GoFundMe, the world’s largest social fundraising platform, has introduced free crowdfunding and the GoFundMe Guarantee—the first and only policy of its kind in the industry—in Australia. Now with a 0% platform fee and powerewd by voluntary donor contributions, GoFundMe offers Australians the safest and quickest way to support one another.
With a 0% platform fee for all Australian campaigns, GoFundMe will rely on voluntary contributions from donors to help with the costs associated with providing its best-in-class customer service, trust and safety protections, and social fundraising technology.
“We are always looking for ways to make fundraising easier, faster, and more successful,” said Rob Solomon, CEO of GoFundMe. “With more than two million Australians donating to a GoFundMe campaign, Australia has quickly become one of our fastest-growing giving communities. We’re excited to offer a free platform to make it possible for more Australians to get the direct help they need, as quickly as possible, for any cause that’s important to them.”
GoFundMe released new data showing that Australians have started over 100,000 campaigns, with more than AUD $200 million raised for Australians to date. In the last year alone, over 700,000 donors around the globe have generously given to Australian GoFundMe campaigns, with support coming in from over 150 countries.
Dynamic Business had a chat with Solomon about GoFundMe’s new policy and how the platform protects donors.
How will this new policy still allow GoFundMe to be a profitable business?
We’re excited to introduce a 0% platform fee in Australia which means that GoFundMe is now powered by the generosity of our donors.
When a donor makes a donation to a GoFundMe campaign, they will have the opportunity to leave a voluntary contribution which will help improve our free platform and continue offering the best-in-class Trust & Safety team, around the clock customer support, the best technology and mobile app dedicated to social fundraising.
Our giving community finds value in the services we provide and we’re confident through the tipping model we can rely on the generosity of our donor community to support GoFundMe.
- Why has this new policy been introduced? How will it further protect Aussie donors?
GoFundMe’s mission is to empower people to help people and we’re always looking of ways to improve the GoFundMe experience for our users. After listening carefully to our community’s feedback, we wanted to make raising money faster, easier, and more successful for organisers.
Another example of our commitment to our giving community is offering the GoFundMe Guarantee to our Australian donors; its the first and only crowdfunding guarantee. It adds an unparalleled layer of security to our platform. Donors are protected by a refund policy and all funds raised on GoFundMe are guaranteed to go to the right person.
We want to ensure that GoFundMe is the safest place to give and get help, and that our giving community has complete piece of mind when using our platform.
- How do GoFundMe prevent scams on the platform?
GoFundMe is the safest place to give online. Our platform is backed by the GoFundMe Guarantee, fully protecting donors and campaign organisers.
Misuse on our platform is extremely rare, making up less than one tenth of one percent of all campaigns. Fraud, whether it takes place online or offline, is against the law. If it takes place on GoFundMe, our donors are protected by the GoFundMe Guarantee and their donations are refunded.
When all’s said and done, we want to ensure GoFundMe donors’ intentions are honored and the recipient gets the funds raised on their behalf. If something isn’t right, we will ensure that donors are protected, and we make sure that every dollar raised goes to the right place.
- How much money has GoFundMe helped to raise for the Australian charity community- how does this compare to other Countries?
More than two million Australians have helped each other by supporting GoFundMe campaigns, making the country one of our fastest-growing giving communities in the world.
Since GoFundMe launched in Australia in 2016, Australians have been eager to support those they care about, raising $200 million to date for more than 100,000 campaigns.
In terms of global reach, in the last year alone, donors from around the globe have generously given to Australian GoFundMe, with support coming in from over 150 countries.
