kickstarter
Kickstarter is specifically for funding creative projects in the worlds of Art, Comics, Crafts, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film & Video, Food, Games, Journalism, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology, and Theater. Many projects include videos to give more information about it. You cannot use Kickstarter to fund something like a study abroad program. It is an all-or-nothing process, so if your goal is met you get the funds, but if you don’t reach it you get nothing, instead of part of the amount. Kickstarter collects a 5% fee from a project’s funding total if a project is successfully funded, and card processing fees are about 3-5%. See Megan Miller in Career Development to learn more, she is the Queen of Kickstarter.
Gofundme
GoFundMe doesn’t have restrictions on the type of project you can fund, and allows you to keep your funds even if you don’t reach your goal. Most projects support medical expenses, education costs, volunteer programs, youth sports, funerals & memorials - even animals & pets. It collects a 5% fee from the project’s funding total and also has card processing fees of about 3%.
Indiegogo
Like GoFundMe, it is free to sign up, to create a campaign, and to contribute to a campaign. There are no campaign restrictions. When your campaign raises funds, Indiegogo charges a 5% fee on the funds you raise. Card processing fees run around 3-5%.