Unlocking Success: 2 Simple Ways to Raise Money with Crowdfunding on WordPress

Raising funds can often be a lengthy process filled with planning, pitching to investors, and dealing with potential rejections. However, many individuals choose to simplify this journey by utilizing crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo.

Fortunately, there are more straightforward methods available that don’t require reliance on third-party platforms.

By using WordPress, you can run your own crowdfunding campaigns. This approach gives you greater control and reduces fees. Plus, with the assistance of WordPress plugins, the process is more manageable than you might expect.

In this article, we will guide you through the simple steps to set up crowdfunding on your WordPress website.

Understanding Crowdfunding: What It Is and Why You Should Consider It

Crowdfunding is a method for individuals to gather funds for various projects, charitable causes, or personal needs.

Entrepreneurs frequently leverage crowdfunding to secure startup capital without relinquishing equity to investors. Instead of receiving ownership stakes, contributors are rewarded with various perks.

These perks can range from branded merchandise like shirts and stickers to the actual products being offered. Generally, the larger the contribution, the more appealing the reward.

Crowdfunding isn’t limited to businesses; individuals and nonprofit organizations can also utilize it to fund causes they are passionate about, such as medical bills, disaster relief efforts, or community initiatives.

Many individuals turn to platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo for crowdfunding. However, these platforms come with certain drawbacks.

For instance, Kickstarter charges a 5% fee on the funds you raise, in addition to processing fees. Moreover, if you fail to reach your funding goal, you won’t receive any funds.

This is why utilizing a WordPress website is a superior choice. It offers you full control and flexibility over your crowdfunding campaign.

Let’s explore how you can effectively raise funds through crowdfunding on WordPress.

How to Launch a Crowdfunding Campaign with WordPress

The simplest way to initiate crowdfunding isby employing a WordPress plugin. Numerous donation and fundraising pluginsenable you to accept online payments from supporters and fund your project.

In this guide, we will introduce you to two plugins that can help you kickstart your crowdfunding efforts on WordPress. If you want to jump to a specific method, feel free to click the link below:

• Method 1: Fundraising through Crowdfunding with Charitable
• Method 2: Building a Crowdfunding Form with WPForms

Are you ready? Let’s begin.

Method 1: Fundraising through Crowdfunding with Charitable

Charitable is a highly-rated crowdfunding plugin for WordPress, utilized by over 10,000 nonprofit organizations to effectively raise funds through crowdfunding and donations.

This plugin provides a variety of features and extensions to help you launch your crowdfunding campaign. For example, you can implement peer-to-peer fundraising on your WordPress site and leverage word-of-mouth marketing to gather donations.

For this tutorial, we will be using Charitable Pro, which includes the ‘Ambassador’ extension for peer-to-peer fundraising along with additional payment gateway options. Let’s start by creating an account.

Once your account is set up, you can install and activate the core Charitable plugin. If you need assistance, please refer to our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

After activation, you will see the Charitable welcome screen in your WordPress dashboard. Now, navigate to Charitable » Settings»General in the admin panel.

Here, you will find a ‘License’ section. Simply input your license key and click the ‘Verify Key’ button.

You can locate your key in your Charitable account.

Next, proceed to the ‘Payment Gateways’ tab. Click the ‘Enable Gateway’ button to activate your preferred payment method.

Charitable supports popular payment gateways including Stripe, PayPal, and offline payment options.

Additionally, you can integrate more payment options like Mollie, Paystack, Braintree, Authorize.net, and others.

After activating your chosen payment method, you will be taken to a page to enter the details for your payment gateway.

For instance, we will configure PayPal as our selected payment gateway.

In the PayPal settings, you will need to provide your PayPal email address along with the API credentials, which can be accessed by logging into your PayPal business account.

Once you have completed this, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom of the page.

The next step involves creating a fundraising campaign using Charitable.

Simply navigate to Charitable » Campaigns » Add New in your WordPress dashboard, where you can input a name for your campaign in the popup that appears.

After selecting a name, click the ‘Create Campaign’ button to proceed.

The following step is to choose a campaign template.

Charitable provides over 10 pre-designed templates to simplify your campaign creation. You can browse through categories like ‘Environmental,’ ‘Events,’ ‘Medical,’ and more to find the ideal template for your initiative.

