClub accepts a low credit score
• No hard credit inquiry is needed to check rates
• LendingClub offers longer loan terms and joint loan options
• Lower interest rates for borrowers

Cons

• There is a financial restriction for investors.
• Not suitable for borrowers with middling or impaired credit.

LendingClub Statistic

Commissions and Fees

LendingClub loans come with an origination fee charge from 2% – 6% and a late fee charge for defaulters.

12. Start Engine

Best Crowdfunding Equity Site for High-Growing Startups

Start Engine is the best crowdfunding equity site for high-growing startups, where over 275 businesses have raised above $100 million in funding.

Key Features

• Startup Investment Options: Start Engine hosts a wide variety of startup investments for both accredited and non-accredited investors. Companies must fulfill specific requirements before they are allowed to launch campaigns on the platform.
• Customer Service: Provides support to its users through email or phone calls to lodge their complaints and receive guidance on how best to combat their issues.
• User Benefits: StartEngine offers numerous benefits to both investors and companies. Investors access new exciting companies to invest in and diversify their portfolios. Businesses get access to funding without going through a venture capitalist or bank.
• User Experience: The StartEngine platform is straightforward with a clear-cut interface that provides investors with information on different investment opportunities. Investors get to track their investments on the online dashboard.

Pros

• Investment starts from as little as $100
• StartEngine charges no platform fee or transaction fee
• Open to both accredited and non-accredited investors
• Provides an opportunity for companies to raise funds through regulation crowdfunding

Cons

• StartEngine charges relatively higher processing fees than other crowdfunding platforms.

StartEngine Statistics

Commissions and Fees

The initial sign-up fee on the Start Engine platform is entirely free.

Start Engine gets its returns by charging brands and companies a specific percentage of the total funding they receive on its platform. This platform charges $4,000-$10,000 for legal documentation and regulation crowdfunding financial review.

What is Crowdfunding and How Does It Work?

Crowdfunding is an effective fund sourcing strategy used by businesses to raise funds or generate financial support from a select group of individuals.

Businesses use crowdfunding platforms to raise funds by offering incentives to individuals in exchange for their support in raising money for their crowdfunding campaigns. The incentives offered can come in a number of these forms:

• Pre-ordering options and having access to critical processes of product development
• Rewards such as early bird discounts upon launch
• Access to the founding and management team
• Considerable equity in an early-stage startup or an organization in its growing stage with significant potential

Crowdfunding Fees

In exchange for hosting your crowdfunding campaign, crowdfunding sites charge platform fees either as a monthly fixed rate or a percent of the money raised, in addition to the usual transaction and payment processing fees charged by credit card processing companies.

Crowdfunding Features

Every crowdfunding site has unique features that make it stand out from other crowdfunding sites. They vary significantly in features such as their overall processing fee structure, target audiences, and the strategies employed in running their operations.

Irrespective of the unique features that characterize a fundraising platform, the underlying concept driving its operation is still the same.

All crowdfunding sites will require you to submit project proposals with your expected fundraising target and a deadline to drive your fundraising goal.

Crowdfunding Sites FAQ

What Crowdfunding Platform Should I Choose?

Crowdfunding is ideal for startups, small businesses, and organizations to raise money to launch a business or speed up growth.

With many crowdfunding sites available in the market, choosing the best crowdfunding website to raise funds for your startups and business ideas can be tricky.

The top crowdfunding websites are based on their pricing, usability, success rates, availability of easy-to-use tools, payment options, marketing, and third-party integrations.

If you need more reviews and guides to help you raise money for your startup and business, check out these resources:

• How to Get a Business Loan
• Small Business Grants
• Small Business Loans Without a Credit Card
• Crowdfunding statistics

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