Humanitarian Crowdfunding Explained

Humanitarian crowdfunding is a way for people to raise money for a good cause, often in response to a crisis or disaster.

People are using platforms like GoFundMe and Kickstarter to raise funds for humanitarian efforts, with some campaigns raising millions of dollars.

Humanitarian crowdfunding can be used for a wide range of causes, from disaster relief to medical expenses.

According to a study, the average crowdfunding campaign raises around $5,000, but some campaigns can raise much more, such as the $6.4 million raised by the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Consider reading: Succesful Crowdfund Campaigns

Humanitarian crowdfunding is a collaborative effort between aid agencies to raise support for humanitarian and development activities. Humanitarian stakeholders are working together to establish reporting guidelines for these campaigns.

These guidelines bring professional standards and transparency to the crowdfunding level. Proper aid activity reporting and accountability are now expected in humanitarian crowdfunding campaigns.

Campaigns are initiated by aid agencies and raise support for activities classified by OECD DAC-CRS purpose codes. These codes help categorize humanitarian and development activities.

Activities are also expected to adhere to common principles and universal minimum standards for humanitarian response outlined by the Sphere Project.

Humanitarian crowdfunding platforms often have inconsistent terms to refer to humanitarian activities. This can make it difficult to identify and support specific causes.

Crowdfunding platforms like Crowdrise and Fundly use broad categories like "Disaster Relief" and "Nonprofits and Charity", which may not accurately reflect the nature of the appeal.

YouCaring, on the other hand, lists 21 subcategories under the term "humanitarian causes", including categories like Pets and Sports, which may not be directly related to humanitarian aid.

Here's a breakdown of the inconsistent terms used by different crowdfunding platforms:

Crowdfunding platforms treat humanitarian activities differently, using inconsistent terms to refer to them. This makes it difficult to identify and track humanitarian campaigns accurately.

For example, YouCaring lists 21 subcategories under the term "humanitarian causes", including categories like Pets, Tuition, Neighbors, and Sports. This broad range of appeals makes it challenging to distinguish between humanitarian and non-humanitarian activities.

Some platforms, like Crowdrise, use specific categories like Disaster Relief and Refugee Relief, while others, like Fundly, use more general terms like Nonprofits and Charity. This inconsistency makes it hard to know what to expect from a crowdfunding campaign.

Here's a breakdown of how different platforms classify humanitarian crowdfunding campaigns:

This lack of standardization makes it difficult to trust that a crowdfunding campaign is genuinely humanitarian in nature.

We Raise Foundation does not take any portion of the donations made to our grantee's crowdfunding campaigns.

Donations to crowdfunding campaigns will incur a fee of 5.2%, which is made up of a platform fee and a credit card processing fee.

Donors can choose to cover the fee for their donation, so that the organization receives the full gift amount.

For example, if a donor gives $20 to a campaign, they will be asked if they want to add an additional $1.04 to their donation so that the organization will receive the full $20 donation.

The Climate March was a remarkable event that showed the power of collective action. It raised € 30,000 through a Crowdfunding Charity Campaign with over 1,200 donors!

This level of support is a testament to the dedication of people who care about the environment. Many individuals contributed to the campaign, showing that even small actions can add up to make a big difference.

Additional reading: Crowdfunding Campaign

The fact that over 1,200 people donated to the campaign demonstrates the impact of social movements like the Climate March. It's a reminder that together, we can achieve great things.

The € 30,000 raised by the campaign is a significant amount that can be used to support climate-related initiatives. It's a tangible result of the efforts of the people involved in the Climate March.

Worth a look: What Is a Crowdfunding Campaign

Online campaigns face restrictions due to government regulations, which can limit their reach and impact.

In some countries, online campaigns are subject to strict laws that prohibit the use of certain language or imagery.

The 2019 online campaign in Brazil was forced to remove a video that was deemed too provocative by government censors.

Online platforms often have their own set of rules and guidelines that campaigns must adhere to, which can be time-consuming and costly to navigate.

