A Serious Alternative to Casual Crowdfunding
Run the campaign. Skip the tip jar.
A Social Impact Campaign gives you the same kind of public, time-bound donation page you’d set up on a crowdfunding site, but inside a real 501(c)(3). That means tax-deductible giving, donor-advised fund support, wire and ACH for major gifts, and a reviewed disbursement process donors can actually trust.
You’ve outgrown the tip-jar version of fundraising
Crowdfunding platforms made it easy to accept a card. They didn’t make it easy to be taken seriously. If you’re running a real fundraiser for a real cause, you’ve probably felt at least one of these:
Donors asking: is this tax-deductible?
For personal crowdfunding campaigns, the honest answer is no. Donations are treated as personal gifts by the IRS. No receipt, no deduction, no way for a serious donor to record the gift the way they record the rest of their giving.
Bigger donors quietly passing
The donor who could write the biggest check usually wants to give from their donor-advised fund, by wire, or by ACH. Crowdfunding platforms typically only handle a card. That’s the gift that doesn’t happen.
A tip prompt on every gift
Donors often think the suggested 15% tip is going to your cause. It isn’t. It’s the platform taking a cut of generosity that was meant for you, dressed up as something optional.
No real answer to: who’s overseeing the money?
A casual platform is a payment processor with a page builder. There’s no charitable structure behind the gift, no review of how funds get spent, and no nonprofit name a thoughtful donor can put their trust in.
What a serious campaign actually looks like
A Social Impact Campaign keeps everything that made crowdfunding fast — a public page, a clear goal, a deadline, easy sharing — and adds the infrastructure donors recognize as legitimate.
Tax-deductible from the first dollar
Every gift is processed through Rekonect, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donors receive an official tax receipt from Rekonect, not a payment confirmation from a for-profit platform.
Built for every kind of donor
Accept card, ACH, wire, check, and donor-advised fund gifts. The donor who wants to give $25 and the donor who wants to recommend a $25,000 DAF grant land on the same campaign page.
Reviewed disbursement
When it’s time to put funds to work, you submit a disbursement request tied to your campaign’s stated purpose. Funds move through Crowded, with safeguards and clean records the whole way.
Backed by Rekonect, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Administered by BrightLeaf Giving.
Same campaign. Different infrastructure.
Both run a public donation page with a goal and a deadline. The difference is what sits behind the page.
Fees are a separate conversation, and an important one. We get to it below.
Let’s talk about price
Yes, it costs more than a tip jar. Here’s what that buys you.
A casual crowdfunding platform charges payment-processing only because that’s all it does. A Social Impact Campaign costs more because it does more — and the difference usually pays for itself with one serious donor.
A 501(c)(3) behind every donation
Rekonect is the registered charitable organization that receives the gift, issues the receipt, and stands behind the campaign. That’s the entire reason a donor’s gift becomes deductible — and the entire reason a serious supporter is willing to give in the first place.
Donors who wouldn’t give otherwise
DAF donors. Wire donors. The donor who needs an ACH option for a five-figure gift. These are the donors a crowdfunding link can’t reach. A single DAF grant or major gift typically covers your fees for the entire campaign.
Accountable disbursement
Funds don’t just hit a personal bank account on a 48-hour cycle. They’re reviewed against the stated charitable purpose and released through our Crowded partnership, which adds safeguards and clean records on both ends. That’s the part that lets a major donor sleep at night.
The work you’d otherwise do at midnight
Donor receipts. Reporting. Tracking. The administrative tail that quietly eats every weekend on a self-run campaign. BrightLeaf Giving handles it end-to-end so you can focus on the work and the donors, not the paperwork.
The actual fees, laid out plainly
- $0 setup fee. No charge to apply, get approved, or launch.
- 6.5% management fee on each donation, deducted before crediting your campaign.
- Payment processing passed through at cost: 3.5% on card, 1% on ACH or electronic check, $15 / $35 on wires (domestic / international).
- 2% disbursement fee when funds are released through Crowded.
- No tip prompt. No platform commission on top of donations. No hidden charges.
One DAF grant or major gift typically covers the full fee structure of an entire campaign. The rest is profit you’d never have raised on a tip-jar platform.
How it works
Four steps from application to a campaign donors can actually trust.
01
Apply with a clear goal
Tell us what you’re funding, your target, and your timeline. We review and approve.
02
Launch your campaign page
We set up a donor-ready page on the Rekonect 501(c)(3) framework. You start sharing the same day it’s approved.
03
Accept gifts in every form
Card, ACH, wire, check, donor-advised funds. Small donations and major gifts run through the same campaign page.
04
Request funds and disburse
Submit a disbursement request tied to the campaign purpose. Funds are reviewed and released through Crowded.
A framework donors and organizers already trust
$5M+
in donations processed
$0
setup fee to launch a campaign
501(c)(3)
charitable structure on every dollar
Honest answers to the questions you’re probably asking
Are donations really tax-deductible?
Yes. Every donation flows through Rekonect, a New Jersey nonprofit corporation with 501(c)(3) status under the Internal Revenue Code. Donors receive a tax receipt issued by Rekonect. On a personal crowdfunding campaign, donations are treated as personal gifts and are generally not deductible.
How is this different from a charity option on a crowdfunding platform?
Charity options on crowdfunding sites route gifts to existing registered nonprofits. If you don’t already have your own 501(c)(3), you can’t use them. A Social Impact Campaign is the bridge: you get the benefits of nonprofit fundraising — deductibility, DAF access, oversight — without standing up your own organization first.
How long does approval take?
Most applications are reviewed and approved quickly. As soon as your campaign is approved, you’ll receive a confirmation email with everything you need to start sharing your page.
When and how do I get the funds?
You submit a disbursement request tied to your campaign’s stated purpose. The request is reviewed and, once approved, funds are released through our Crowded partnership, which gives recipients flexible, secure access. A 2% disbursement fee applies.
Why does this cost more than a casual crowdfunding platform?
Because it is a fundamentally different product. A casual crowdfunding platform is a payment processor with a page builder. A Social Impact Campaign is a fiscally-sponsored fundraiser inside a 501(c)(3): tax-deductible giving, DAF and wire access, reviewed disbursement, full administration. The fee covers the structure that makes serious donors comfortable giving in the first place.
What happens if I don’t hit my fundraising goal?
Donations are real charitable gifts to Rekonect from the moment they’re received, so funds aren’t held hostage to a goal. You can still request disbursement of what you’ve raised, tied to the campaign’s charitable purpose.
Launch a campaign donors take seriously
Apply in a few minutes. Get approved. Start raising — with tax-deductible giving, DAF access, and a real 501(c)(3) behind every gift.