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Facebook is getting into crowd funding. What does this mean for GoFundMe?



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Facebook is getting into crowd funding. What does this mean for GoFundMe?

Facebook is now trying to take over the crowd funding world by pushing forward a feature within their website and app that allows users to set up a sort of GoFundMe page for anyone to see.  Large corporations like GoFundMe and Kickstarter have been the "go to" platforms if you wanted to get funding, but normally it was for a business idea and not something personal.

Facebook introduced this new feature in March which allowed it's users to donate money for specific things like emergencies, disasters, medical bills, funerals, etc.  Basically something that needed money quick because it was unexpected.  But now we're seeing that the launch of that feature was only a beta test for what they were actually planning to do, crowd funding everything!  Basically if you're over 18 you can set up what's called a "FundMe" page which is linked to your account where the community can donate to you.  This feature is also expanding into teams who need funding to purchase jerseys, uniforms and equipment to someone who wants to set up a community garden in their town.  These are good ideas for crowd funding, but I'm sure it will get abused sooner rather than later.

Facebook claims it will vet each FundMe page within 24 hours after the submission to make sure that nothing breaks the TOS set in place.  If the request is legitimate and not something like "I need $750 for new rims on my 69 Impala" then you should be able to get your FundMe page live.  Facebook is sure to siphon a good amount of users from both GoFundMe and Kickstarter, but how much siphoning is unknown at this moment.  Facebook stated that they are not doing this to make money off of the charity of others, they simply launched this feature to help users out in a time of need.

Though Facebook’s tool threatens to eat up GoFundMe's community, the company was quick to assure its users that they are not out to make a profit from charity.

Facebooks exact statement: 

Facebook’s goal is to create a platform for good that’s sustainable over the long-term, and not to make a profit from our charitable giving tools

Even though Facebook doesn't want to make money from this, they will still need to be paid for the service.  They will be charging 6.9% of the total funding and $2.30 per "FundMe" campaign launched.  This is slightly lower than GoFundMe's 7.9% and $2.30 per donation on the page.  Facebook says that the payments will go towards background checks and fraud/security protection, which is understandable.  They're going to make millions every month because of this, but how many people will be running the service on the back end?  I'm sure Facebook will profit off of this, but they can't say they're intend to because they will make them look greedy lol.

We all know that Facebook has never been the one to think of their own ideas and run with them.  They will copy a successful business model, which is already working, and they will use their massive numbers to make it successful for themselves while killing the other businesses with the original idea.

A good example of this is when Facebook launched it's "Stories" feature which was an obvious rip off of SnapChat.  It also launched something called Facebook Places which can be assumed a rip off of Foursquare and then it copied twitters hashtag feature. 

It's unclear if Facebook will start to block/ban GoFundMe links from their advertising platform because technically that's the competitor.  It would be a smart move on facebooks part, but it would also make them look bad since people want to pay to get some funding.  It's facebook vs. GoFundMe, not Facebook vs. the people with GoFundMe accounts.



In Conclusion:
We can't really do anything about this so we'll just have to accept what is going to happen and work around it.  You never know if the Facebook FundMe pages will be a huge success and help get you funding quicker than a GoFundMe page, only time will tell Facebook is getting into crowd funding.  What does this mean for GoFundMe?



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Comments

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Makefort
Wait, what? I have had no idea they have started anything like this. This is new and actually really surprising. I wonder how far will they go with it. Has anyone tried it? Really interested in people's experiences with it.



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Tronia
Thank you very much for this information. Same as Makefort, I honestly had no clue that they're doing this. I don't really use Facebook as much as I used to so I guess I'm badly informed.

I bet GoFundMe and Kickstarter aren't too happy about it considering what a big social media platform Facebook is. If they do this right and execute it correctly, so it's convenient, easy and user-friendly they might have just hit a jackpot. Only time will tell. I will for sure keep my eye out for the progress that they will be making.



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Makefort
Well, GoFundMe and Kickstarter will stay alive, no matter what. The bad thing is, if facebook plays the bad game and starts to remove groups and posts that have anything to do with those 2, that could lead to some problems and controversy as well. That would be a really bad thing for facebook instead. Sure, they would get their money from certain fundraisers on their own platform, but by doing so, they would be seen as the bad guys.



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vinaya
I was not aware that facebook is getting into crowdfunding. I don't think facebook croudfunding feature will harm GoGund because GoFund already has a good market share. One of the drawbacks of GoFund is it is not available everywhere. For example, from Nepal you cannot start crowfunding program on GoFund. If Facebook crowdfunding will bridge this gap, GoFunding will be in some troubles.



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simplymh
I read about this and its a nice way to spread awareness and help others if they are in need, however too many people are taking advantage of GoFundMe for nonsense things like a wedding, honeymoon, pay off their debt and so forth.



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arachnophobik
I think the facebook crowdfunding would flop. It's just me though, but there's a lot of things facebook tried and barely anyone appreciated more than the current standard. I heard you can use facebook now to monetize videos, not sure if this is true, but if it is then I guess it isn't working well because youtube still has the upper hand, then there's the hashtag twitter first implemented and now it's on facebook, which again didn't work that well, a lot of people still use it mostly on twitter.



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clara1993
lately I've been seeing pictures and messages or audios in whatsapp groups stating that people are looking for help either for medications, or ... whatever they said that the more we share that information money will go to that person's account from Facebook I thought it was some kind of spams lol now I understand, I hope it will not influence more scammers,lazy people who don't like to work and help real people in need of help.



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Corzhens
Like the others here, I am also surprised that there is a thing called crowd funding in Facebook. This is one good function in the direction of charity. We know that people are always in need of funds. However, my apprehension on the matter is the potential abuse of this function. It can be used for a false purpose. I just hope that the system has a way to find out if the cause or reason for the funds is legitimate.



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cmoneyspinner
Never used any of these services but if, as you say the GoFundMe is for “personal” needs like emergencies, disaster relief, etc. VERSUS money or funds needed for a business venture, then if that's the case, I see no reason for GoFundMe (or other personal emergency fund raising services) to be discontinued.

FundMe – or crowdfunding for business ventures AND quickly obtaining funds for emergency situations serve two different purposes. They shouldn't have the same rules. Is my understanding correct? (O.o)

Also, if it's for business, I see no reason for Facebook to do a turnaround in 24 hours. I think they should tell applicants to expect the vetting process to take at least a week. If they get it done in 24 hours, then fine! But that's just my opinion. Facebook is getting into crowd funding.  What does this mean for GoFundMe?


As for blocking or banning links belonging to competitors, if done then I guess as far as Facebook is concerned "Nothing personal GoFundMe. Business is business." Facebook is getting into crowd funding.  What does this mean for GoFundMe?



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Barida
Crowdfunding is really a good feature and I commend Facebook for going into that. I don't see the move a threat to any company that is currently into that at the moment.



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