The 2020 online campaign in the United States had to remove several posts due to violating Facebook's advertising policies.

Campaigns that fail to comply with these regulations can face serious consequences, including fines and even shutdowns.

In 2018, an online campaign in China was shut down due to violating the country's strict internet laws.

WhyDonate is a great option for fundraising, charging 0% commission and only requiring payment processing costs.

You can reach a large audience through WhyDonate, with 1,000,000+ visitors per month and 850,000+ donors.

The platform offers multiple currencies, languages, and payment methods, making it accessible to donors from all over the world.

Classification systems play a crucial role in the world of crowdfunding, especially when it comes to humanitarian and development activities.

The OECD DAC Secretariat maintains a classification system called DAC-CRS, which is used to classify humanitarian and development activities. This system is widely adopted and incorporated into the International Aid Transparency Initiative's (IATI) open data sharing standard.

The DAC-CRS codes are used by hundreds of humanitarian and development organizations to classify aid activities by sector. This helps ensure transparency and accountability in aid activity reporting.

Beehive is a unique crowdfunding initiative that enables humanitarian and development organizations to launch crowdfunding campaigns with their IATI activity files. This innovative approach links aid activity reporting, DAC-CRS codes, and crowd-fundraising.

NTEE is a classification system used to classify non-humanitarian activities, highlighting the diversity of classification systems in the crowdfunding space.

WhyDonate charges 0% commission, only requiring payment processing costs for iDEAL, PayPal, Bancontact, and Credit Card.

Some crowdfunding platforms do charge fees, like the one mentioned in Example 2, which charges a 5.2% fee made up of a platform fee and a credit card processing fee.

Donors can choose to cover the fee for their donation, ensuring the organization receives the full gift amount.

You can start a crowdfunding campaign with WhyDonate, which has multiple currencies, languages, and payment methods, making it accessible to donors worldwide.

The extensive dashboard of WhyDonate shows all data about your fundraisers, donors, and payouts, giving you a clear view of your campaign's progress.

Registering on WhyDonate takes just minutes, and you can start raising money online immediately, with the option to have donations paid out immediately or wait for the automatic weekly or monthly payout.

You might like: How to Start a Crowd Fund

Crowdfunding platforms can be a powerful tool for NGOs to connect with donors and achieve their goals. Classification systems like NTEE and DAC-CRS codes help organizations like the Village Academy Foundation categorize their activities and report on their aid work.

The International Aid Transparency Initiative's (IATI) open data sharing standard incorporates DAC-CRS codes, allowing organizations to link their aid activity reporting with crowd-fundraising efforts. This is exactly what Beehive does, enabling humanitarian and development organizations to launch crowdfunding campaigns with their IATI activity files.

NGOs can use platforms like WhyDonate to start a crowdfunding charity campaign and collect donations to achieve their goals. Peer-to-peer fundraising, fundraising campaigns, and event-based fundraising are all options available on these platforms.

The Village Academy Foundation is a great example of a successful crowdfunding campaign, having raised €20,555 through WhyDonate for their campaign.

Starting a fundraiser can be a straightforward process. You can start by signing up on a platform like WhyDonate and creating your fundraiser in minutes, whether you're signing up as a person or an organization.

To create a successful fundraiser, it's essential to share your campaign with others. You can do this by sharing your fundraiser via email, WhatsApp, and other social media channels to reach as many potential donors as possible.

Recurring donations can be a great way to encourage continuous support for your cause. This type of donation allows donors to give a set amount of money at regular intervals, which can help you achieve your fundraising goals more efficiently.

To get started, you can consider using charity crowdfunding, which allows individuals and non-profit organizations to experiment with new strategies to attract more donors. This can lead to the creation of interactive and engaging campaigns that inspire and captivate potential donors.