In this tutorial, we will select the ‘Save The Museum’ template from the ‘Club / Organization’ category.

To use the template, simply hover over it and click the ‘Create Campaign’ button.

Charitable will then direct you to the campaign builder, where you can easily drag and drop elements from the left panel to the right.

You can also modify existing elements by clicking on them in the live preview, which will open the customization options for that element in the left panel.

For instance, we updated the campaign description to better reflect our goals.

Just click on the ‘About This Project’ element and edit the text in the ‘Campaign Description’ field located in the left panel.

If you scroll down in the live preview, you will see a progress bar that shows both the total donations received and the fundraising goal.

By default, Charitable will display the infinite icon for your crowdfunding campaign.

Now, let’s proceed to the ‘Settings’ section.

In the ‘General’ settings, you can set the campaign goal and end date. If you don’t have a specific target amount, you can leave the ‘Goal’ field empty, but consider setting an expiry date to instill a sense of urgency.

Next, be sure to review the ‘Donation Options’ section.

Here, you will find four customizable pre-made suggestions along with their descriptions.

To add suggested donation amounts for your campaign, simply click the ‘+ Add a Suggested Amount’ button and input the desired amount.

Once you are finished, remember to click ‘Save’ to ensure your changes are preserved.

Next, expand the ‘Draft’ dropdown menu and select ‘Publish’ to make your campaign live on your website.

Congratulations! You have successfully created and published your first crowdfunding campaign with Charitable.

Now, visit your website to see your crowdfunding campaign in action. Here’s a preview of what it might look like:

Setting Up Peer-to-Peer Fundraising with WP Charitable

WP Charitable also enables you to set up peer-to-peer fundraising in WordPress, allowing your team members and individuals to create their own campaigns to help reach your overall crowdfunding goal.

To get started, you need to install and activate the ‘Ambassadors’ extension on your website.

Let’s navigate toCharitable » Addonsin your WordPress admin area. Then, click on the ‘Install Addon’ button located in the ‘Charitable Ambassadors Addon’ box.

After activation, go toCharitable » Settingsand switch to the ‘Ambassadors’ tab.

Next, check the box labeled ‘Fundraisers for existing campaigns.’

As you scroll down the page, you’ll see an option to remove the requirement for users to create an account before submitting. Be sure to save your changes once you’re finished.

Now, you’ll create a fundraising page using the block editor. This is the page where users will be directed to start their own peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.

Simply go to Pages »Add New in your WordPress dashboard. Click the ‘+’ button and search for the Shortcode block.

Once you’ve found it, add it to the page and copy-paste the following shortcode:

[charitable_submit_campaign]

Here’s how it may appear in the page editor:

Remember to click the ‘Publish’ button to save your settings.

Next, navigate to Charitable » Settings and scroll down to the ‘Pages’ section.

In the ‘Campaign Submission Page’ dropdown, select ‘Fundraiser Submission’ from the list of options.

Again, make sure to click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

Next, you can either modify an existing campaign in Charitable or create a new one.

Simply go to Charitable » Campaigns and select ‘Edit with Builder’ or ‘Add New.’ For this guide, we will focus on the crowdfunding campaign we just set up.

This will direct you to Charitable’s builder interface. From here, navigate to Settings and select the ‘Ambassadors and Peer to Peer Fundraising’ section.

In the ‘Peer to Peer Fundraising’ section, make sure to enable the ‘Allow peer to peer fundraisers for this campaign’ option.

Under Peer-to-Peer Fundraising, you will now see various settings. You can choose who can join the fundraiser, customize fundraiser fields, set a fundraising goal, upload a photo, and more.

Simply click the ‘Save’ button when you have finished.

Now, let’s return to the ‘Design’ section to add the fundraising button. From here, drag the ‘Shortcode’ field into the live preview.

In the settings for this field, you can create a headline. For instance, our headline is ‘Create Your Fundraiser.’

Then, you will need to add [charitable_fundraise_button] to the ‘Shortcode’ field.

Once you have completed that, click ‘Save.’

A fundraising option will now be available in your campaign. When users click the fundraising button, they can select the type of fundraiser they wish to create.

