What are the Top Fundraising Websites for Teens?

Crowdfunding, or raising money for a project or cause online, has become an incredibly popular strategy for fundraising.

As Chance Barnett (co-founder and CEO of crowdfunder.com) recently stated in Forbes, “Unless you’ve been living in a remote island for the last few years, you’ve heard about crowdfunding or stories of people raising thousands or millions of dollars online.” Everyone from elementary school students raising money for classmates in need to Hollywood celebrities

There are now hundreds of platforms for fundraising online, and each has a slightly different focus. For example, Kickstarter, arguably the most popular, has garnered massive support for funding creative projects, but it is not appropriate for charitable project fundraising.

Charitable Crowdfunding

 For teenagers who are interested in using a crowdfunding website to raise money for charity work or volunteer projects, we’ve sorted through the masses and identified our top picks for online fundraising:

1. Volunteerforever.com: VolunteerForever is great because it is specifically targeted for those who are fundraising to do volunteer work! It’s a newer website and is Headquartered in San Diego (like us!). One unique feature about Volunteer Forever is that they enable donors to make an additional $5 contribution to help cover your transactions fees. Over 35% of donors elect this option, so there’s no need to worry about fees!

2.  Indiegogo.com: Indiegogo approves donation-based campaigns for nearly any cause, and it’s simple interface and membership plans make it a great choice for teens who are raising money to do good in the world! With only a 4% transaction fee (plus 3% third party credit card processing), it also has one of the crowdfunding world’s lowest costs.

3. GoFundMe.com: GoFundMe has raised nearly $150 million for individual fundraisers in countless fields, and has a straightforward pricing plan (7.9% + .30 per transaction) that allows fundraisers to be upfront with their donors. GoFundMe also offers great social media plug-ins that make promoting your fundraiser efficient and easy.

Teens like Grey Gondella, a Global Leadership Adventures alum who has traveled to Ghana and Costa Rica with the organization, can use these sites to raise money to go on volunteer program. Many also design and promote continuing projects in the regions that they volunteered in upon returning home- like Grey’s mission of building a library in Atonsu-Agogo, Ghana. Her GoFundMe Site is a great example for anyone who is interested in using a crowdfunding site to raise money for a charitable project! Best of all, she’s raised $5,000 for her project- and reached her goal!