Raising money through Christian crowdfunding when facing a financial crisis
When a financial emergency hits — a medical diagnosis, a job loss, a car breakdown, a death in the family — many Christians feel more comfortable seeking help within a community of shared faith rather than through a general public platform. That instinct is reasonable and practical. If your network of family, friends, fellow church members, and ministry contacts is rooted in shared Christian values, a faith-centered crowdfunding platform gives your campaign a home that reflects those values and allows donors to offer not just money but prayer and encouragement alongside their contribution.
This page covers what Christian crowdfunding is, how it differs from general platforms like GoFundMe, and the two primary platforms currently operating specifically for Christian personal and community campaigns — GiveSendGo and WayGiver. It is meant for people facing genuine hardship who want to raise money within a faith community for urgent needs: rent, medical bills, funeral costs, utility shutoffs, car repairs, home damage, and similar emergencies. We also have a guide to crowdfunding platforms, which is a broader comparison. Also see the dedicated page about direct church and faith-based financial assistance programs.
What Christian crowdfunding is
Christian crowdfunding works the same way as any personal crowdfunding: you create a campaign page, describe your situation and what you need the money for, set a goal, and share it with people who might contribute. The difference is that faith-based platforms are built around the values, language, and community of Christian faith. They are designed for people who want to ask for help in a space where donors share their beliefs and where the act of giving is understood as an expression of faith rather than just a financial transaction.
These platforms also typically include features that secular platforms don't — the ability for donors to leave a prayer alongside a donation, a team of people who reach out personally to pray with campaign creators, and a community of donors who are specifically on the platform because they want to give to people of faith. For someone whose church, small group, or Christian network is their primary social community, that alignment can make a significant difference both in how comfortable they feel asking for help and in how motivated their network is to respond.
Like all crowdfunding, the success of a campaign depends most heavily on how well you can share it with people who know you and care about your situation. The platforms below make that sharing easier and more meaningful within a faith community, but they do not change the fundamental dynamic: donations come from people who have a connection to you, not from strangers browsing a platform.
GiveSendGo
GiveSendGo is the largest faith-based crowdfunding platform, founded in 2014 by a family of siblings who wanted a crowdfunding option that reflected Christian values. It operates in more than 70 countries and has facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in donations since its launch. Campaign categories include medical expenses, disaster relief, memorial and funeral costs, mission trips, church needs, and personal hardship of any kind. Any Christian — regardless of denomination — can use the platform.
GiveSendGo charges no platform fee. The only cost is a payment processing fee of 2.7 percent plus $0.30 per donation, automatically deducted from each contribution before it reaches your account. The platform sustains its operations through voluntary donations from its own community and a monthly giving program called the Giver Army, which directs a portion of those contributions to active campaigns on the site — including some that belong to people without large personal networks to draw from.
One distinctive feature is GiveSendGo's Hope Team: real people who personally call campaign creators to pray with them by phone after a campaign launches. The platform also includes a "Pray" button alongside the donation button, allowing donors to offer a prayer in addition to or instead of a financial contribution. For people navigating a crisis who want spiritual support alongside practical help, this is meaningfully different from what secular platforms offer.
A note on security: GiveSendGo experienced a significant data breach in 2022 in which donor information from campaigns was exposed. The platform has since made security improvements, and no major breach has been reported since then. Anyone using the platform — either as a campaign creator or a donor — should use a unique password for their account rather than reusing one from another site. This is standard digital hygiene but particularly worth keeping in mind given the prior incident.
GiveSendGo also has a broader content moderation approach than GoFundMe, which means you may encounter campaigns on the platform reflecting a wide range of causes and viewpoints. For someone raising money for a personal hardship, this does not affect how your own campaign works or who donates to it. The website is https://www.givesendgo.com/.
WayGiver
WayGiver is a smaller Christian crowdfunding platform specifically designed for individuals, churches, and Christian ministries. Its orientation is more explicitly toward church community fundraising — campaigns started by a church on behalf of a congregant, by a ministry for a person in need, or by an individual in connection with their local church. This makes it particularly well suited for situations where a pastor, deacon, or church leader wants to organize community support for someone going through a hardship.
WayGiver does charge a platform fee, but it operates an opt-in model where donors are offered the option to cover both the platform and processing fees so that the full donation amount reaches the recipient. According to the platform, roughly 90 percent of donors choose this option — meaning most recipients receive the full donation rather than having fees deducted from it. For campaign creators without a large independent network, WayGiver's church partnership model also allows campaigns to be branded and promoted through a specific church or ministry, lending the fundraiser an additional layer of credibility and reach.
WayGiver's focus is on campaigns shared within an existing faith community rather than campaigns that might circulate widely through social media. This makes it most useful when the primary audience for your campaign is your own church. The website is https://waygiver.com./.
Who these platforms serve best
Both platforms are open to anyone of Christian faith, regardless of denomination — Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, non-denominational, and all other branches of Christianity. Neither requires you to be formally enrolled in a church. Spanish-speaking Christians can use both platforms.
That said, faith-based platforms work best when your donor network is also rooted in a faith community. If most of the people who know and care about you are part of a church, small group, or Christian organization, these platforms give your campaign a context those donors will find familiar and meaningful. If your broader network is mixed — some people of faith, others not — a general platform like GoFundMe may reach a wider audience, and there is nothing preventing you from running campaigns on both simultaneously.
It is also worth knowing that the same realistic expectations apply here as on any crowdfunding platform: most donations will come from people who already know you. The faith element can deepen the motivation of donors who are already connected to your situation, but it does not generate donations from strangers at scale any more than a secular platform does.
Scam warning
Faith-based platforms are not immune to fraudulent campaigns. People who donate on these platforms are often motivated by compassion and shared values, and bad actors sometimes exploit that trust. Before donating to a campaign from someone outside your personal network, look for verifiable, specific details about the situation — a named person, a particular circumstance, someone in your church or network who can vouch for the need.
If you are raising money and someone contacts you unsolicited — by email, text, or social media — claiming they can promote your campaign, boost your donations, or verify your account for a fee, do not respond. This is a known scam targeting crowdfunding campaign creators. Neither GiveSendGo, WayGiver, nor any other legitimate platform contacts users to request payment for boosting a campaign. Legitimate crowdfunding platforms do not charge upfront fees to start a campaign.
Other faith-based financial resources
Crowdfunding is one tool among several for Christians facing financial hardship. Churches and faith-based organizations that provide direct emergency assistance — food, rent help, utility payments, and other needs — are at the church assistance page.
Christian organizations that provide financial assistance are at the dedicated page of Christian focused assistance programs. Some churches, which are located in many communities, offer low-interest loans to people in financial difficulty with details at possible loan options from a church. As another option if needed, Christian based credit counseling is for people dealing with debt.
The information on this page is provided for general educational purposes. Platform fees, features, and availability change over time. Verify current details directly at givesendgo.com and waygiver.com before starting a campaign.
Related Content From Needhelppayingbills.com
|
Need help navigating programs?