Raising funds as an individual: How to find the fight crowdfunding platform
Are you an individual looking to raise funds – for yourself, someone else, or a social project – and not a nonprofit organization? If so, this comparison of the leading crowdfunding platforms will help you.
Pia Köhn
GoodCrowd
Reading time: 5 min
Updated: 11.09.2026
We show you the values behind each platform, what fees apply, how German-language support is handled, and how the providers make their money.
One shortcut first: If you are a recognized charitable organization and want to issue donation receipts, our sister platform betterplace.org is the right choice.
For everyone else, meaning private individuals, initiatives, activist groups and companies, read on.
What is GoodCrowd.org?
GoodCrowd.org is the social crowdfunding platform from Berlin and part of the charitable gut.org. Unlike commercial providers, GoodCrowd does not operate for profit. Any surplus flows back into the platform and its social impact.
This is the core of what sets GoodCrowd apart from most others:
✅ Social projects only: GoodCrowd makes visible where societal structures let people down, whether that involves the cost of illness, financial hardship or structural disadvantage. Campaigns that do not align with our values, for example if they promote discrimination, have no place at GoodCrowd.
✅ No profit interest: At GoodCrowd, no one makes a profit from your campaign. We charge no platform fee and do not operate for profit. Whatever is left over flows back into the platform and its social work, not to owners or investors. GoodCrowd is part of a charitable organization.
✅ Company headquarters in Germany: The data you give to GoodCrowd is processed under German law.
✅ Support: The team helps you in German, and in English on request.
✅ Open to private and not yet charitable causes, as long as they are social. The requirement is a place of residence in Germany or Austria.
The platforms at a glance
➡️ GoodCrowd.org
- What: Social crowdfunding platform from Berlin, part of the charitable gut.org
- Permitted campaigns: Only projects with a social purpose. No place for violence, discrimination or human rights violations.
- Processing fees: yes (fee overview)
- Other fees: none
- How does the platform make money? Through voluntary co-donations from donors
- Headquarters: 🇩🇪 Berlin, Germany
- Focus on the German market: Yes, tailored specifically to Germany and Austria
- Support: By email (German and English)
- For profit? No, no profit interest
➡️ GoFundMe
- What: One of the largest platforms worldwide
- Permitted campaigns: Almost any legal, personal cause, subject to the terms and conditions.
- Processing fees: yes (fee overview)
- Other fees: none
- How does the platform make money? Through voluntary co-donations from donors
- Headquarters: 🇺🇸 Redwood City, USA
- Focus on the German market: Yes, with a German-language website and German-language support, but at its core a US platform
- Support: Chatbot first, forwarded to the support team when needed (German, English and others)
- For profit? Yes
➡️ WhyDonate
- What: International donation platform from Europe, designed for cross-border fundraising
- Permitted campaigns: A social or good cause is required, but interpreted broadly
- Processing fees: yes (fee overview)
- Other fees: none
- How does the platform make money? Through voluntary co-donations from donors
- Headquarters: 🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Focus on the German market: No, international focus, little known in Germany.
- Support: Live chat (usually a reply within an hour) or email, also in German
- For profit? Yes
➡️ PayPal
- What: Payment service provider with a simple fundraiser function, not a full campaign page, max. 20,000 euros and 30 days per fundraiser
- Permitted campaigns: Almost any legal, personal cause, subject to the terms and conditions
- Processing fees: yes for public fundraisers (fee overview); if you share the fundraiser only privately with selected people, PayPal covers the fees
- Other fees: none
- How does the platform make money? Through payment fees, no co-donation model
- Headquarters: 🇺🇸 San Jose, USA
- Focus on the German market: Present as a brand, but the fundraiser tool is not widely used
- Support: General customer service in German, not specific to fundraising
- For profit? Yes
➡️ Chuffed.org
- What: Australian social enterprise for social causes, usable in Germany
- Permitted campaigns: Only social, ecological, political or community causes
- Processing fees: (fee overview)
- Other fees: none
- How does the platform make money? Through voluntary co-donations from donors
- Headquarters: 🇦🇺 Sydney, Australia
- Focus on the German market: Only partly available in German, setting up a campaign runs in English
- Support: By email (English only)
- For profit? Partly, a social enterprise with a firmly embedded social purpose
➡️ Spendenseite.de
- What: Smaller German-language platform for private donation goals
- Permitted campaigns: Almost any legal, personal cause, subject to the terms and conditions
- Processing fees: yes, 0.50 euros per donation (fee overview)
- Other fees: 5 percent commission on every donation
- How does the platform make money? Through this platform fee, so it earns directly from the donations
- Headquarters: 🇳🇱 Blaricum, Netherlands
- Focus on the German market: Yes, tailored to the German-speaking region
- Support: Via contact form (presumably German only)
- For profit? Yes
➡️ spendenaktion.de
- What: Smaller platform for private and social fundraisers, operated by Sponsor Europe B.V.
- Permitted campaigns: Almost any legal, personal cause, subject to the terms and conditions
- Processing fees: yes, depending on the payment method (fee overview)
- Other fees: 0.50 euros fixed per donation. An exact total cannot be given, because the fees depending on the payment method apply on top
- How does the platform make money? Through the fees per donation.
- Headquarters: 🇳🇱 Reeuwijk, Netherlands
- Focus on the German market: Yes, tailored to the German-speaking region
- Support: Via contact form (presumably German only)
- For profit? Yes
Frequently asked questions
Which crowdfunding platform is suitable for private individuals?
For private fundraisers, GoodCrowd.org is a good fit, because not only charitable causes are possible, support runs in German and the company headquarters is in Germany. The requirement is a place of residence in Germany or Austria. If you are fundraising internationally, GoFundMe or WhyDonate are an alternative.
Is crowdfunding free?
Starting a campaign is free on all the platforms presented here. Fees are only deducted from the incoming donations, usually a small percentage plus a fixed amount per donation. Many social platforms also do without a fixed platform fee and finance themselves through voluntary co-donations. The exceptions with higher costs are Spendenseite.de and spendenaktion.de, which additionally charge around 5 percent platform fee plus 0.50 euros per donation.
Do I have to pay tax on the donations I collect?
Donations to private fundraisers are usually treated legally as gifts. Between private individuals who are not related, the allowance is 20,000 euros per supporting person within ten years, and gift tax may apply above that. Because many people give small amounts to fundraisers, most campaigns stay below this. With larger sums or in case of doubt, it is best to clarify this with a tax advisor. This is not tax advice.
Are donations I receive counted against social benefits?
If you receive social benefits such as basic income support or housing benefit, a donation amount you receive may affect them. There is no universally valid answer, because it depends on the individual case and on the particular benefit. It is best to clarify this with the relevant authorities before starting your campaign.
Why GoodCrowd.org is the right choice for social fundraisers?
If you are fundraising privately or for a social project, and that is exactly what this article is about, GoodCrowd.org is the platform that suits you. You get a fair fee structure with no hidden extra costs, a German company headquarters, experienced German and English-language support, and a platform designed not for profit but for social impact. This is exactly where the difference lies: Unlike the big platforms, which allow almost any cause, GoodCrowd only permits social projects, and unlike comparably values-driven providers from abroad, it offers a German location and German-language support while doing so. You get this combination only here. If it matters to you that a clear stance stands behind the platform and that no one makes a profit from your campaign, GoodCrowd is the right place for you.
Would you like to create a campaign right away?
Would you like to get a broad overview of all the providers first? Read our article best crowdfunding platforms at a glance.
