Using GoFundMe as your digital fundraising solution for faith-based education fundraising
Why use digital fundraising solutions for faith-based education needs?
Many religious parents will want their children to have access to a faith-based education outside of their usual school hours, which means sending them to an institution like a Sunday school, Hebrew school or Islamic weekend school on a Saturday or Sunday.
But as we live in an increasingly digital world, religious and spiritual educators now rely on digital fundraising strategies to keep these classes going instead of in-person donations made during worship. GoFundMe is a leading online crowdfunding platform that lets people easily set up a donation page and start raising money for a good cause straightaway, with no hidden fees or complicated instructions.
Why you should use GoFundMe for faith-based education fundraising
GoFundMe is a trusted online crowdfunding platform used by 150 million people that has allowed people to raise more than $50 million for good causes every week. It is available in 20 countries across the globe and has a support team available around the clock to help with any fundraising needs, whether you are starting a fundraiser as an individual or as part of a nonprofit organization.
The money you fundraise on GoFundMe is kept secure through partnerships with leading payment processing platforms and you can start withdrawing the money you have raised before you reach your overall goal. There is no fee to set up and run a fundraiser, there is simply a 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee per donation.
GoFundMe can be used to run a range of faith-based education fundraisers, from helping to improve buildings that children are taught in to helping buy new materials or start new classes. There are countless successful faith-based education fundraisers on the platform.
- Sunday school for children with special needs: Merna Sedarous and Nicole Nagib started their fundraiser on behalf of St Mary and St Antonio’s Coptic Church in Glendale, New York. They wanted to establish a class for children with special needs to help benefit them spiritually in a fun and educational environment, and raised $3,240, beating their overall goal.
- Buying a Talmud for a Synagogue: Rachel Friedman wanted to raise $1,600 to help buy her synagogue, the Congregation of Sinai San Jose in California, a Talmud for people to study as part of her bat mitzvah project. She spoke to the rabbi to find out which edition to buy and the community helped her reach her goal.
- Remodeling Iqra Learning Center: Abu A’Isha started a GoFundMe to help raise more than $3,000 for the Iqra Learning Centre in Hayfield, Virginia, to upgrade the building for its more than 220 weekend students who attend to learn the Quran and to support the many community classes it has throughout the week.
How using GoFundMe will help your faith-based education organization
You can set up a GoFundMe and start crowdfunding for your faith-based education organization in minutes. All you need to do is pick a simple and strong title for your fundraiser, write an emotive and engaging story about who your organization is and why you need the support of donors, and start sharing it with your friends, family, and wider faith network.
You can boost the visibility of your fundraiser online with confidence by using GoFundMe’s social sharing features to get the word out about your fundraiser. The “share fundraiser” button on your dashboard will help create messages or videos for you to share, whether you want to post on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or X.
Encourage people within your church, synagogue, mosque or spiritual group to get engaged with the fundraiser by explaining how it will benefit your community and how they can all help by sharing it with their own friends and colleagues. GoFundMe has a global community, so make sure to harness the power of any connections with branches of your church in other countries to help spread the word about your cause and boost donations.
Giving people a seamless donation process is important for building trust within your donor base and they can choose to share their name publicly and see their donation added to your fundraiser in real-time or to donate anonymously. GoFundMe allows for complete transparency in donor fund management, too, by having fundraisers create profiles to state who they are and clearly state their purpose, and can also be verified by the platform.
How to set up a GoFundMe fundraiser for your faith-based education organization
Setting up a fundraiser for the education arm of your organization on GoFundMe is an easy and simple process:
- Create an account: Set up your account with GoFundMe and follow the prompts to select your fundraising category and your location, and set a clear fundraising goal.
- Write a compelling story: Connect with potential donors emotionally by writing a strong and engaging story about why you are fundraising, what the money will be spent on, and how it will benefit the community you are hoping to support.
- Use strong visuals: Be sure to add clear, high-resolution pictures and videos that illustrate what you hope to achieve and show who are helping with your fundraiser to enhance your message.
- Promote your fundraiser: Harness the power of social media to promote your fundraiser across different platforms from Facebook to Instagram and TikTok. Get people in your congregation to share the fundraiser across their own networks, and promote the fundraiser in-person during community outreach programs.
- Keep donors updated: Send regular updates to your supporters to keep them engaged and informed about your fundraiser. Let people know the progress of the fundraiser, how money is being spent, and the difference their money is helping to make.
FAQs
What makes GoFundMe effective for faith-based education fundraising?
GoFundMe is an easy, powerful and trusted crowdfunding platform that lets you start raising money for your chosen cause in just a few clicks. It is the leading crowdfunding platform that connects millions of people across the globe every day.
More than 8,000 fundraisers are started on GoFundMe a day, with a donation made every second. Whether you’re trying to raise money for a faith education program within your local congregation or helping a spiritual group in another country get theirs started up, crowdfunding on GoFundMe is a simple and effective way to do it.
Can international donors contribute through GoFundMe?
International donors can give money to fundraisers abroad, but a fundraiser must be set up in one of the 20 countries supported by GoFundMe. The countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. People setting up fundraisers must meet the withdrawal requirements in their country.
How quickly can my faith-based education organization access the funds raised?
GoFundMe has a quick and efficient fund transfer process, which means that your organization can start withdrawing funds for your cause even before you reach your fundraising goal.
You will need to have your bank and ID verified before you can start withdrawing funds. Transfers of donations to your account of choice should take 3-5 business days once this is done. You can set up transfers to your own bank account or a beneficiary, a business account or the bank account for your faith-based education organization.
Are there fees associated with starting a fundraiser on GoFundMe?
GoFundMe does not charge any fees to start a fundraiser on its platform. The only fee deducted from donations is the standard transaction fee that covers processing costs and ensures your funds are delivered securely. The transaction fee is 2.9% + $0.30 per donation for individuals and businesses, and 2.2% + $0.30 per donation for nonprofit organizations.
Where can you fundraise for faith-based education needs?
Whether you need to raise money for new education materials, to pay staff or to help improve the facilities your faith education program is delivered in, using online crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe is an easy and effective way to collect donations from friends, family, and members of your wider faith community.
Using online crowdfunding platforms to raise money for your cause can help boost in-person donations your organization receives through a congregation or charity events. Online fundraising is easy for donors to access from home, can help engage your organization’s wider community in your cause, and promotes transparency by allowing you to keep supporters up to date with how much money you have raised and how it is being spent.
Where can you donate to support faith-based education?
There are a number of faith-based education fundraisers you can explore and donate to on GoFundMe. You can browse fundraisers by category by searching for “education” or “faith” fundraisers, or both! You can also search for the name of a charity or organization you want to donate to.
Donating on the platform is easy, secure and transparent, too. You can give money to faith-based education fundraisers that have been set up in a different currency, you will simply be charged the equivalent amount in your own currency. Donations can be made using a number of payment options including Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal, and are protected by the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee.
Start fundraising today
The advantages of using GoFundMe to help raise money for your faith-based education organization, whether it’s for new books for your students or a new program of events for your weekend school, is that you can easily kick off your fundraiser online and connect with your spiritual community to spread the word about your cause.
Start your GoFundMe today and start raising money without any complicated fees using the most trusted crowdfunding platform across the globe, safe knowing that your donations are secure.