Fundrazr

“Raise money for what matters to you.”
== Description: ==
 
FundRazr is a donation-based platform launched in 2010 to raise money for a personal, group, political or non-profit cause; the outstanding feature is the deep social media integration in various networks that empowers the user to reach more people through imbedding the full fundraising campaign functionality on social profiles. https://fundrazr.com, downloaded 2014/12/11
== Who is behind the platforms? ==
FundRazr is the flagship product of the company ConnectionPoint Systems Inc. that was founded in 2008 by Daryl Hatton, a software manager, that was inspired by fundraising as he had difficulties to raise the fees for his lacrosse team and so started a Facebook request. http://www.crunchbase.com/person/daryl-hatton, downloaded 2014/12/11 Starting from that point with the App for fundraising the cooperation with PayPal and the easy implementation for social websites like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ allowed the platform to get one of the fastest growing start-ups across Canada. In 2014 the company has expanded to 20 employees and raised 52 Million Dollars from over 45.000 campaigns in 37 different countries.
== Appearance of the platforms ==
The start site leads the visitor to six featured campaigns, to search the projects for different topics like “near me” or “ending soon” and also to choose from categories. http://crowdsunite.com/platforms/fundrazr/#&panel1-2, downloaded 2014/12/11 The site is written in English, the currency for donation is Dollar. The connection button for Facebook is placed next to the logo on the top of the site; this shows the strong linking with social networks. FundRazr uses personal information from the connected network to attract the user very fast on an emotional level and also spread the information through his social network.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daryl_Hatton, downloaded 2014/12/11http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/starting-out/vancouver-startups-social-platform-takes-crowdfunding-to-next-level/article14721208/, downloaded 2014/12/11
== Who is addressed? ==
Due to a high variety of topics it addresses to a broad audience. The slogan is Create – Share – Collect and points out the easy and fast distribution of information via network and email. A problem with the spread through the networks could occur with group pressure to donate or contribute to a certain project to stay part of the network. 
== Registry and privacy policy ==
To create a campaign a Facebook, LinkedIn or Google+ account is needed as well as a verified PayPal account and/or a WePay account (an online payment service provider focussing on business crowdfunding websites).https://www.wepay.com, downloaded 2014/12/11 The campaigns are free to set up and the recipients have to pay 5-7% fee plus Payment Provider fee of 2,9% + 30 cent per transaction, there can also perks offered to the contributors. There can be chosen between “All or nothing”, so that you only receive the money if you have reached the campaign goal or the “Keep It All” model, that the donated money can be kept without limitations of amount and length of the campaign. The money can be taken right away from PayPal account.
For backers there is the possibility to start with an amount of 5 Dollars for the contribution of the campaigns after signed in via social media and the money is instantly deposited onto the PayPal or WePay account of the campaign holder. There is no guarantee given by FundRazr that the contributions will be used as promised or that the goals will be achieved, but there is a possibility to get refunds within seven days from the order.
== Risks and criticism ==
The closeness to the social media is a big part of the fast growth of FundRazr and is a great option to attract a younger audience to the topic of donation. Positive is the fact that the information can be spread very fast and that the output from the network can multiplicate the sum of donation if just family or friends are included. The possibilities of the new networks are used to perfection to get high profile. A problem with the private policy is that the networks collect the information and sell these, also if FundRazr itself doesn’t do that. http://www.newventuresbc.com/2014/03/where-are-they-now-fundrazr-a-standout-in-crowdfunding-market/, downloaded 2014/12/11
== Links ==