First things first: we are huge fans of peerfunding! Also called crowdfunding, the ability for people from around the world to come together and support something they believe in is a truly incredible phenomenon, and we believe it’s fundamentally changing the world. There are lots of great fundraising sites out there, many of which we have even used ourselves. So why did we create StartSomeGood? We are taking everything we’ve learned about fundraising and applying it to the most important cause we know of: empowering people around the world to create social impact.

StartSomeGood is one of the only sites exclusively for social change initiatives which does not restrict itself to a single country or single type of organization (eg. tax-deductible charities). We are here to support social entrepreneurs from day one, whether you need to raise the first few thousand dollars to launch your idea or a larger amount for a new initiative or to build on your success.

We are confident that if you are looking to transform an idea for improving the world into a tangible venture for good, and that you want to retain full control over your venture, StartSomeGood is the best place for you. But, we want to make sure that you are using the site that best meets your needs, so we’re happy to provide this comparison chart so that you can compare us to others and see if StartSomeGood is the right platform for you. If not, we’re fans of -- and friends with -- the other sites listed here and trust that if StartSomeGood isn’t right for you right now, one of these other sites might be.

What makes StartSomeGood stand out?

StartSomeGood is focused on the needs of social entrepreneurs, especially in the early stages. We are here to support you to take your social good idea and get started, rallying a community around your vision of change.

Over the past ten years it has become easier to contribute to charities online - first by donating, then by setting up personal fundraising pages to raise funds by doing such things as running in marathons or shaving our heads. We are taking the next crucial step: making it easier for you to start your own initiative to create change in your community. We believe anyone can be a changemaker but most just need a hand to get started.

We are looking to help launch the type of organizations that will create long-term, meaningful change in the world. To that end, while we think it’s great that businesses are becoming more socially conscious and donating a portion of revenue to charity, this in and of itself, is not the type of substantive change we support on our site. Rather, we look for ventures engaging directly with communities to fundamentally change our world.

StartSomeGood uses a unique hybrid model unique to the needs of a social venture. Social entrepreneurs select a “tipping point” - the amount of money that is necessary to start doing good - along with an ultimate goal - the amount needed to achieve their full impact. Supporters pledge funds, but are only charged if a venture reaches its tipping point goal by its deadline.

In addition to launching a social enterprise on our site, we support the ongoing launch of new campaigns by a venture using the same hybrid tipping-point crowdfunding model. We provide a permanent home on our site from which you can run multiple campaigns and continue to update your supporters in-between campaigns.

We recognize that in addition to financial support, social entrepreneurs also need intellectual and relational capital to succeed, so we are working to better support volunteering on the site and organize a range of learning opportunities for our community, from the Social Entrepreneurship Book Club to near-monthly webinars for registered ventures helping ventures both broaden and deepen their impact.

StartSomeGood is a for-profit social enterprise with a revenue model that aligns directly with those of the social entrepreneurs using our site. Because we only receive funds ourselves if our ventures succeed, we provide a high-touch experience guiding social entrepreneurs along their StartSomeGood journey from the moment they apply to be a venture to finally receiving funds and beyond. Success on StartSomeGood results in a win-win-win situation: our social entrepreneurs receive the funds they need to transform their ideas into action and impact; supporters know that their support goes to creating new tangible good in the world; and StartSomeGood continues to grow and support more and more social innovators.