Crowdfunding has become an invaluable resource for educational support, enabling individuals and organizations to gather funds for a variety of educational needs. Whether it’s helping students cover tuition costs, equipping classrooms with essential resources, or launching innovative educational programs, crowdfunding platforms have made it easier to secure financial backing.
In the United States, several platforms are dedicated specifically to education, each offering distinct features to support students, teachers, and schools. This article will introduce you to the top 10 crowdfunding platforms for education in the USA. Let’s Explore!
Best Education Crowdfunding Platforms in The USA
1. GoFundMe
GoFundMe is a widely recognized crowdfunding platform, chosen by a community of 150 million people. It provides all necessary information to donors and allows for easy fundraising through its mobile app, whether at home or on the go.
Features
- Wide Reach: Selected by a mutual group of 150 million people.
- Comprehensive Information: Provides every detail that donors want.
- Mobile Fundraising: Enables free fundraising through the GoFundMe mobile app.
- Ease of Donation: Simplifies the donation process for donors.
- Flexible Fundraiser Lengths: Offers countless options for the duration of fundraisers.
- 24/7 Support: Hosts a dedicated support team accessible 24/7 worldwide.
- Trustworthy: Trusted and reliable, ensuring a safe donation platform.
- Quick Sharing: Allows sharing of fundraising campaigns within minutes.
- Expert Support: An expert team is available to address donor queries.
Pros
- Moderate Fundraising Experience: Provides a balanced and user-friendly fundraising experience.
- Fast Service: Offers rapid services for education and school fees.
Cons
- No Integration Support: Lacks integration help.
- No Premium Consulting: Does not offer premium consulting services.
Fees
- Pre-donation transaction: 2.9% + $0.30
- Fundraiser fee: 0% platform fee
- Processing fee: 1.9% + $0.30
2. Indiegogo
Indiegogo is a popular crowdfunding platform known for supporting early adopters and creative seekers. It serves as a lively and imaginative space for funding creative projects and technology before they hit the mainstream. Indiegogo also features an education category, making it a versatile platform for various funding needs.
Features
- Creative and Early Adopters: Attracts early adopters and those seeking creative projects.
- Imaginative Platform: Known for lively and imaginative project funding.
- Broad Categories: Hosts a diverse range of categories, including education.
- Flexible Funding: Offers flexible funding options for projects.
- Project Management: Allows users to manage their projects in one place.
- Audience Connection: Enables easy connection with the audience.
- Strategy Launch: Facilitates the launch of strategies with ease.
- International Reach: An internationally popular crowdfunding platform.
- Non-Profit Support: Hosts a sizable catalog of non-profit causes.
Pros
- Diverse Crowdfunding: Supports equity, charity, and project crowdfunding.
- Fixed Funding: Offers fixed funding options.
- Post-Campaign Fundraising: Allows raising funds even after the campaign ends.
Cons
- Platform Fees: Users must pay a fee to Indiegogo.
- Reward Shipping: Requires the shipping of rewards to backers.
Fees
- Pre-Launch: Free
- Crowdfunding Fee: 5%
- InDemand Fee: 5% plus additional third-party fees may apply
3. ScholarMatch
ScholarMatch is a specialized crowdfunding platform focused on providing financial assistance to students from underserved communities. While it has made a significant impact, it is not universally accessible. However, it offers valuable opportunities worth exploring.
Features
- Financial Aid: Provides crucial financial support to students from underserved backgrounds.
- Exclusive Access: Although impactful, it is not open to everyone.
- Opportunity Worth Investigating: Offers unique opportunities that are beneficial to students.
- Executive Summary: Delivers a comprehensive executive summary.
- Seven-Year Service: Supports first-generation students with seven years of service.
- Partnership Nominations: Students are nominated by partner organizations.
- Crowdfunding Tips: Provides effective crowdfunding tips.
- Talent Identification: Identifies talented and ambitious students committed to higher education.
- Persistent Support: Offers ongoing support to students.
- Strategic Scholarships: Provides targeted scholarships for students.
Pros
- Free Services: Offers 100% free services through Fulfillrite.
- Individualized Advising: Provides virtual, personalized advising for students.
Cons
- Lack of Program Development: Does not focus on program development.
Fees
- Required Funding: Between $8,000 to $20,000.
- Full Cost: $7,500 per student per year.
- Vivint Hospitality Funding: Offers funding of $150,000.
Also Read- Top 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Business in the USA
4. Hubbub
Hubbub is a crowdfunding platform specifically designed to support educational projects. It leverages crowdfunding to facilitate a variety of educational initiatives and serves as a valuable resource for academic communities.
