FundRazr
FundRazr platform 2020
Type of site
Crowdfunding
Available inEnglish
Created byDaryl Hatton
URLfundrazr.com
Launched1 September 2009 (2009-09-01)
Current statusActive

FundRazr is a free crowdfunding and online fundraising platform released in 2009. FundRazr operates internationally in 35+ counties with the largest markets being United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia.[1][2] It allows users to run a wide-range of crowdfunding campaigns by creating fundraising pages and sharing it via social media, messaging apps, email and more[3][4] to raise money for over 100 types of causes such as nonprofit, medical care, education, community help, poverty alleviation, arts, memorials, and animal rescue causes.[5][6] FundRazr also works with more than 4000 nonprofits, charities and social enterprises with an advanced fundraising toolset for free.[7] The digital fundraising platform provides 8 different campaign types. They include microproject fundraising, peer-to-peer campaigns,[8] wishlist campaigns, recurring donations, branded sponsorship campaigns, DIY projects, sweepstake campaigns, and storefront campaigns.[9][10]

History

FundRazr was founded in 2008 by Daryl Hatton. The head office is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The platform was initially a Facebook app that allowed users to crowdfund money over Facebook.[11] It has since developed into a full online fundraising tool set. FundRazr was the first crowdfunding platform to provide a collaborative community payment model, wherein funds are deposited directly to a company or cause—an example of which is their partnership with Heritage Education Funds to allow families to crowdfund directly to a Registered Educations Savings Plan (RESP).[12]

In November 2015, FundRazr partnered with Place2Give to enable users to crowdfund directly for any registered charity in North America capable of issuing tax receipts directly from FundRazr using the GIVE_api.[13] In 2018, FundRazr was modified into an enterprise crowdfunding platform and launched the Distribution Partnership Program.[14]

Business model

FundRazr uses the donation/perks crowdfunding model available for organizations, charities and personal causes with two pricing options: free (0% platform fee), standard (5% for advanced functionality) and pro (fee recovery models).[15] A fee is not charged if no fund is raised. FundRazr allows users to create a campaign page for their cause. The page can then be shared through social media, email or embedded onto a third-party website to solicit donations from supporters. Supporters contribute to a cause through comments, shares, likes, and donations, which are all visible on Facebook.[16][17] FundRazr is in partnership with PayPal which allow users to deposit and withdraw funding.[18]

The fundraising platform provides two campaign options for users to raise money: Keep It All or All Or Nothing. Keep It All means all of the funds the campaign raised will be deposited into the user's account, giving the person immediate access to the capital. All Or Nothing means if the campaign does not meet the goal by the deadline, no money will be charged to the donors or given to the user.[4] In other words, if the campaign does not raise enough to get the project off the ground, the user has the option to back out.[4]

On 20 August 2013, FundRazr introduced "Crowdfunding as a Service" technology, which allows web publishers and companies to run crowdfunding service on their site.[19] FundRazr subsequently announced its first official PoweredBy partner, HealthLine on 17 December 2013.[20]

As of 2013, illness, medical and health-related causes represent 58% of money raised. Memorials/tributes represents another 12%. On 28 February 2013, Fundrazr announced that it had raised $20 million for its users.[21][22][23][24] As of July 2018, FundRazr had raised over $116 million from over 140,000 campaigns.[25]

In November 2020, FundRazr crossed $200 million total funds raised.[4] As of April 2021, FundRazr officially launched fiscal sponsorship crowdfunding where all fiscally sponsored projects can raise unrestricted funds using the fiscal sponsor's 501c3 number.[14][26]

Awards

Reception

FundRazr is listed as the best overall alternative to Kickstarter in 2022.[4] Along with competitors like Indiegogo and GoFundMe, FundRazr is also listed as one of the top major players in the crowdfunding market.[29]