Here are some effective ways to raise money for charity:

You can also consider using peer-to-peer fundraising, a type of fundraising where individuals fundraise on behalf of a cause or organization. Additionally, you can use event-based fundraising, which involves hosting an event to raise money for a cause.

WhyDonate's platform features and resources make it an ideal choice for humanitarian crowdfunding.

The platform charges 0% commission, only deducting payment processing costs for various payment methods.

Worth a look: White Label Crowdfunding Platform

You can reach a large audience, with 850,000+ donors and 1,000,000+ visitors per month on WhyDonate.

Their customer service is available seven days a week, from 9 AM – 5 PM Central European Time (CET), through chat, email, or scheduled telephone appointments.

WhyDonate ensures secure donations and data, storing all information encrypted and using secure payment methods.

Project Resources are a crucial part of any project's success.

You can manually add offline donations to your project, but they won't count toward the financial incentive.

Donations processed through We Raise Foundation will be counted toward the financial incentive, so make sure to use their platform for online donations.

Offline donations can be manually added by the project leader, which will be added to the total raised shown on the project page.

WhyDonate's fundraising platform is designed to help you succeed. It charges 0% commission, so you only pay the payment processing costs for methods like iDEAL, PayPal, and Credit Card.

Their customer service is accessible seven days a week, from 9 AM – 5 PM Central European Time (CET), through chat, email, or scheduled telephone appointments. You can reach them for help whenever you need it.

You can collect donations from all over the world, thanks to WhyDonate's multiple currencies, languages, and payment methods. This makes it easy to reach donors from diverse backgrounds.

Their extensive dashboard shows all the data about your fundraisers, donors, and payouts, giving you a clear picture of your campaign's progress. You can see everything you need to know at a glance.

WhyDonate has a large network of donors and visitors, with over 850,000+ donors and 1,000,000+ visitors per month. This means you can tap into a huge potential audience for your fundraiser.

Registering on WhyDonate takes just minutes, and you can start raising money online right away. It's quick and easy to get started.

You can choose to have donations paid out immediately, or wait for the automatic weekly or monthly payout. This flexibility gives you control over when you receive your funds.

WhyDonate allows you to add your own custom branding and content to fundraisers, donation forms, and emails, so you can make your campaign feel personal and engaging. This helps you build a connection with your donors.

The platform ensures secure donations and data, with all information stored encrypted and secure payments recognized by institutions. You can trust that your donors' information is safe.

Humanitarian crowdfunding is evolving to meet the needs of humanitarian organizations. It's heading toward a distributed-goal framework, where data from the humanitarian community informs giving in real-time.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Beehive, a nonprofit, are working together to make this happen. They're improving humanitarian crowdfunding by making data sourced from the humanitarian community visible and accessible.

Linking IATI (International Aid Transparency Initiative) and crowdfunding is a game-changer. It makes data on aid activities, transactions, and results visible across different crowdfunding platforms.

Humanitarian crowdfunding is evolving to meet the changing needs of humanitarian organizations and the communities they serve. It's heading toward a distributed-goal framework that allows for real-time data to inform giving and support humanitarian aid activities.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is actively involved in shaping this future for humanitarian crowdfunding. This framework will enable more effective and efficient allocation of resources.

Beehive, a nonprofit initiative, is also playing a key role in improving humanitarian crowdfunding through its open source approach. This collaborative effort is helping to create a more responsive and adaptive system for humanitarian aid.

Innovation is key to making a significant impact in the world of humanitarian crowdfunding. Linking IATI and crowdfunding is a game-changer, making data on aid activities, transactions, and results visible across different platforms.

This innovative approach has the potential to revolutionize the way aid is provided and tracked. By leveraging technology, we can increase transparency and accountability in the aid sector.

Crowdfunding platforms can now access and share data on aid activities, transactions, and results in a more standardized and efficient way. This will enable more informed decision-making and better allocation of resources.

By harnessing the power of innovation, we can create a more effective and efficient aid system that benefits those in need.

For your interest: What Are Popular Crowdfunding Platforms