No, you can donate as a guest without creating an account. However, creating a free account allows you to track your donations, receive updates from campaigns, and manage your own fundraisers.
You can raise money for almost anything, including medical expenses, education costs, memorial funds, community projects, creative endeavors, emergencies, and personal causes. Campaigns must comply with our Terms of Service.
Yes, it's completely free to create and share a campaign. We only charge fees when you receive donations.
Projects involving the following items are prohibited from PublicFund:
- Illegal Activities: Any project promoting illegal goods, services, or activities under local, national, or international laws.
- Weapons and Explosives: Projects involving firearms, ammunition, knives intended for harm, or explosives of any kind.
- Any project offering professional services, including but limited to, financial services and marketing services.
- Contests, coupons, gambling, and raffles.
- Political fundraising.
- Hate Speech or Discrimination: Content that promotes hatred, violence, or discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristics.
- Counterfeit or Stolen Goods: Items or projects involving fake, pirated, or stolen goods.
- Rewards that the creator did not make.
- Projects that offer equity.
It is at PublicFund’s discretion to deny a project if it is deemed to be inappropriate for the site. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to PublicFund before starting a project.
Most campaigns can be set up in just 5-10 minutes. You'll need to provide basic information, videos, and write your story.
Yes, you can create a campaign as an organizer on behalf of a beneficiary. You'll need to provide the beneficiary's information when setting up withdrawals.
Share your campaign widely on social media, email, and text. Add compelling photos or videos, tell your story authentically, provide regular updates, and personally reach out to your network.
Yes, you can edit your campaign title, description, goal, photos, and other details at any time from your campaign dashboard.
We accept all major credit cards, debit cards, PayPal and ACH payments.
The minimum donation is typically $5. There is no maximum donation amount.
Yes, you can choose to hide your name and donation amount from others viewing the campaign. The campaign organizer will still see your information for tax and security purposes.
If you made a donation by mistake, contact us within 7 days and we'll assist with a refund. Once funds are withdrawn by the organizer, regardless of when a refund is requested, refunds must be handled directly between you and the organizer.
Most campaigns on our platform are personal fundraisers and donations are not tax-deductible. Only donations to verified nonprofit organizations (with 501(c)(3) status in the US) are tax-deductible.
We do not charge platform fees nor processing fees for donations sent to us. PublicFund is completely funded by donor tips that help support the platform. Donors have the option to add a voluntary tip to support our platform. This is separate from their donation to the campaign and helps us keep the platform running. When campaigns are closed and donations are sent to campaign owners, processing fees will be deducted from the gross proceeds. Paypal is our current payment processor and typically fees range from 2.99% to 3.49% + $0.49 per transaction (fees may vary if updated). For example, if a campaign has donations of $100 and processing fees are $3 then the campaign owner will receive $97.
No, we believe in transparency. There are no setup fees, monthly fees, or withdrawal fees.
You'll need to add a bank account or debit card to your account. Funds can then be withdrawn directly to your account within 2-5 business days after your campiagn has been closed.
No, you do not have to reach your goal before withdrawing funds. You'll receive donations after your campiagn has been closed.
There is no minimum withdrawal amount, but we recommend waiting until you have at least $100 to make the process more efficient.
If we determine a campaign is fraudulent, it will be removed and donors will be refunded. We take fraud very seriously and work with law enforcement when necessary.
Click the "Report Campaign" button at the bottom of any campaign page. Our team will review all reports and determine if a campaign page needs to be deactivated.
Use the share buttons on your campaign page to post directly to Facebook, Twitter and other platforms. You can also copy the campaign link to share via email or text.
You keep all the money you raise, even if you don't reach your goal. There's no penalty for not meeting your target.
Campaign organizers can see donor names and contact information. Other visitors to the campaign only see what donors choose to make public. We never sell your personal information.
You can reach our support team by emailing contact@publicfund.com. We typically respond within 24 hours.