GoFundMe is a crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to 2017, over $5 billion was raised on the platform for over two million individual campaigns and 50 million donors. The company is based in Redwood City, California, with offices in San Diego, California and Dublin, Ireland, and operations in France, Spain, Germany, and the UK.
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History
The company was founded in May 2010 by Brad Damphousse and Andrew Ballester. Both had previously founded Paygr which is a website dedicated to allowing members to sell their services to the public. Damphousse and Ballester originally created the website under the name "CreateAFund" in 2008 but later changed the name to GoFundMe after making numerous upgrades to the features of the website. GoFundMe was founded in San Diego, California.
GoFundMe is the biggest crowdfunding platform, responsible for raising over $5 billion since its debut in 2010. GoFundMe receives over $140 million in donations per month. In 2016 GoFundMe made $100 million in revenue. In June 2015, it was announced that Damphousse and Ballester had agreed to sell a majority stake in GoFundMe to Accel Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures. Damphousse and Ballester stepped down from the day-to-day oversight of the company. The deal valued GoFundMe at around $600 million. In January 2017, GoFundMe acquired CrowdRise. GoFundMe's leadership team includes Rob Solomon (CEO), Hoang Vuong (COO & CFO), Raquel Rozas (CMO), Chi-Chao Chang (CTO), and Daniel Gordon (VP of Trust, Policy, and Communications). Ballester remains on the board of directors and holds an undisclosed stake in the company.
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Business model
GoFundMe allows users to create their own website with which they raise money. During this process, members can describe their fundraising cause and the amount they hope to raise, and upload photos or video. Once the website is created, GoFundMe allows users to share their project with people through integrated social network links (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and email. People can then donate to a user's cause through the website using a debit card or credit card and track the progress of their funding. Those who donate can also leave comments on the website in support of the project. If the user receives no donations, then no charge is made. This fee allowed Damphousse and Ballester to run the company without outside capital. GoFundMe has a tipping model, and their payment processor WePay collects 2.9% and $0.30 from each GoFundMe transaction.
GoFundMe is unique to crowdfunding in that they are not an incentive-based crowdfunding website. Although it does allow projects that are meant to fund other projects for musicians, inventors, etc., the business model is set up to allow for donations to personal causes and life events such as medical bills. GoFundMe also has a special section dedicated solely to users who are trying to raise money to cover their tuition costs. One of the most notable tuition projects involved helping a user raise $25,000 to pay out-of-state tuition to a PhD program.
GoFundMe targets social media platforms to create awareness for campaigns. GoFundMe hired Daniel Pfeiffer in 2015 as the communications and policy chief. Pfeiffer previously served as an advisor to President Barack Obama and left the company in 2017.
In 2015, GoFundMe announced that the site would no longer support legal defense funds on their platform. The news came after the site suspended funding for the defense of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, a bakery that was fined for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.
In November 2017, GoFundMe announced that it will no longer charge a 5% fee per donation for US individual campaigns, and instead rely upon tips left by donors to support the website. The processing fee for online credit card payments will still apply to donations.
Employment
GoFundMe has received several awards including best workplace in technology 2017, best workplace in giving back 2017, best small and medium companies in the bay area 2017, and best medium workplace in 2016. GoFundMe has a notable give-back program where employees pick a campaign that inspires them. GoFundMe then donates $1000 to that campaign. In 2015, GoFundMe gave back more than $500,000. GoFundMe employees receive $600 a year for a wellness program benefit. This money can be used for gym memberships, gym equipment, spas, and dietary needs. GoFundMe matches 401k contributions up to six percent. GoFundMe has designed their office with open floor plans to build a collaborative work environment.
Notable projects
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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