To get started, just tap the blue ‘Start a Fundraiser’ button. After a few questions to help set up your fundraiser, you’ll then write your fundraising story or, if you’re on the app, you can record a video. Next, you’ll customize your fundraiser, adding details to let potential donors understand your cause.

Once your fundraiser is live, you can always add additional photos and videos or lower or raise your goal anytime. The best way to raise funds is by sharing your fundraiser. Call family, text friends, message coworkers, or post your fundraiser link on social media to help you reach your fundraising goal.

Even if you haven’t met your fundraising goal, you can set up daily transfers to your bank account to receive money. If you need us, we’ll be there every step of the way with fundraising tips and support. Ready to get started? Start a HopeFundMe

We see people use HopeFundMe to raise money for themselves, friends and family, or even complete strangers in random acts of kindness. People raise money for just about everything, including medical expenses, education costs, volunteer programs, youth sports, funerals & memorials, and even animals & pets.

We’re always amazed at the ways people use HopeFundMe to raise money.

HopeFundMe features the very best in secure payment encryption technology. Your donors’ online payments are safe, and your money is stored securely until you’re ready to request a withdrawal via electronic bank transfer.

Once your HopeFundMe starts receiving online donations, you can easily request a withdrawal at any time. Withdrawing money does not affect the progress meter displayed on your fundraiser. Simply click ‘Withdraw’ while logged into your account and follow the instructions. You can withdraw your balance directly to your bank account. Bank transfers take 2-5 business days to arrive. 

Yes. HopeFundMe makes it easy for another friend or family member to securely access the funds you have raised. Through HopeFundMe, they will receive direct access to the money you have raised. Please note: You will not be able to enter their bank information during the withdrawal process; they will need to do this themselves.

While there are important withdrawals deadlines you’ll need to observe to avoid donations being refunded to donors, your fundraiser will remain live until you choose to turn off donations or remove the fundraiser altogether. Most organizers leave their fundraisers active indefinitely to refer back to the kind comments and support they received. 

No problem. Reaching your goal is not required. With HopeFundMe, you keep each and every donation you receive. Your fundraiser will be able to accept donations even after your goal is reached. Once the goal is reached, the progress meter on your fundraiser will show that you have received more than your goal amount. If you’d like to continue raising money, you can keep your fundraiser running for as long as you’d like.

HopeFundMe provides an easy way to raise money from your friends, family, and online community. Our platform makes it simple to share your fundraiser in a variety of ways to bring in donations, track your progress, and post updates to engage your community. Check out our fundraising tips and fundraising ideas for advice on how to raise more donations.

We are proud to offer the first and only donor protection guarantee: the HopeFundMe Giving Guarantee. Every day, thousands of people get the help they need from generous donors. Our team of Trust & Safety specialists work night and day to make sure that funds get to the intended recipient, every time. We guarantee you a full refund in the rare case something isn’t right. Whether you donate to a fundraiser for a person or a nonprofit, you’re protected.

The HopeFundMe Giving Guarantee protects your donation. Donations of any amount are covered for one full year after you donate. Your donation is protected, wherever you donate from.

You are making the world a better place for someone every time you give. We believe it’s our responsibility to protect your kindness—by protecting your donation. Donate with peace of mind. Only on HopeFundMe.

HopeFundMe.org is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that raises and distributes funds to address urgent, unmet needs of people and communities, informed by insights from the HopeFundMe platform and the philanthropic priorities of a wide range of community partners. Our impact is powered by support from HopeFundMe, Inc and a global network of donors who give generously to support our charitable funds. 

HopeFundMe.org operates at a 96% efficiency rate. This means that $0.96 of every dollar donated goes directly to support the cause. The remaining 4% reflects a combination of (a) a standard transaction fee that allows for credit card processing and the safe transfer of funds over platforms; (b) bank fees; and (c) postage and other expenses incurred in the normal course of business. HopeFundMe, Inc. supports HopeFundMe.org by sharing resources, funds, tools, and staff so that HopeFundMe.org can raise and distribute cash grants for individuals and nonprofits in a low-cost and effective manner.

