Community Support Funds, end to end.

A Community Support Fund (CSF) is an ongoing, public-facing fundraiser hosted under Rekonect’s 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsorship. You set up the fund with a public donation page; donors visit, give a tax-deductible donation, and receive an immediate receipt from Rekonect; you request disbursements out of the fund balance as needs arise. Rekonect approves disbursements and pays them to the recipients you specify.

In plain terms: it’s a way to run a real fundraising program without forming your own nonprofit, applying for 501(c)(3) status, or managing receipting and compliance yourself.

CSFs work well for:

• Families and communities raising for a member in crisis — medical bills, sudden loss, housing emergencies.
• Religious organizations running ongoing programs that need donor receipting — kollelim, chesed funds, education subsidies, holiday distributions.
• Community projects like new buildings, renovations, equipment drives, library funds.
• Cause-based fundraisers for ongoing efforts — relief work, hunger programs, mental-health initiatives, advocacy.
• Anyone running an informal fund through Zelle or Venmo today who needs the donors to get tax receipts.

If your cause is specifically educational scholarships for individual students, an Education Opportunity Fund is the right structure instead. If your cause has a fixed deadline and you want a countdown-style campaign, a Social Impact Campaign works better than a CSF.

All three are BrightLeaf programs, but they’re built for different jobs:

• CSF — many donors, ongoing, any charitable cause that isn’t a scholarship. Public donation page, no deadline, no countdown. Sponsored by Rekonect.
• Social Impact Campaign (SIC) — many donors, time-bound. Same idea as a CSF but with a deadline, a goal, a countdown, and donation-matching mechanics. Best for capital projects, emergency response, and milestone campaigns. Also sponsored by Rekonect.
• Education Opportunity Fund (EOF) — one donor, scholarships only. You set up the fund as its donor, fund it yourself, and recommend students. Sponsored by Yeshiva Giving Fund (a separate 501(c)(3)).

CSFs and SICs share the same fee schedule and payment methods because they’re both Rekonect-sponsored multi-donor fundraisers. The difference between them is the structure of the ask: CSF is “we’re always raising for this cause”; SIC is “we’re raising $X by [date]”.

Rekonect is a 501(c)(3) public charity registered in New Jersey that specializes in fiscal sponsorship for community causes. They act as the legal fiscal sponsor for every CSF and SIC — donations go to Rekonect, Rekonect issues tax receipts, and Rekonect holds the legal responsibility for approving and disbursing fund balances to the recipients you specify.

This structure is what makes the donations tax-deductible without you needing your own nonprofit, and what keeps the fund compliant with the rules that govern charitable fundraising.

CSFs can support any charitable purpose that fits Rekonect’s mission as a 501(c)(3) — emergency relief, education subsidies (not individual scholarships, which need an EOF), religious programs, community projects, capital campaigns, advocacy, ongoing operating support for unincorporated initiatives.

Things a CSF can’t do:

• Award individual scholarships — that’s what an EOF is for.
• Pay political candidates or political campaigns.
• Direct funds to the fund manager personally for non-charitable use.
• Fund activities that primarily benefit a single private individual without a charitable purpose. (You can raise for a family in crisis; the charitable purpose is the relief, and the family is a charitable-class recipient.)

If you’re not sure whether your cause fits, message us before applying — we’d rather flag it early than have to unwind later.

The application lives on the Community Support Fund service page. It’s a single form covering your fund’s purpose, your donation page setup (including AI-assisted copy and a hero image), your fundraising target, your identity verification, and a short onboarding call to walk through approval.

Start your CSF application →

The application asks for:

• Fund name and purpose — what you’re raising for, in plain language.
• Purpose category — Rekonect needs to know which broad charitable bucket your cause fits in.
• Program description — the public-facing copy on your donation page. AI-assisted draft generation is available if you want it.
• Hero image — uploaded by you or AI-generated based on your description.
• Fundraising target — your initial goal (optional, can be changed later).
• Donation and disbursement estimates — directional, helps Rekonect anticipate volume.
• Whether you’ll disburse internationally — different reporting requirements apply.
• Your identity — name, email, phone, citizenship, SSN, and primary address. Rekonect needs this for fiscal-sponsor recordkeeping.
• How you heard about us — and if someone referred you.
• An onboarding call — a short Google Meet to walk through the application, answer questions, and confirm setup.

Typically 1–2 business days after your onboarding call. Rekonect reviews each new CSF for fit with their fiscal-sponsorship policies before activating donations. Once approved, your donation page goes live, your dashboard fills in, and you can start sharing the link immediately.

Yes — community fundraising for individuals in crisis (medical needs, housing emergencies, sudden loss) is one of the most common CSF use cases. The charitable purpose is the relief itself, and the named individual is a recipient of that charitable purpose.

That said, the structure matters: you can’t run a CSF where the fund manager is also the sole recipient (that’s a private benefit arrangement, not a charitable program). For family-emergency fundraisers, the typical setup is a community member or extended family member as the fund manager, and the family in need as the named recipient.

