In today's world, crowdfunding allows fledgling projects to take advantage of highly available investors to get the funds they need to succeed. It has become a go-to method for getting funding for startup companies. The crowdfunding market has a variety of different sites which cater to specific needs, but all have the same goal in mind.
Here are what we think are the five top crowdfunding sites in 2020.
Kickstarter
Founded in 2009 and quickly becoming the best overall crowdfunding site, Kickstarter. The site specialises in funding up and coming projects. It became so popular due to its funding model where the person that donated gets a gift back. This gift the person gets back varies depending on how much they gave. The rewards are usually associated with the project itself.
Funded over 180,000 projects with over $5 billion donated - Kickstarter
One vital part of Kickstarter is making use of an all or nothing model. It means you don't receive your donations unless your project campaign is successful.
Indiegogo
Founded in 2008 was Indiegogo. Tailored towards the same market as Kickstarter, Indiegogo is a viable option in getting your project funded. The site uses the same concept of giving back to the person that donated with a gift.
Helped bring 800,000 ideas and counting to life since 2008 - Indiegogo
Alternatively, Indiegogo scraps the all or nothing model and instead any funding you receive is paid directly to you. This is irrelevant whether you reach your goal or not.
This model is the main difference between these two crowdfunding sites. The model is the deciding factor in your choice of which site to use for your crowdfunding campaign.
GoFundMe
Launched in 2010, GoFundMe has become the crowdfunding leader in personal campaigns. It targets raising money for social change and advocacy but has become famous for a variety of different private funding. The money donated to you through GoFundMe is yours regardless if you reach your goal or not.
Since 2010, GoFundMe has raised over $9 billion from more than 120 million donations - GoFundMe
The downside to this crowdfunding site, donators don't receive any gifts from their contributions, deterring some people from donating to your campaign.
Patreon
Patreon launched in 2013 and is the unique site presently available. Ditching the typical donation model, Patreon adapted a monthly subscription service instead. It is targeted at the fans of creatives gaining them exclusive content from that creator.
150,000 creators, backed by 5 million fans, earning over $1 billion - Patreon
Patreon is the only one of its kind on the market right now so if you're looking for a subscription-based crowdfunding site, look no further.
Causes
Created in 2007, Causes is giving people the ability to make the world a better place. A crowdfunding and campaigning site focused on social, political and cultural issues. It aims itself towards people who want to make a difference.
The worlds largest online campaigning platform with over 1 billion actions taken - Causes
Conclusion
The five crowdfunding sites represent different types of crowdfunding and are the best presently available. Their variety allows you to choose the one you'll feel will suit your campaign best.
So which crowdfunding site are you going to use?
