These days, it is easier than ever to set up your own webpage to help raise money for a good cause. Thanks to websites like JustGiving and GoFundMe, anyone can create an easy-to-access platform to encourage their family and friends to give what they can at a charity fundraiser. Once you’ve spread the word, it’s a surefire way to generate donations, as well as being an easy way to monitor them and update your supporters on the progress and eventual result of your fundraiser.
Here are the basic steps for setting up a page of your own on some of the major online fundraising platforms. For most of these, you’ll need to make an account before setting your page up.
JustGiving
JustGiving has existed since 2000 and, as one of the earliest online platforms of its kind, helped to change the game for fundraising in general, since being responsible for raising at least £4bn. It’s a trusted, reputable site with an intuitive and user-friendly interface.
- Click on ‘Start Fundraising’ and select ‘Yes, continue’ when asked if you are raising money for a registered charity.
- Search for your cause among the list of options.
- Choose a category for your fundraiser.
- Choose the web address for your page.
- Confirm whether you are running a bake sale or selling tickets to a charity event. The website needs to know this in order to comply with Gift Aid regulations.
- Click ‘Create your page’ and that’s it! Your page is up and running and ready to receive its first donations.
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is another well-established fundraising option. Money is transferred directly to your chosen charity without them having to pay processing fees, and 100% of Gift Aid goes directly to the charity too. The option to run fundraisers as a team can really come in handy if that’s what you are organising.
- Click on ‘Start a GoFundMe’ in the top right-hand corner of the homepage and either sign into your account or follow the instructions to create a new one.
- Click on ‘Start new fundraiser’ on your dashboard.
- Choose an amount and a currency for your goal. You can make it as big or small as you want, but think about what is realistically attainable too. You can always adjust it later if you want.
- Choose a title for your fundraiser. This is a chance to use your creative skills! It has to be 35 characters or less, so aim for something punchy!
- When prompted, choose the ‘Nonprofit’ option to confirm that you are organising a charity fundraiser.
- Enter your postcode.
- Choose a category for your fundraiser.
- Select whether you are the sole organiser or part of a team. You can always change this later if you end up recruiting more people to help you.
- Add an image. This often increases your chances of receiving donations.
- Write a short description of your fundraiser. Include information about who you are, who you’re raising money for and what your fundraiser is.
- You have now successfully created your page. All that’s left to do to start receiving donations is share it around with your friends! GoFundMe offers you an easy way to do this: linking your page to your Facebook account. Failing that, you can generate a link to your page and share it by email.
Givey
This platform focuses on helping out small-to-medium-sized charities with a focus on the social aspects of charitable work.
- Click on ‘Start Fundraising’ and either sign into your account or create a new one.
- Fill in the details in the form that pops up. Select your chosen charity, then fill in the fields for the date of your fundraiser, when it’s taking place, and your reasons for setting it up.
- Your page is now live! You can now add a cover photo to your page
Virgin Money Giving
Virgin Money’s sponsorship of the London Marathon spurred them on to set up this vehicle for online fundraising. They have since helped millions of pounds to be raised, but be warned: there is a one-off membership fee of £150 and processing fees mean that less of your money will end up in the charity’s pocket.
- Click on ‘Start Fundraising’.
- Log in or create an account by entering your email address and choosing a password and supplying the other personal details requested.]
- Choose the type of page that you want to set up. If you are the sole organiser, select ‘My Challenge’; choose ‘Someone Special’ if you’re raising money in someone’s memory; and pick ‘Team Challenge’ if you’re part of a fundraising team.
- Follow the next steps required depending on the type of page you have chosen to create.
- Your page is now live; you can now customise it by uploading photos, writing a summary and setting a target.
Wonderful
The two best things about Wonderful are that every penny of your money goes to your chosen charity and that there’s no need to create an account. It was relaunched earlier this year and offers a very easy way to start raising money.
- Click on ‘Start Fundraising’.
- Fill in your first and last names, choose a password and confirm it.
- Come up with a name for your page, select the charity you are supporting, and set a target.
- Select whether you are fundraising as an individual or as part of a team.
- Add a ‘story’ paragraph with some details about your fundraising activity, then accept the terms and conditions.
- Your page is now up and running.
Facebook Fundraisers
Setting up a Facebook fundraiser can save you the bother of having to sign up to a specific website, since anyone with an account can create one. There are no fees involved.
- Log in to Facebook and click on ‘Fundraisers’ on the left-hand side.
- Click on ‘Raise money’.
- Select ‘Nonprofit’.
- Search for your charity from the list.
- Type in a target and select a currency.
- Click on ‘Create’.
- You then have the chance to start things off by sharing your page with your friends or by making a donation yourself. Alternatively, you can click on ‘Not now’ and do all this later.