This is a guest post from Steve Bernat, the founder of the nonprofit fundraising sites RallyUp.com and Challengely.
Ten years ago, crowdfunding was all the rage. And rightly so: it made it easier than ever for individuals and nonprofits to raise funds to support their cause. For huge causes, it’s made incredible amounts of money, with campaigns on GoFundMe raising almost $12 million for the Las Vegas victims’ fund and over $2 million for the Rohingya population in Myanmar.
Crowdfunding has become saturated, though. We’re now mostly immune to the appeals we see on our social media daily. In fact, less than a third of crowdfunding campaigns reach their goal. Crowdfunding today is yesterday’s equivalent of writing a check to a large nonprofit.
However, a growing trend is breathing new life into crowdfunding. Donors are being encouraged to take a challenge, enter a drawing, or join a team to support a charity. Adding elements of game playing to fundraising is known as “gamification,” and it’…