Features
- Project Support: Geared towards supporting educational projects.
- Variety in Education: Uses crowdfunding to enable diverse educational endeavors.
- Resourceful: Serves as a great resource for educational funding.
- Community Empowerment: Empowers communities by unleashing their passions.
- Travel Expenses: Covers travel expenses within the academic sphere.
- Institutional Support: Supports projects led by institutions rather than individuals.
- University Support: Aids many universities in advancing technology.
- Inspiration: Inspires project creators to pursue their educational goals.
- Dissertation Fees: Provides funding for dissertation fees.
- Research Projects: Supports research projects with necessary funding.
Pros
- Powerful HIRS: Features powerful Human Information Resource Systems (HIRS) that are easy to deploy.
- Social Media Integration: Displays attractive social media icons on any screen size.
Cons
- Integration Glitches: Experiences glitches with the integration to the talent applicant tracking system.
Fees
Desk Office Costs:
- 1 desk office: $880 per month
- 2 desk offices: $1,100 per month
- 3 desk offices: $1,550 per month
5. Upstart
Upstart is an AI-driven lending platform that collaborates with banks to offer loans using non-traditional variables. It simplifies the loan process, allowing customers to check their rates in minutes and receive funds within 24 hours or less.
Features
- AI Leading Platform: Partners with banks to provide loans using AI and non-traditional variables.
- Quick Rate Check: This allows customers to check their rates quickly.
- Fast and Easy: Provides a straightforward and quick loan process.
- Rapid Funding: Customers can receive funds within 24 hours or less.
- No Prepayment Penalty: Does not charge a penalty for early repayment.
- Transparent Fees: No hidden fees involved.
- High Security: Offers top-notch security for all transactions.
- Personal Loans: Provides personal loans in addition to educational funding.
- Customized Funding: Funding amounts are customized based on past education and experience.
- Educational Financing: An excellent option to finance your education.
Pros
- Flexible Payment Options: Allows borrowers to change their payment dates.
- New Borrower Friendly: Accepts borrowers who are new to credit.
- Fast Funding: Ensures quick access to funds.
- Customer Service: Offers seven-day customer service support.
Cons
- No Direct Payment: Does not offer direct payment to creditors on loans.
- Same-Day Funding: Same-day loan funding is not available.
Fees
- Origination Fee: 0% – 12%
- Late Payment Fee: Greater than 5% of the monthly past-due amount
- Check Refund Fee: $15
- Paper Copy Fee: $10
6. DonorsChoose
DonorsChoose is a prominent crowdfunding platform dedicated to supporting teachers and students. With over 6,079,163 supporters and 2,915,632 funded projects, DonorsChoose focuses on managing donations transparently and effectively, making a significant impact on education.
Features
- Large Support Base: Boasts 6,079,163 supporters and 2,915,632 funded projects.
- Comprehensive Management: Focuses on managing all aspects of donations.
- Donation Transparency: Shows all donations made by donors.
- Grateful Acknowledgments: Displays gratitude from teachers and students to donors.
- Top Ratings: Highly rated by Charity Watch, Charity Navigator, Guidestar, and the Better Business Bureau.
- Monthly Donations: Offers options for monthly donations to support teachers.
- Flexible Gift Amounts: Donors can contribute gifts of any amount.
- Teacher Support: Provides an easy way to help teachers in need.
- Popular Donation Platform: Widely recognized for its impact.
- Grateful Experience: Ensures a fulfilling experience for partners.
Pros
- Supportive Work Environment: A great place to work, where people value your skills.
- Variety of Resources: Offers diverse resources for learning that might not be otherwise available.
Cons
- Non-Profit Institution: Operates as a non-profit organization.
Fees
- Total Donations: Donated $140 million to U.S. schools in the 2022-2023 period.
- Variable Fees: Fees depend on the size and funding requirements of projects.
7. Kickstarter
Kickstarter is a renowned crowdfunding platform that helps bring creative projects to life. With over 25,097 successfully funded projects and a total donation volume of $7.8 billion, Kickstarter connects backers, creators, and communities, fostering a collaborative environment for innovative ideas.
Features
- Creative Projects: Specializes in bringing creative projects to fruition.
- Successful Funding: Over 25,097 projects were successfully funded.
- Community Connection: Bridges the gap between backers, creators, and the community.
- Significant Donation Volume: Has prepared a total donation volume of $7.8 billion.
- Cosmic and Illustrations: Provides fantastic cosmic and illustration projects.
- Graphic and Interactive Design: Offers graphic and interactive design categories.