If you’re unsure how to structure a particular cause, message us before applying.

Once approved, three things happen:

1. Your donation page goes live at a public URL — you’ll share that link with donors through email, social, WhatsApp, your website, wherever your community is.
2. Your dashboard fills in with your fund’s balance, real-time donor activity, and the tools to request disbursements, update your page, send donor updates, and message us.
3. You can start raising immediately. The donation page is fully functional from the moment it’s live.

Every approved CSF gets a public donation page at its own URL. You share the link; donors visit, choose an amount and a payment method, and complete the gift in one flow. They receive an immediate emailed tax receipt from Rekonect, and the donation appears in your dashboard within minutes.

The donation page supports one-time gifts, monthly recurring gifts, and pledges (where a donor commits to give a future amount).

From the donation page, donors can give via:

• Credit or debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay — 3.5% processing.
• ACH (bank transfer) — 1% processing. The cheapest method; encourage this for major gifts.
• PayPal — same 3.5% processing as card.
• DAFPay — direct from a donor’s Donor-Advised Fund through Chariot or similar. 3% processing.
• Zelle — handled through the donation page so the gift is recorded and receipted automatically with no off-system surcharge.

Wire donors should give by ACH instead — same money, faster, lower processing fee. Mailed checks aren’t accepted; eCheck is discontinued.

Any of the above processed through the donation page is in-system and avoids the off-system fee. The exception is gifts that arrive completely outside the platform — a Zelle sent directly to your personal account, a check the donor mails on their own initiative, a wire to the wrong place. Those carry an 8% surcharge to cover the manual reconciliation. Always share your donation page link first.

Yes. Rekonect is a recognized 501(c)(3) public charity, and every donation to your CSF receives an immediate tax receipt from Rekonect for the full amount the donor paid. Fees are what Rekonect spends to process the gift; they don’t reduce the donor’s deductible amount.

Yes. The donation page integrates with DAFPay, which connects to most major DAF providers (Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, the Jewish Communal Fund, community foundation DAFs, and many smaller sponsors). The donor signs into their DAF, recommends a grant to Rekonect earmarked for your CSF, and the funds transfer.

DAF gifts carry a 3% processing fee — slightly less than card. They also tend to be substantially larger than typical donations, since DAF holders are usually doing planned annual giving.

Donors choose “Monthly” on the donation page and authorize a recurring payment. The system automatically processes the gift each month, issues a fresh receipt, and updates your dashboard. Donors can manage or cancel from a link in any receipt.

Recurring gifts surface in your dashboard’s Recurring Donors tab so you can see who’s still active, monthly run-rate, and lifetime contribution per recurring donor. Monthly ACH donors are the most stable revenue stream you can build — they cost 1% per month and rarely lapse the way card-based monthly donors do.

Every CSF donation page includes a small opt-in at checkout where the donor can choose to cover the processing fee, the platform fee, both, or neither. Most donors say yes when given the option.

The four modes:

• Donor covers nothing — donation processes normally; all fees come off the top.
• Donor covers processing — adds ~3.6% to their gift on card, ~1% on ACH. Your fund keeps the processing cost.
• Donor covers platform — adds ~7% (or whatever tier applies). Your fund keeps the platform fee too.
• Donor covers both — adds ~11% on card, ~8% on ACH. Only Rekonect’s small fiscal-sponsor fee comes off your end.

This is the single biggest lever for reducing your effective fee rate. In your campaign description, mentioning the fee-cover option directly (something like “a small box at checkout lets you add the processing fee so 100% of your gift reaches our work”) can lift cover-rates significantly.

A pledge is a donor commitment to give a specific amount in the future. They fill out a short pledge form on your donation page indicating amount and intended payment date. The pledge appears in your dashboard’s Pledges tab so you can track committed-but-not-yet-collected funds against your fundraising target.

When the donor follows through and actually gives, the system matches the donation to the pledge automatically and marks the pledge fulfilled. Unfulfilled pledges stay visible in the dashboard so you can follow up.

The short version:

• Platform fee: 6.5% on donations under $1,000, tiering down to 3.5% at $25,000+ per donation.
• Fiscal sponsor fee (Rekonect): 2% on every donation.
• Card & wallet processing: 3.5%.
• ACH processing: 1%.
• DAFPay processing: 3%.
• Disbursement fee: 2% when you actually pay out to a recipient.
• Off-system donation surcharge: 8% on gifts that bypass the donation page.
• Disputed transaction: $35 per chargeback (rare).

No setup fee, no minimum balance, no annual fee. Detailed breakdown, worked examples, and the donor-cover mechanics live on our CSF/SIC fees page.

Five practical levers, in roughly the order they matter:

1. Let donors cover the fees — the single biggest lever. Most donors say yes when the option is presented well.
2. Steer donors to ACH — saves 2.5% per donation compared to card. Especially worth doing for major gifts.
3. Grow into the lower platform-fee tiers — larger gifts pay less. A single $5,000 gift gets the 4.5% tier; $25,000+ gets 3.5%.
4. Don’t trigger the off-system fee — 8% on gifts that arrive outside the donation page. Always share the link first.
5. Tap donor-advised funds for major gifts — 3% processing and tends to attract larger gifts.

