Crowdfunding vs Traditional Fundraising: A Quick & Easy Guide

Crowdfunding has become a common way for people and organisations to fundraise, either alongside or in place of traditional fundraising methods, such as charity events, raffles, bake sales, letterbox drops, phone and email appeals and mail-outs. But the question is, which is the best type of fundraising for YOU? Having the right strategy in place can mean the difference between hitting and missing your goals, so it’s important to take the time to figure out what will work best for you.

In a nutshell

This table summarises the key differences between crowdfunding and traditional fundraising. Keep reading to learn more about each factor.

Goals

This is the best place to start when thinking about how to raise funds. How much do you need to raise for your cause? The answer will guide you to the best fundraising method for your campaign. 

• Traditional fundraising is suited to big goals and is successfully used for causes such as school supplies and programs, sports clubs and national and global charities.
• Crowdfunding is suited to every sized goal. We’ve seen crowdfunding for small personal goals, like a pair of new sports shoes, up to tens of thousands of dollars raised for medical treatment and charitable causes.

Traditional fundraising generally has significant setup time and financial investment, which is why it is better for large goals, whereas crowdfunding is fast and free to set up, making it perfect for small and large goals alike (more on this below).

Who is it for?

Traditional fundraising needs a specific skill set. It involves investing significant time and money and so it needs to be run by someone with knowledge and experience to avoid losing money rather than raising it. It often takes a team to run a traditional fundraising campaign, including a campaign manager, event coordinator and marketing and content professionals. 

Crowdfunding is for EVERYONE! Campaigns are all unique and there’s no goal too big or too small to be tackled. Whether you need to raise $50 for your school books or $1 million for bush fire relief, you can achieve it through crowdfunding. 

There is no set-up cost and a campaign can be up and running in as little as five minutes, so there’s nothing to lose! Your chosen crowdfunding platform will guide you through the setup process so you don’t need years of experience to get started. When you start your icause campaign, you’ll be given the option to use one of our campaign templates, or create your own, and you have the option to add videos, photos and stories to inspire your supporters. 

Set up time

Traditional fundraising can take weeks or even months of planning. You may need to secure attendees for an event, source prizes from sponsors and work with printers for marketing materials.

A crowdfunding campaign can be set up in as little as 5 minutes. To launch your icause fundraiser, click here to register an account using your email address or Facebook, then follow the prompts to provide the following details:

• Name, date of birth, address, mobile number and email address.
• Bank Account details to receive funds at the end of the campaign.
• User name and password
• Fundraiser name
• Fundraiser details such as your story or information about the cause you are supporting.
• Personal message that your supporters will receive when you share your campaign – you can create your own or choose from 5 icause templates.
• Email address and/or mobile number of supporters you would like to share your campaign with (optional).

It’s that easy, you’re ready to start raising funds!

Start-up cost

The costs needed to launch a traditional fundraising campaign are varied, depending on the type of campaign, the scale and the marketing required. Often it is necessary to engage sponsors to help cover the startup costs or to factor the costs into the overall campaign goal, in which case there is a risk that the campaign will end in negative funds.

With crowdfunding, no matter the scale you’re aiming for, there will never be a startup cost, and with icause, what’s even better is that you have so many marketing options built into your dashboard for FREE, so you can get your campaign noticed with investing a cent! You can upload your email and SMS contacts to send out messages, use our social sharing links to put your campaign on your social channels and encourage your supporters to share it as well.

Reach and engagement

The potential reach and engagement of crowdfunding is unmatched by traditional fundraising. While a traditional campaign is limited to your local community and existing supporters, crowdfunding gives anyone with a passion or a goal the means to raise funds online; whether you’re an individual or an organisation, you can use crowdfunding to access your social networks and local, national or global communities and give them an easy and accessible way to lend their support. 

Organisations and charities have harnessed the power of crowdfunding to break through the fatigue of traditional fundraising efforts and re-engage lost donors. Fundraisers can now offer their supporters an easy way to donate online and gain new supporters through the incredible reach of crowdfunding campaigns – it’s not unusual to see compelling campaigns go viral and be shared across social media networks worldwide.

Donation size

Crowdfunding is based on the principle that “every little helps”, whereas traditional fundraising often relies on significant contributions from a smaller amount of donors. Crowdfunding can open the door for people to donate whatever they can spare, even if it’s only a few dollars. With icause, we’ve taken that notion one step further, and given supporters the option to donate without spending a cent! Switch and Donate is exclusive to icause, and gives you the option to donate simply by uploading one of your utility bills for review. If you decide to switch to one of our recommended providers, a donation is made to your nominated cause. This means everyone has the chance to donate, even if they don’t have the funds available.

More donations = more funds raised!

Get fundraising!

Does one method jump off the page as the right approach for you? If you have a fundraising goal, but you’re still not sure how to reach it, you can talk to our passionate team of experts who can help you set up a campaign and start making a difference today!