Charlie Wells is CMO and head of crowdfunding and internationalisation at Justgiving. We caught up with Charlie to ask him a few questions about the JustGiving Crowdfunding platform, and why the organisation has added donation-based crowdfunding as an option for JustGiving users.

Why should charities, community groups and social entrepreneurs be excited about crowdfunding?

Simple – you can reach more people, raise more money and therefore change more lives.

People who give to crowdfunding projects are generally younger and less engaged in the charity sector. It does not mean they don’t give, they just want to feel more connected to the impact of their money. That’s why they love crowdfunding. Giving is really tangible and rewarding. If you are a charity, community group or social entrepreneur, crowdfunding is a fantastic way to build a community of committed supporters, while making a positive impact.

Why was your platform set up and what are you hoping to achieve?

JustGiving believes in a world where no good cause goes unfunded. Helping people in need is just an extension of helping charities. We want to provide an easy, effective and social way to raise money online, so that anyone in need can quickly reach a large amount of people and raise urgently needed funds.

How can your platform help people or organisations interested in fundraising for a good cause?

JustGiving is about exactly this. We exist to ensure no good cause goes unfunded. Anyone can set up a page for a cause they care about and receive their first donation in minutes. Just go to JustGiving.com and click ‘start fundraising’. If you work for a charity or a community group you can get access to even more features allowing people to fundraise for your campaigns. Again, head to the site to find out more or get in touch and our success team will happily help you out.

Are there any unique features of your platform we should know about?

JustGiving is the UK’s largest and fastest growing donation-based crowdfunding platform. We help our users raise more than any other platform by sharing people’s stories to our community of over 18 million givers. We have applied our decades of experience in event-based fundraising to creating the best crowdfunding experience. Givers trust JustGiving and crowdfunders receive what they raise.

If you could give three tips to someone using crowdfunding for a good cause what would they be?

1. Think small and start: Don’t start by raising £100 million. Try and raise £500 in a few weeks to help someone you know who is having a tough time, or for your club or for a really specific appeal. You don’t need to spend months planning. Start small and start today, you’ll learn a huge amount from the experience.

2. Tell your story: explain what will change once you have raised the money, why you need the amount you do and where the money will be spent. Set a tangible goal that people can relate to, and so that they can see where their donation will help. ‘Help paying for Jo’s hotel bill while in London receiving cancer treatment’ is far more likely to raise money than a ‘family support’ generic appeal.

3. Share and update: by its very nature crowdfunding needs to be social, the power of your social network should not be underestimated. Share with email, Facebook and other social channels and get your closest family/supporters to help spread the page. Don’t forget to keep updating your supporters throughout the campaign, let them know how you are doing and thank them for donating.

You can learn more about JustGiving Crowdfunding and the types of projects they support on www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding

Read the other interviews with crowdfunding platforms.
 

Photo credit: University of the Fraser Valley, Creative Commons 2.0 license