- Game Categories: Features amazing categories for games.
- Journalism and Photography: Supports journalism and photography projects.
- Creator Resources: Offers detailed resources for creators.
- Flexible Duration: Campaign duration can be set from 1 to 60 days.
Pros
- Startup Support: Great for getting started with your startup.
- Early Connections: Helps connect with backers and receive early feedback.
- Community Building: Assists in building a community of backers and supporters.
Cons
- Lack of Traditional Support: Lacks traditional investor support.
- Competitive Environment: The platform is highly competitive.
Fees
- Platform Fee: 5%
- Payment Processing Fee: 3% + $0.20 per pledge
Also Read- Best 10 Popular Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms in The USA
8. 99Pledges
99Pledges is a user-friendly crowdfunding platform designed to facilitate easy donations for educational causes. It supports students and teachers by collecting donations online and making the process seamless for donors.
Features
- Easy Donations: Simplifies the donation process for donors.
- Online Collection: Facilitates online donation collection.
- Educational Support: Helps students and teachers through donations.
- Competitive Rates: Online donations are standardized at 25% less than offline donations.
- Global Reach: Operates on a large scale worldwide.
- Increased Fundraising: Users typically raise 2-3 times more funds than before using the platform.
- Flexible Payments: Accepts checks, cash without pledges, and PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and credit cards with pledges.
- Efficient Management: Requires less work, short management time, and quick setup.
- Secure Donations: Ensures donor security.
- No Parent Setup Required: Does not require any setup from parents.
Pros
Immediate Details: Provides easy and immediate details for fundraising.
Transparent Information: Keeps donors well-informed.
Free to Use: The platform is free of cost.
Cons
- Limited Information: Provides a phone number at the beginning of the page but lacks detailed feature information.
Fees
- Platform Fee: Nill
- Starting Fee: Nill
9. Fundly
Fundly is a versatile crowdfunding platform that supports both individuals and charity organizations. It hosts online fundraisers for non-profits and provides resources for creative projects, community outreach, and educational needs.
Features
- Versatile Support: Supports individual causes and charity organizations.
- Non-Profit Fundraisers: Hosts online fundraisers for non-profit organizations.
- Creative and Community Projects: Provides resources for creative projects and community outreach.
- Educational Support: Offers resources for schools in need and covers education costs, including tuition.
- No Startup Fees: Requires no startup fees to begin fundraising.
- Personal Causes: Supports a wide range of personal causes.
- Transparency: No hidden fees involved.
- Broad Support: Assists both individuals and charities in their fundraising efforts.
Pros
- Good Customer Service: Provides reliable customer service.
- Easy Donations: Simplifies the donation process for donors.
- Integrity Assurance: This does not suggest engagement in cheating to donors.
Cons
- Confusing Interface: The reporting logic and interface can be confusing.
Fees
- Platform Fee: 4.9% per donation
- Payment Processing Fee: 2.9% plus $0.30 per donation
10. DonorSearch
DonorSearch is a specialized platform designed to provide dynamic and adaptive information for donors, ensuring secure and responsible practices. It categorizes user needs to exceed expectations and offers valuable resources like free eBooks and guides.
Features
- Responsible Practices: Solutions are designed and implemented with responsible practices.
- Dynamic Information: Provides adaptive and dynamic information.
- Secure and Safe: Ensures a secure and safe user experience.
- User-Centric: Categorizes user needs and desires to meet and exceed expectations.
- Free Resources: Offers free eBooks and guides to users.
- Implementable Conclusions: Provides actionable conclusions.
- Legislation Compliance: Cannot be transported due to varying state legislation.
- Specific Cycles: Limited to specific cycle types.
- Donor Reservations: Reserves up to three donors.
Pros
- Historical Records: Provides access to previous records.
- Security: Ensures high security standards.
- Address Information: Offers detailed address information.
Cons
- Limited Search: This does not provide a total specific donor search.
- Profile Quality: Some profiles may be of lower quality.
- Expensive Information: Information can be costly.
Fees
- DonorSearch ProspectView Plus: $179
- DonorSearch ProspectView 100: $19
- DonorSearch ProspectView 200: $29
- DonorSearch ProspectView 300: $49
- DonorSearch ProspectView 400: $58
- DonorSearch ProspectView 500: $79
Conclusion
Crowdfunding has become a tool for supporting education, offering diverse platforms to meet various needs. With options like Fundly, 99Pledges, and DonorSearch, there’s a crowdfunding solution for every educational goal, making it easier than ever to secure financial support for students and schools across the USA.
