GoFundMe scraps platform fees in the UK
Howard Lake | 17 January 2018 | News
Crowdfunding platform GoFundMe will today stop charging fees to users in the UK. Its new 0% platform fee applies to new campaigns for personal causes.
GoFundMe claims that this move makes it “the only major peer-to-peer fundraising platform available in the UK that doesn’t charge a platform fee.” In announcing the move, the new 0% fee was contrasted with those of crowdfunding platforms JustGiving and Crowdfunder who both charge 5%. That is the fee that GoFundMe applied in its first year in the UK.
It made the announcement on the first anniversary of GoFundMe’s UK operation. During that time “around one in every 20 UK adults” have made a donation through GoFundMe, with “an average of 7,500 donations every day”.
Users will still be charged a payment processing fee of 2.9%.
GoFundMe’s original charges in the UK, now being removed
Rob Solomon, CEO of GoFundMe, said: “We’ve been amazed by the generosity of people in the UK since we launched here. We want to mark that anniversary by giving GoFundMe organisers in the UK the chance to raise even more money for the causes they love without a platform fee. We’re looking forward to seeing more people giving and getting the help they need.”
How will GoFundMe generate income?
Instead of a charge, the platform will now rely on voluntary tips from donors to help with the costs associated with providing its service. It has already adopted this approach in the USA and Canada.
The 0% fee has already been applied in the USA and Canada.
Since its launch in 2010 GoFundMe has helped raise $5 billion around the world. Over 50 million people have made donations via the site. Its ‘GoFundMe Guarantee’ states that “donations are guaranteed to get to the right place or they will be refunded”.
Other giving platforms offer a 0% platform fee, including BT MyDonate, CharityChoice, PayPal Giving Fund, and Wonderful.org.
Campaigns on GoFundMe
Notable UK campaigns on GoFundMe include:
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- Alan Barnes – £300k+ in four days
- Jo Cox MP – £400k in one day
- Tinder poo date
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.