Notable projects

Rank Total raised Project start Project description
1 $2,371,889 August 2016 The Sacred Stone Legal Defense Fund raised over $2 million in 90 days to fund the legal defense for the #NODAPL protesters of the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline.[30][31]
2 $1,278,999 October 2015 Researchers at the American Gut Project, the world's largest crowdsourced, crowdfunded science project, has raised more than $1 million from over 6,500 "citizen scientists" who have agreed to have their microbiomes sequenced.[32]
3 $1,007,356 March 2012 Professional Gamer Athene's project Operation Sharecraft raises over $1 Million (including a matching grant of $500,000 from DC Entertainment) for East African Relief by Save the Children.[33]
4 $414,869 July 2011 WikiLeaks Staff Legal Defence Team raises £233,650 as of 7 November 2013 for Wikileaks staff costs and Julian Assange's legal defence.[34]
5 $256,740 October 2016 Water Protector Legal Collective partnered with the National Lawyers Guild to raise money for the #NoDAPL protests in North Dakota.[35]
6 $181,346 November 2016 Over $181,000 raised in a peer-to-peer campaign by Aprons for Gloves Boxing Association to support Vancouver's Downtown East Side.
7 $110,536 November 2015 Over $110,000 raised for Peterborough Mosque that was attacked and burnt.[36]
8 $107,742 November 2013 Over $100,000 raised for an Australian king hit victim.[37]
9 $103,034 December 2013 Over $100,000 raised for father with incurable brain cancer[38]
10 $103,014 August 2013 WikiLeaks Staff Legal Defence Team raises $63,969 as of 7 November 2013 for Edward Snowden's legal defence[39]
11 $97,969 July 2013 Almost $90,000 raised for single mother who lost 3 limbs in a dog bite accident[40][41]
12 $93,402 April 2012 Over $90,000 raised for Tiger Woods' foundation to send 10 deserving students to college[42]
13 $59,778 October 2016 The Heiltsuk First Nation of Bella Bella raised nearly $60,000[43] to cover the costs of a diesel spill in their waters.[44]
14 $30,544 October 2013 Over $30,000 raised for "good hearted boy",who used the money to pay off overdue lunch accounts in local elementary schools.[45]

