Are you seeking for a method to use a WordPress website for crowdfunding purposes?
The challenge of raising money for a project might be difficult. The majority of individuals raise money using websites like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. However, when you can complete it all on your own with a few easy clicks, why bother negotiating the conditions of third-party platforms?
We’ll demonstrate how to use crowdfunding in WordPress in this tutorial.
What is Crowdfunding?
An organised attempt to gather money for a project, an organisation, or one’s personal needs is known as crowdfunding.
Entrepreneurs sometimes turn to crowdsourcing to generate startup capital by pitching their concepts to prospective clients and letting them contribute money rather than handing up stock to investors. Each giver receives some sort of incentive as opposed to equity.
These incentives typically consist of receiving a shirt, stickers, trinkets, or a real goods. Each donor’s reward is determined by the amount they provide.
Crowdfunding is a fantastic tool for individuals or even charitable groups to obtain money for any cause, outside of businesses.
Crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo are popular, but they have certain drawbacks. For instance, Kickstarter charges processing costs in addition to taking 5% of any money you collect. Additionally, all donations are returned and you won’t get anything if you don’t reach your fundraising target.
Making a WordPress site may therefore be a better option in this situation. It gives you a lot more flexibility and control over your crowdsourcing campaign.
After that, let’s look at how WordPress can be used to raise money through crowdfunding.
How to Start Crowdfunding with WordPress
The WordPress plugin is the simplest way to start a crowdfunding campaign. You can crowdfund your project and collect online payments from investors using a variety of donation and fundraising plugins.
We’ll demonstrate 2 plugins you can use in WordPress to launch your crowdfunding campaign. To advance to any section, just click the link below:
- Create a Crowdfunding Form Using WPForms
- Raise Money with Crowdfunding using WP Charitable
Create a Crowdfunding Form Using WPForms
Using WPForms is the simplest method to launch a crowdfunding campaign in WordPress. It’s the top WordPress contact form plugin and is very simple to use.
Without having to change code, you can construct any sort of form quickly and easily with the drag and drop form builder. Additionally, it is simple to link with payment processors like PayPal and Stripe, enabling you to accept investment payments online.
Because it has integrations for payment gateways and a template for a nonprofit crowdfunding form, we’ll use the WPForms Pro version for this tutorial. You can also test out the free WPForms Lite version.
Installing and activating the WPForms plugin on your website is the first step. Please refer to our instructions on how to install a WordPress plugin if you need assistance.
After installation, you can enter your licence key by going to WPForms » Settings in your WordPress dashboard. The licence key is conveniently located in your account.
The next step is integrating several payment systems in order to conduct a crowdfunding campaign. Payment processors including PayPal, Stripe, Square, and Authorize.net are supported by WPForms.
Simply choose your favourite payment addon by clicking the ‘Install Addon’ button from the WordPress admin panel’s WPForms » Addons page.
You may now construct a crowdfunding form for your WordPress website once the plugin is enabled.
From the WordPress dashboard, select WPForms » Add New to get started. This will open the drag-and-drop form builder for WPForms.
After giving your form a name, use the menu to your left to search for the “Nonprofit Crowdfunding Form” template. Simply click the “Use Template” button while your cursor is over the form template.
From here, you can edit the template using the drag-and-drop form builder.
The template will already include form fields from WPForms. But you can also rearrange the current fields or add more by dragging them from the menu on your left.
The template may then be modified using the drag and drop form builder from here.
Form fields will already be present in the template for WPForms. You may, however, drag extra fields from the menu on your left or rearrange the current fields to add more.
Raise Money with Crowdfunding using WP Charitable
Utilizing WP Charitable is an additional way you may begin gathering money for your project. One of the best WordPress plugins for donations and fundraisers, it. WP Charitable is used by more than 10,000 charitable organisations to collect money through donations and crowdfunding.
The plugin comes with a tonne of features and extensions that can help you launch your crowdfunding campaign. For instance, you may use WordPress to build up peer-to-peer fundraising and word-of-mouth advertising.
We’ll use the WP Charitable Pro licence for this tutorial because it comes with multiple payment gateways and the Ambassador plugin for peer-to-peer fundraising.
Installing and activating the core WP Charitable plugin is the first step. Please refer to our instructions on how to install a WordPress plugin if you need assistance.
When activated, your WordPress dashboard will display the WP Charitable welcome screen. From the admin panel, select Charitable » Settings and then click the “Licenses” tab.
Enter your licence key then click “Save Changes” to finish.
You can then select the “Payment Gateways” tab.
Click the “Enable Gateway” button next to the payment method you prefer.
WP Charitable will only provide PayPal or an offline approach as default payment channels.
More payment options, such as Stripe, GoCardless, Payrexx, Mollie, Paystack, Braintree, Authorize.net, and others, can be added.
Simply select the “Gateway Settings” button after the payment option has been enabled.
Additionally, there are options to include a campaign end date, a goal, and a description.
If you don’t have a specific amount you’d want to raise as a goal, you may leave the goal box empty. If your campaign is continuing, you can also omit the end date fields.
Besides that, if you scroll down, you’ll see “Campaign Settings.” For your campaign, you can add suggested donation amounts here. Simply enter the amount by clicking the “+ Add a Suggested Amount” button.
Setting Up Peer-to-Peer Fundraising in WP Charitable
You may set up peer to peer fundraising in WordPress with WP Charitable as well. This enables members of your team and individual contributors to launch their own campaigns in support of your overall crowdfunding objective.
Installing and activating the Ambassadors extension on your website is the first step. It’s the same as installing a new plugin. For additional information, go to our tutorial on installing a WordPress plugin.
After activation, you can access the ambassadors tab by going to Charitable » Settings in your WordPress admin area. Then check the box to make the “Fundraisers for existing campaigns” option active.
The requirement that users create an account before submission can also be disabled.
When finished, don’t forget to save your modifications.
In WP Charitable, you can then amend a current campaign or start a new one. Then, select the “Peer to Peer Fundraising” tab under Campaign Settings.
Go ahead and select “Allow peer to peer fundraising for this campaign” from the checkbox.
Now, under Peer to Peer Fundraising, different settings ought to be visible. You may choose who can take part in the fundraising, alter the fields, choose a goal, include a photo, and more.
When you’re finished, just publish your new campaign or make updates to an existing one.
Your campaign should now have a fundraising option. Using the [charitable fundraise button] shortcode, you can also add a donation button anywhere on your website.
Users can select the type of fundraiser they want to create by clicking the fundraiser button.
Users may then quickly submit information about the fundraising and validate their email addresses. Once that is finished, they can assist in generating funding for your crowdsourcing project.
We sincerely hope that this article has given you some new knowledge about using WordPress for crowdfunding. You might also want to check out our guides on how to launch an online store and on WordPress SEO.
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