Crowdrise

Market position

CrowdRise was described as a leading platform for philanthropic crowdfunding tools aimed at charities, events and corporations, and prior to the deal was a competitor to GoFundMe. Sources characterize GoFundMe as the leader in charitable crowdfunding for individuals and CrowdRise as the leader in tooling for organized philanthropy; the acquisition was framed as part of a wider consolidation in crowdfunding alongside Kickstarter's purchase of Drip.

Focus exclusively on charitable and nonprofit giving rather than product or equity crowdfunding, combined with gamified, points-based engagement mechanics, a humorous and social brand voice, team-based peer-to-peer fundraising, and purpose-built modules for race and event fundraising and corporate campaigns.

Technology

A web-based donation and campaign platform offering customizable fundraising pages and microsites, team creation and team-management tools, participant invitation and email tools, social sharing, real-time progress tracking, and no-login credit card donations with automated tax receipts. Distinguishing product elements included gamification mechanics and a rewards point system, plus event-specific modules for race registration and progress tracking.

Go-to-market

Growth relied on celebrity and founder visibility (notably co-founder Edward Norton), viral social-network sharing by fundraisers and teams, and institutional partnerships with large endurance events (Boston, New York City and Chicago marathons, Ironman, Tough Mudder), major charities (American Cancer Society, Red Cross, UNICEF, Free the Children), and corporate sponsors such as Revlon and Allstate.

Nonprofits and charities, endurance and race event organizers, corporate giving programs, and individual fundraisers and teams raising for charitable causes and personal needs. At acquisition the platform served more than 20,000 charities and over one million members.

Geography

United States-based. Sources place headquarters in the Detroit, Michigan area, specifically Royal Oak, Michigan; internal records list Los Angeles. Event and charity partnerships cited are predominantly US-based (Boston, New York City and Chicago marathons; American Cancer Society; Red Cross), with international charity partners such as UNICEF.

History

CrowdRise emerged from a 2009 charitable fundraising effort and launched publicly as a for-profit charitable crowdfunding site in 2010, with early operations in the Detroit metropolitan area (Royal Oak, Michigan). It raised venture funding from 2011 onward, including a $23 million Series A led by Union Square Ventures in April 2014 and a $5 million round in December 2015, reaching roughly $31 million total. GoFundMe announced its acquisition on January 10, 2017 for undisclosed terms, with the entire CrowdRise team joining GoFundMe and co-founder Edward Norton continuing in an advisory capacity. The platform was relaunched as "Crowdrise by GoFundMe" in March 2018, discontinued as a standalone site in October 2019 in favor of GoFundMe Charity, and GoFundMe Charity was itself wound down in 2021. Grokipedia notes GoFundMe subsequently acquired Classy in 2022 and reintroduced enterprise nonprofit fundraising as GoFundMe Pro.

Risks & controversies

Post-acquisition platform transitions drew criticism from nonprofit users. RunSignup reported an abrupt brand and platform shutdown of Crowdrise following the GoFundMe acquisition, which raised concerns among nonprofits, and later documented the abrupt shutdown of the successor GoFundMe Charity platform in which campaigns and data were not migrated and became inaccessible, forcing organizations to rebuild campaigns manually. Critics cited loss of brand control, absence of reporting, recurring donations, integrations/API and Facebook fundraising support on the generic GoFundMe platform. Note that these accounts come from a competing vendor's blog. Reported funding totals also conflict across sources (approximately $25M per CrunchBase, $31.5M per PitchBook, $31.3M per one aggregator), as do the founding date (2009 vs. May 2010) and headquarters location.