Frequently Asked Questions - Fundraisers
What is crowdfunding? Crowdfunding simplifies fundraising for individuals and organizations. Donors can use an online link to submit credit card donations. It is called crowdfunding because we encourage people to motivate their own ‘crowd’ as would-be donors; that means engaging them by spreading the link to their page from organizational or personal contacts i.e. Email, text, WhatsApp.
Is The Chesed Fund a non-profit organization? No. We are a business with staff, a tremendous amount of work goes into maintaining the site, developing new features, and executing campaigns. We want to help as many people as possible, so we offer our basic service for free and anyone may benefit from it.
Is The Chesed Fund really free? Yes. Aside from the 2.9%+30 cents, credit card processing fee, there are no fees on our basic plan.
What is the tip box? On our free plan, we give an option to donors to give a voluntary tip. This optional tip helps us continue to service hundreds of individuals and organizations that utilize our basic plan, this voluntary tip does not come from the funds donated to the fundraiser.
Are tips tax deductible? No. The Chesed Fund is not a non-profit organization.
What is our premium plan? The Chesed Fund also has a paid plan. There is a 3% platform fee.
What are the features of the premium plan?
· Team pages with individualized goals
· Removing the tip jar solicitation
· Option for donors to cover the credit card processing fees.
· White labeled page, organization branding featured at the top of the page
· Subscriptions
· Automated phone line (Coming Soon)
What is the purpose having a set goal amount? When a campaign has a specific goal they want to reach, it gives context to the fundraiser. This will motivate donors and fundraisers to reach the target. People love to be a part of something where success is defined and achievable, as they see the page closing in on its goal, they are motivated and are more likely to give more
Timed campaigns VS opened ended campaigns? Campaigns that have a countdown clock (24 hours to 3 days) will generally have a more productive campaign, as the fundraisers will be “locked in” during that time frame. Open ended campaigns are more appropriate for long term fundraisers or for organizations that haven’t yet built up a donor base.
Do I need to have a list of contacts or donor base? An organization that doesn’t have a list of contacts or donor base will have trouble fundraising online. Effective fundraising is achieved through relationships. If a potential donor doesn’t know what the mission of the organization, hasn’t been moved or affected by the organization, it is highly unlikely he will be making a donation. If the campaign is for a community tragedy, that is something that doesn’t require a prior donor base, as the community will organically rally together.
Matching campaigns? Matching campaign is popular kind of fundraising for organizations. All donations are “matched” by a generous donor. So if a campaign is X2, a $100 donation appears as $200. If it is X3, $100 donations appear as $300. Etc.. This is a strong tool campaigns can use to motivate people to donate as they see their donation dollars being maximized.
U.S Tax Receipts: All U.S non-profits can have the tax receipts automated via email through our site.
Canadian Receipts: Because of CRA regulations, we can’t automate tax receipts. But a Canadian non-profit can issue these receipts.
Offline donations: If a campaign receives a donation via cash, check or any other means, they can easily add the donations through our “manual donations” tab to reflect the progress toward the goal.
Ad tracking: It is common for fundraisers to spend money on advertising to get the word out. We want to make sure that those funds are being put to good use. We have tracking links that will keep track of all donations generated through the ad.
Non-profit account Vs Individual bank account? It is better to use a non-profit bank account if applicable. This will allow the campaign to issue tax receipts.
Does The Chesed Fund issue 1099s? If more than $20,000 is transferred to a personal bank account in a calendar year, a 1099 will be issued.
Is The Chesed Fund a non-profit organization? No. We are a business with staff, a tremendous amount of work goes into maintaining the site, developing new features, and executing campaigns. We want to help as many people as possible, so we offer our basic service for free and anyone may benefit from it.
Is The Chesed Fund really free? Yes. Aside from the 2.9%+30 cents, credit card processing fee, there are no fees on our basic plan.
What is the tip box? On our free plan, we give an option to donors to give a voluntary tip. This optional tip helps us continue to service hundreds of individuals and organizations that utilize our basic plan, this voluntary tip does not come from the funds donated to the fundraiser.
Are tips tax deductible? No. The Chesed Fund is not a non-profit organization.
What is our premium plan? The Chesed Fund also has a paid plan. There is a 3% platform fee.
What are the features of the premium plan?
· Team pages with individualized goals
· Removing the tip jar solicitation
· Option for donors to cover the credit card processing fees.
· White labeled page, organization branding featured at the top of the page
· Subscriptions
· Automated phone line (Coming Soon)
What is the purpose having a set goal amount? When a campaign has a specific goal they want to reach, it gives context to the fundraiser. This will motivate donors and fundraisers to reach the target. People love to be a part of something where success is defined and achievable, as they see the page closing in on its goal, they are motivated and are more likely to give more
Timed campaigns VS opened ended campaigns? Campaigns that have a countdown clock (24 hours to 3 days) will generally have a more productive campaign, as the fundraisers will be “locked in” during that time frame. Open ended campaigns are more appropriate for long term fundraisers or for organizations that haven’t yet built up a donor base.
Do I need to have a list of contacts or donor base? An organization that doesn’t have a list of contacts or donor base will have trouble fundraising online. Effective fundraising is achieved through relationships. If a potential donor doesn’t know what the mission of the organization, hasn’t been moved or affected by the organization, it is highly unlikely he will be making a donation. If the campaign is for a community tragedy, that is something that doesn’t require a prior donor base, as the community will organically rally together.
Matching campaigns? Matching campaign is popular kind of fundraising for organizations. All donations are “matched” by a generous donor. So if a campaign is X2, a $100 donation appears as $200. If it is X3, $100 donations appear as $300. Etc.. This is a strong tool campaigns can use to motivate people to donate as they see their donation dollars being maximized.
U.S Tax Receipts: All U.S non-profits can have the tax receipts automated via email through our site.
Canadian Receipts: Because of CRA regulations, we can’t automate tax receipts. But a Canadian non-profit can issue these receipts.
Offline donations: If a campaign receives a donation via cash, check or any other means, they can easily add the donations through our “manual donations” tab to reflect the progress toward the goal.
Ad tracking: It is common for fundraisers to spend money on advertising to get the word out. We want to make sure that those funds are being put to good use. We have tracking links that will keep track of all donations generated through the ad.
Non-profit account Vs Individual bank account? It is better to use a non-profit bank account if applicable. This will allow the campaign to issue tax receipts.
Does The Chesed Fund issue 1099s? If more than $20,000 is transferred to a personal bank account in a calendar year, a 1099 will be issued.
Updated on: 02/13/2023
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