Pros
Strengthening community links
Crowdfunding campaigns are always public facing, which can raise awareness of your organisation. They give people within your organisation and your wider community clear goals that can be achieved by working together and can boost morale.
Having the backing of your community can have lasting benefits, such as creating new partnerships and being able to demonstrate local support to investors and funders.
It is usually free to get started
In the first instance, it is usually free to set up your campaign on a crowdfunding platform.
Many platforms will offer you support to help you manage your project through access to things like free webinars and guides.
It's faster than some other fundraising methods
If your campaign is successful, the money will be released after the campaign deadline. Other methods, like applying for grants, can take much longer.
It can develop your marketing skills
Crowdfunding relies on good marketing and there is lots of great advice available to help you.
The skills and practices you develop through your campaign, like using social media and creating videos, can help you to gain new supporters and boost your profile.
Cons
Some platforms take a fee
Although it is usually free to set up a campaign, some platforms take a percentage of the total funds raised. This is often fixed, so research this beforehand and factor it into your final target.
Some platforms are ‘all or nothing’
Some platforms return all donations to contributors if you don’t reach your target. This can make it easier to encourage people to donate because of the urgency, but may mean you end up with nothing so make sure you set realistic targets.
Some platforms offer flexible funding where you can keep what you raise if you don’t reach your targets but the average amounts donated tend to be lower.
Marketing can make or break your campaign
People will want to find out more about an organisation before donating, so not having effective marketing tools like an easy-to-use website or social media presence may limit your campaign’s success.