No. CSFs on BrightLeaf charge once per donation, and never on balance. There’s no setup fee, no monthly subscription, no minimum balance requirement. If you raise nothing in a quarter, you pay nothing that quarter.

The CSF/SIC fees page has the full schedule, the tiered platform-fee table, worked examples for a $100 donation across all six payment scenarios, the donor-cover mechanics in detail, and answers to the most common fee questions. It’s worth a read before you start fundraising — especially the donor-cover section, which is where most fee savings come from.

Disbursements can go to individuals (e.g., the family in crisis you’re fundraising for, vendors providing services, contractors doing work), organizations (e.g., a yeshiva, hospital, relief agency, vendor), or service providers being paid on behalf of a beneficiary (e.g., a hospital bill paid directly to the medical center).

Every disbursement gets reviewed by Rekonect against your fund’s stated purpose. Disbursements that align with the charitable purpose are approved and paid by ACH; disbursements that don’t fit the stated purpose get flagged for clarification.

From your dashboard’s single-fund view, click Request Disbursement. You’ll fill out a short form covering the recipient’s name and contact, the amount, the purpose (how this fits your fund’s charitable mission), and the recipient’s payment details (ACH account info, or their contact info so we can collect it from them).

Submit, and your request goes to Rekonect for review. Most disbursements are approved within 1–2 business days, then ACH-paid to the recipient.

If the recipient hasn’t been paid from your CSF before, they receive an email invitation to complete a short intake form. The form confirms their identity and collects ACH details for receiving the disbursement. Most recipients complete it in under 10 minutes.

Subsequent disbursements to the same recipient skip the intake — their banking info is on file, so you just request, Rekonect approves, money moves.

After Rekonect approves the disbursement and the recipient’s intake form is on file, the actual ACH payment typically arrives within 2–3 business days. The full timeline from “I want to pay this out” to “money in their hands” depends mostly on how quickly the recipient completes their intake — sometimes hours, sometimes a week.

International disbursements are possible but require additional documentation that’s not part of the standard intake — Rekonect needs to comply with international charitable-giving regulations. If you’ll be making international disbursements from your CSF, flag that in your initial application so we can set up the right process upfront. Otherwise, message us before submitting your first international request.

Your dashboard. “My Community Support Funds” lists every CSF you manage with the available-to-disburse balance, recent transactions, and pending disbursements at a glance. Clicking View Fund opens the full single-fund view with current balance, monthly fundraising history with week-over-week and month-over-month growth indicators, your fundraising target progress, and six tabs of detail: Transactions, Recurring Donors, One-Time Donors, Teams, Pledges, and Disbursements.

The single-fund view has a Share Donation Page button that gives you the URL, a copy-to-clipboard shortcut, and pre-formatted message templates for WhatsApp, email, and social platforms. Just paste; the link previews cleanly on most platforms with your campaign image and description.

For larger fundraising pushes, consider using Teams (see below) so individual fundraisers can rally their own networks under your CSF.

From your single-fund view, Send Donor Update opens a composer where you write an update message (progress, milestones, photos, gratitude). The update is sent as a branded email to everyone who has donated to your CSF. It’s the easiest way to keep donors engaged between gifts and the most reliable lever for converting one-time donors into recurring ones.

Best practice: send a donor update every 3–6 weeks during active fundraising periods. Donors who hear from a campaign regularly give more, more often.

Yes. Teams let individual fundraisers raise money on behalf of your CSF — each team member gets their own sub-page under your campaign URL with their own personal goal, their own donor list, and their own share links. Donations through team pages count toward your overall CSF total.

Teams work especially well for community-wide pushes (annual campaigns, building drives, relief efforts) where multiple people want to rally their own networks. The Teams tab in your dashboard tracks each team’s progress and lets you message individual team captains.

From the single-fund view, Update Program Info opens a form where you can revise your fund description, the donation page hero copy and image, the fundraising target, the cause category, and your recipient/disbursement plans. Changes save immediately and the donation page updates live. If you want to fundamentally change the fund’s purpose, message us first — that change requires Rekonect to re-review.

For just changing your fundraising target without touching anything else, use Update Fundraising Target — it’s a quicker, single-field form.

Yes. CSFs can be wound down when the cause is complete — the remaining balance is disbursed (usually to a final round of recipients aligned with your fund’s purpose), and the fund is closed. There’s no penalty and no minimum lifetime. Reach out and we’ll walk through it.

Donations are irrevocable once received — they’re already Rekonect’s, not yours — so “closing” means disbursing the balance out to charitable recipients, not refunding donors.

If you’re already logged in, the Message Us button is in your dashboard sidebar and on every fund page. If you’re not logged in or you’re a prospective fund manager, use the contact form. We answer in business hours, usually same-day, and there’s no upcharge for support.