References

  1. ^ "Countries & Currencies". FundRazr. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Crowd-funding | Human Rights & Science". www.humanrightsandscience.se. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Functionality description". FundRazr.
  4. ^ a b c d e "The 6 Best Alternatives to Kickstarter in 2022". Investopedia. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  5. ^ Ivor Tossell, “FundRazr pushes crowdfunding to next level with social platform”, The Globe and Mail, 7 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Trending fundraisers and crowdfunding campaigns raising money online - FundRazr". fundrazr.com. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Homepage". FundRazr. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  8. ^ Thorpe, Devin. "What Is Crowdfunding?". Forbes. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Nonprofit-Crowdfunding". FundRazr. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Crowdfunding Guide - Models, Major Players and Success Stories". ChipIn. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  11. ^ Knowlton Thomas, “Exclusive Interview: Vancouver's FundRazr raises the bar with monumental PayPal and Facebook collaboration” Techvibes, 8 August 2010.
  12. ^ "Crowdfunding for RESPs: Toronto company launches ‘simple solution’ to raise money for child’s education" Financial Post, 2 December 2015.
  13. ^ "FundRazr, Dexterity Ventures to Launch Partnership on National Philanthropy Day" TechVibes. 10 November 2015.
  14. ^ a b "About". FundRazr. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  15. ^ Stephen Hui, “Vancouver startups put a new spin on crowdfunding”, Straight.com, 27 November 2012
  16. ^ "Nelson Bennett, "Social media harnessed to raise investment dollars", Business Vancouver, 24 July 2012". Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  17. ^ Kate Taylor, “6 Top Crowdfunding Websites: Which One Is Right For Your Project?”, Forbes, 6 August 2013.
  18. ^ “Exclusive Interview: Vancouver's FundRazr raises the bar with monumental PayPal and Facebook collaboration” Knowlton Thomas, Techvibes, 8 August 2010.
  19. ^ Rob Lewis, “FundRazr Introduces Crowdfunding as a Service” Rob Lewis, Techvibes, 20 August 2013.
  20. ^ Joseph Czikk , “VANCOUVER’S FUNDRAZR TO HELP AMERICANS CROWDFUND HEALTHCARE COSTS” Joseph Czikk, Betakit, 17 December 2013.
  21. ^ Sumari MacLeod, "Vancouver's Fundrazr Hits $20 Million in Donations", Techvibes,28 February 2013
  22. ^ Cheryl Alkon, "'Crowdfunding' sites pay medical bills, raise hopes", USA Today, 18 January 2013
  23. ^ Lauren Dugan, “PayPal Makes Online Fundraising a Social Experience with FundRazr”, SocialTimes, 19 August 2010
  24. ^ Hansen, Evan; Tate, Ryan (1 November 2012). "Can Facebook Army Supercharge Nonprofit Fundraising? First Test: Sandy". Wired. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  25. ^ "About". FundRazr. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  26. ^ "Fiscal Sponsorship New". FundRazr. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  27. ^ Cassandra Leger, "FundRazr Crowdfunding Platform Named Most Promising Startup At The Technology Impact Awards", Right Startups ,10 July 2013 Archived 19 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  28. ^ Sumari MacLeod, "http://www.techvibes.com/blog/the-good-and-the-bad-of-the-2013-vancouver-social-media-awards-2013-04-01", Techvibes ,1 April 2013
  29. ^ "Crowdfunding Market Growth (Status and Outlook) 2022-2028 | Opportunities and Challenges | Industry Size, Share, Revenue Analysis | Reports by Absolute Reports". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  30. ^ "7 Ways to Support Standing Rock's Protest Against the Dakota Access Pipeline". Harper's BAZAAR. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  31. ^ "Sacred Stone Legal Defense Fund". FundRazr. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  32. ^ “American Gut Project Crowdfunds $1 Million to Study the Human Microbiome”, UC San Diego News Center, 29 October 2015.
  33. ^ Kate Cox, “Gaming Provocateur Aiming to Raise $1 Million for Humanitarian Aid”, Kotaku, 27 March 2012
  34. ^ John Hudson, “Why WikiLeaks Is Raising Money Using MasterCard and PayPal Again”, The Atlantic Wire, 2 March 2011.
  35. ^ "Water Protector Legal Collective, formerly Red Owl". FundRazr. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  36. ^ “Faith manages: Peterborough rebuilds as mosque fire deemed a hate crime”, The Globe and Mail, 17 November 2015.
  37. ^ Emma-Jayne Schenk, “Ongoing battle for king hit victim Matt Scarff”, Bendigo Advertiser , 4 January 2014.
  38. ^ Amy Remeikis, “Homecoming for Rome Torti”, Brisbane Times , 3 January 2014.
  39. ^ “WikiLeaks launches site for Edward Snowden's legal defense” Adrianne Jeffries, The Verge, 28 October 2013.
  40. ^ “Ottawa mother loses 3 limbs after dog bite infection” CBC News, CBC News, 21 July 2013.
  41. ^ “How an Ottawa mother lost three limbs to rare dog bite infection, but not her spirit” Sarah Boesveld, National Post, 22 July 2013.
  42. ^ "Tiger Woods Foundation, "Help send 10 deserving students to college", Tiger Woods Foundation, 19 April 2012". Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  43. ^ "Support Heiltsuk Efforts in Diesel Spill". FundRazr. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  44. ^ McSheffrey, Elizabeth (18 October 2016). "First Nation considering lawsuit after diesel spill destroys clam beds". National Observer. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  45. ^ “'Good-hearted boy': 8-year-old pays off overdue lunch accounts”, Today, 4 March 2014.

External links

Crowdfunding platforms
Categories