Yes, because we are a public charity, donations made to HopeFundMe.org are tax- deductible in the U.S. to the extent allowed by law.

The fund you donate to will describe its mission and the types of projects it supports.

As a HopeFundMe.org fund takes in donations, our staff distributes grants to verified individuals and vetted nonprofits that meet the charitable class and purpose stated in that fund description. In some cases, funds may prioritize granting to individuals first, and then to nonprofits. Some funds opt to benefit multiple nonprofit organizations addressing the same general need.

It depends on how you donate. If you donate online via the HopeFundMe platform, your receipt will be automatically emailed to you.

If you make an offline donation or donate through a different platform, we issue donation receipts within the quarter the donation was received. That said, at times, we may be delayed.

Yes, HopeFundMe.org has both the experience and the systems in place to ensure donor anonymity for donations that it receives off the platform. For example, if the donation comes through a donor-advised fund, HopeFundMe.org does not need to know the name of the donor.

In certain contexts, information about the donor is required for legal compliance. For example, a $1,000,000 donation from outside of the United States may trigger a review under the Office of Foreign Assets Control. In that scenario, the donor’s information will be used only to comply with any legal requirements.

It is easy.

Step 1: Create. Create your HopeFundMe campaign for free. Tell your story in words, pictures and videos. Start raising money in just minutes. We give you help and advice every step of the way.

Step 2: Share. Success comes from sharing campaigns with your own network and community. Share privately via links or email or publicly on social media, websites, and blogs. And grow your audience by asking your network to share with their networks!

Step 3: Receive. Collect secure online payments by credit card, debit, and PayPal. HopeFundMe does not hold funds at all – they are transferred directly to your Stripe or PayPal account minus any applicable fees.

The short answer is no, as these require special licenses dependent on which country and state/province you are in.

Yes, many organizations have multiple fundraising efforts on the go at once. You may even assign different staff members or volunteers to help manage different campaigns.

Not at all. Adopting a new platform or technology might be a challenging task for some nonprofits or businesses. HopeFundMe simplifies the entire process and makes it easy for fundraisers to be creative and try new fundraising tools and techniques.

If you are currently using a nonprofit CRM system or software, HopeFundMe becomes a valuable, complementary add-on tool. It has an integration interface with various CRMs and other common nonprofit tools, so you shouldn’t worry about data flow and integrity. If you try HopeFundMe and succeed, it means that you just found an additional source to grow your nonprofit funds.

You can raise money for a non-profit or charity with HopeFundMe if you have direct permission to do so. As a social fundraising platform, we have to work within strict parameters when it comes to charity-driven fundraising.

Everywhere you and your supporters share it!

You can share your HopeFundMe campaign publicly on social media or run it on your website or blog. If you choose, campaigns can be completely private – hide them from being searched and only share them to private channels like email, Messenger, WhatsApp, and text messaging.

You are responsible for your own success. It is a common misconception that an audience is ready and waiting for new campaigns to fund as soon as they are launched. Crowdfunding is all about sharing campaigns with your own network and asking them to share as well.
 

If your cause could use funds raised above and beyond the set goal toward the project described in your story, then yes, you can. However, you are ethically obligated to ensure you maintain transparency with your audience, as they’ve contributed to you with the belief they are helping with a specific need.

Privacy is a top priority for HopeFundMe. We do not disclose any information to any third parties except those necessary to run our platform. Only what you choose to post publicly to a campaign will be displayed (including name and contribution amount). Your name and email address will be accessible to the person running the campaign and to the organization (if one is involved).

Campaigns created through an organization that has received our Verified badge are trustworthy. If the organization hasn’t received our Verified badge, they are still likely to be trustworthy but may not have met our Verified badge requirements. 

With personal campaigns, the funds flow to whoever created the campaign. It’s up to you to decide if you trust the person running the campaign to use the funds as you intended. HopeFundMe is vigilant about rooting out fraudulent campaigns, but we recommend that you still use your best judgment.