As an entrepreneur or small business owner, one of the main challenges to overcome is gaining access to capital to grow your business. You may have heard of or even contributed to crowdfunding platforms for various causes. When it comes to selecting the right crowdfunding platform for your business, there are definitely pros and cons and different limitations and fees associated with each platform. Below we put together a quick takeaway for the Kickstarter, GoFundMe, and Indiegogo platforms. Our goal with The Black Coffee Company is for our community to learn as we learn.
Kickstarter:
All or nothing. If you do not reach your goal, you do not receive any funds.
Fees: 5% of total funds raised + (3% + 0.20 per pledge)
Best to run a campaign for less than 30 days. Do not overlap with holiday. Thursday is the best day to end a campaign between late morning and early afternoon.
Primarily used to help develop product(s) you plan to sell.
GoFundMe:
Every donation is yours to keep, whether or not you reach your goal
Fee: 2.9% plus $0.30 per pledge
Your fundraiser will remain live until you choose to turn off donations or remove the campaign altogether
Indiegogo
You can do all or nothing (fixed) or collect what you raise (flexible)
Fee: 5% of total funds raised + ( 2.9% + $0.3 per pledge).