Chuffed.org is a crowdfunding platform for social and sustainable projects. They are originally from Australia and are now expanding worldwide. On October 17th they are hosting a meetup in Amsterdam and they give a 50% discount for S2M users with the code ChuffedFamily50. There they will talk about crowdfunding, social entrepreneurship, sustainability and the fantastic work they have been doing in worldwide. We spoke with Rebecca Fitzgerald to tell us more about their work and tips on making your crowdfunding project a success. You can buy tickets for the event here.
Can you tell us what Chuffed.org is?
We are Chuffed.org, a free, leading global crowdfunding platform for social causes. We’re passionate about creating lasting social change and enabling normal people to be a part of this. Our campaigns range from from social enterprise projects, environmental, animal welfare, international development, refugee focussed, social welfare and many more types of projects around the world. We’re a social enterprise ourselves and our main goal is to encourage and enable more social causes (be them driven by charities, individuals or social entrepreneurs) to raise funds and increase their impact! Since launching in 2013, we’ve raised over 9 million pounds for close to 5000 social causes in over 20 countries, and over 120,000 people have donated through the platform, and this is only the start. We’re a small but growing team of about 7 staff globally, and are currently working with over 30 global community ambassadors to deliver workshops around the world.
Which projects can be submitted in the platform?
We are a crowdfunding platform for social causes only, which means that we don’t help fund your new car or wedding, or commercial kickstarter project that does not have a clear benefit to society. But we’re not restricted to charities, we also help individuals, social enterprises and even some businesses who have a social purpose at their core. We have an approval process that every campaign goes through to make sure only the right campaigns are launched on Chuffed. We’re completely free for social causes – unlike other platforms, there are no fees or commissions charged to the campaigners. We also offer campaigners a range of free support resources to ensure they can get the most out of their crowdfunding!
How can people support the projects?
People can support the range of crowdfunding projects on Chuffed.org by either donating to a cause they’re passionate about or by sharing the campaign page amongst their networks and spreading the word about the cause! Our campaigners are part of a supportive Chuffed community and will often be very responsive to supporters and keep them involved or updated in their projects.
We’ve built Chuffed to make sure that even if you’re only able to give $1 of your money or a minute of your time, you know that you, along with hundreds of other generous people are building a more awesome world. We start by hunting out great organisations doing extraordinary things in their community. We screen to make sure they’re legitimate and have a great project that’ll make a difference. Then we put them online for you to choose from.
The rest is simple. You choose a project that matters to you, support it in a way that works for you and then track your impact as it comes to life.
You can find a project to support by visiting https://chuffed.org/discover and start browsing!
What were the top 3 projects launched on Chuffed.org so far?
It’s impossible to choose from the range of awesome campaigns that have been held on Chuffed.org so far. All we can do, is name a few of note that will give you an idea of the range of campaigns we help out there:
- UNICEF UK, running their first crowdfunding campaign for Innovation Labs for Refugees: https://chuffed.org/blog/feature-story-emma-unicef-uk
- Get the YES Ad Back on Air: The Equality Campaign is working to win a YES vote in the postal survey, to give every Australian the same opportunity to marry the person they love: https://chuffed.org/project/voteyes/
- Australia for Dolphins, who crowdfunded their legal action:
Australia for Dolphins (AFD) is a not-for-profit dolphin protection organization with just two full time staff members. Even though they’re a small team, they pack a powerful punch. In 2015, they brought legal action against the world’s peak zoo body, resulting in more than 60 Japanese aquariums being forced to stop buying dolphins from the violent Taiji hunts. They also successfully sued the notorious Whale Museum in Taiji, the centre of the bloody dolphin hunts.In 2017, they had their sights focused on an Australian marine park, who still held dolphins in captivity. The team decided that they were going to sue the park for false advertising – their ads that said dolphins were happy and healthy, they just aren’t true.
- Kearsage Food Hub, USA: https://chuffed.org/blog/success-story-kearsage-food-hub/
- The Humanitarian Group, who raised 92,400 for Asylum Seekers:
The Humanitarian Group (THG) is a not-for-profit Community Legal Centre that provides migration assistance, legal advice and education for people new to Australia. When the Federal Government stopped providing funded legal assistance for most people seeking asylum in Australia, THG stepped up to help those seeking asylum in WA by opening a free legal clinic.They made a few successful grant applications and hosted a couple of fund raising events, raising between $2,000 – $5,000 here and there, but there was an ever widening gap between costs and funds available. The free legal clinic was in danger of having to close, which would have resulted in hundreds of people in WA being left without legal assistance and facing the prospect of being returned to countries they had fled because they had experienced, or were at risk of experiencing, torture and persecution. Realistically, they needed an urgent cash injection of $80,000 to stay afloat, and so Libby and Caroline decided they needed to look outside of the box, and their comfort zones, and launched a hugely successful crowdfunding campaing on Chuffed.org
How can people in the Netherlands get in touch with Chuffed.org?
We’re a global crowdfunding platform with a global team! Each of us is passionate about creating lasting social good. Our team can be reached any time via info@chuffed.org who can direct queries to the best Chuffed team member to help. You can meet us on Twitter or Facebook, even LinkedIn. We also offer free, one on one mentoring sessions, which can be booked here https://chuffed.org/office-hours. We host a range of Crowdfunding for Social Causes workshops around the world, where you can meet and learn from our Chuffed Community Leaders. Find a workshop near you here: https://chuffed.org/academy
You can also chat with loads of other campaigners on our Facebook groups and social networks.
What are your tips for people launching their own crowdfunding campaigns?
After getting a beautiful campaign page up and running, it’s time to get potential supporters to it. While there are plenty of people who give to multiple campaigns on Chuffed.org, the campaigns that succeed create their own momentum through a lot of promotion. This takes two steps – rallying a team, and then building a promotion plan.
We have endless tips and case studies from those who’ve done it best on our Chuffed Academy. As well as our Chuffed Support knowledge base!
How can people continue supporting a project after the crowdfunding phase is succeeded?
Our campaigners do a great job of sharing their progress with supporters and letting them watch the process as their project comes to life. You can engage with campaigners on a level that suits you so that you can stay involved and updated throughout the progress of the campaign but also after. There are often offline events that our campaigners host to welcome their supporter community and join with them in celebrating wins and communicating impact!
Jori Questions
Describe your own flag: its forms, colours, shapes and meanings.
We are a flag of all colours of the rainbow – we represent and welcome the good in all human beings around the world!
What’s the day-to-day activity that makes you feel the most powerful? Describe this feeling.
We feel most empowered when we take a moment to sit back and watch all of the awesome crowdfunding campaigns from around the world that use Chuffed generate a ripple affect of change throughout their communities, creating lasting social change! It’s an awesome feeling and it’s what drives us every day.