Next, users can easily provide details about the fundraiser and verify their email addresses. Once completed, they can start raising funds for your crowdfunding project.

For further information, check out our guide on how to set up peer-to-peer fundraising in WordPress.

Method 2: Create a Crowdfunding Form with WPForms

Another effective way to raise funds through crowdfunding on WordPress is by utilizing WPForms. It is the top form plugin for WordPress and incredibly user-friendly.

With WPForms, you can quickly create any type of form in minutes using its drag-and-drop builder, without needing to edit any code. It also integrates effortlessly with payment platforms like PayPal and Stripe, enabling you to accept online payments from supporters.

For this tutorial, we will use the WPForms Pro version, as it includes a template for nonprofit crowdfunding forms and payment gateway integrations. However, you can also try the free WPForms Lite version.

First, let’s install and activate the WPForms plugin on your website. If you need assistance, please refer to our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

After installation, you can navigate to WPForms » SettingsAccess your WordPress dashboard and input your license key, which you can easily locate in your account.

Next, integrate various payment services to facilitate crowdfunding. WPForms is compatible with payment providers such as Stripe, PayPal, Square, and Authorize.net.

Simply navigate to WPForms » Addonsin the WordPress admin panel and click the ‘Install Addon’ button for the payment addon you wish to use.

Once the add-on is activated, you can create a crowdfunding form for your WordPress site.

To begin, go to WPForms » Add Newin the WordPress dashboard. This will open the WPForms drag-and-drop form builder.

In the ‘Setup’ section, enter a name for your form at the top of the screen. This name is for your reference only, so feel free to choose any name you like.

The next step is to find the ‘Nonprofit Crowdfunding Form’ template from the menu on your left. Hover over the template and click the ‘Use Template’ button.

From this point, utilize the drag-and-drop form builder to personalize the template.

WPForms comes with pre-added form fields in the template. You can enhance your form by dragging additional fields from the left menu or rearranging the existing ones.

Each form field can be further customized to meet your needs.

Select a form field to access additional options in the left menu. You can modify the field’s label and format, set it as required, and more.

Next, navigate to the ‘Payment’ tab within the WPForms form builder.

In this section, choose the payment gateway you wish to integrate with your crowdfunding form.

For this tutorial, we will choose PayPal. Check the box to ‘Enable PayPal Standard payments’ in the settings.

You will then need to enter your PayPal email address and select ‘Donation’ from the ‘Payment Type’ dropdown menu.

Below this, you can specify a ‘Cancel URL.’ This is a valuable opportunity to keep in touch with users who decide to abandon the checkout process.

You can also adjust the shipping address options and invite buyers to include a note with their payment.

Once you have finished customizing, remember to click the ‘Save’ button at the top.

The next step is to configure notifications for form submissions. To do this, navigate to the ‘Settings’ tab in the form builder and select ‘Notifications.’

Here, you can personalize the email notification settings that are sent to the site administrator. For instance, you can modify the recipient email address, adjust the email subject line, and customize the message content.

Next, proceed to the ‘Confirmations’ section.

In this section, you can ensure that your donors receive a confirmation after funding your project. You have the option to display a message upon form submission or redirect users to another page or URL on your site.

Once you have completed the setup, remember to click the ‘Save’ button at the top.

Now, you are ready to integrate your crowdfunding form into your WordPress blog.

Simply click the ‘Embed’ button at the top of the form builder and choose to either select an existing page or create a new page for your form.

For this tutorial, let’s choose the ‘Create New Page’ option.

You can then give your new page a name and click the ‘Let’s Go!’ button.

WPForms will automatically insert your crowdfunding form into the new page you just created.

Alternatively, you can add a WPForms block in the WordPress content editor and select your form from the dropdown menu.

It’s important to review your crowdfunding form to ensure it appears correctly on your new page. Click the ‘Preview’ button to check it out.

Once you’re satisfied with everything, click the ‘Publish’ button and visit your website to see your form in action.

We hope this article has helped you understand how to raise funds through crowdfunding on WordPress. You may also want to explore our guide on accepting recurring payments in WordPress or our top recommendations for the best WordPress plugins for nonprofits.

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