E*TRADE vs. GoFundMe Charity

During the COVID pandemic, the airline companies were taking a big hit on travel and I saw this as a great opportunity to invest in airline stock because its value in the market had dropped tremendously. I used this opportunity to invest in multiple airline stocks through e-trade by buying the stock at an all-time low for airline stock. It was a great investment for me in the long term.

Incentivized

GoFundMe is well suited for personal appeals where a story can be told and donors feel an immediate result or effect. It is less appropriate for larger mass appeals that are not targeted directly to a specific cause. For example, not good for companies to ask for funding for operating expenses.

Incentivized

• I like their sell orders that allow you to set a price or percentage as a stop loss.
• Their dashboard is easy to use and gives you some quick info.
• I also like E*TRADE's reports for gains and losses.
• Moving funds into and out of your accounts is pretty simple with E*TRADE.

Incentivized

• Peer-to-peer fundraising
• Fundraising pages

Incentivized

• summary page needs to have more details like it doesn't show current market price for an option purchased
• purchase or sell needs to be user friendly so it takes less time.

Incentivized

• Need a clearer picture of your campaign status, especially around publishing (making it live).
• Processing rates are not horrible but not great either - If we used our own processor our fees would be cut in half.

Incentivized

GoFundMe is very easy to use and does a great job allowing us to share insights and stories to leave a lasting impression on donors. From setting up the account to ending the appeal, the entire process has been very user-friendly. I'm very impressed with the experience so far and plan to continue using it for future campaigns.

Incentivized

Crowdrise has been great with their customer support. They have always been helpful and available. They also have several resources on their website that has been useful to other areas of our non-profit. Their relatability has been positive for us and has made us feel taken care of and considered.

Incentivized

robinhood is similar to e-trade but they are geared more to bitcoin and companies that may not be offered on E*TRADE because they are off-market companies.

Incentivized

Since GFM was selected for us I can't give the rationale behind that. However, I do think that Qgiv and Salsa are more internally user-friendly and provide at least the same amount of functionality. That being said, the other two (I think) require CRMs to use whereas GFM can just integrate with others, making it a better choice for one-off campaigning.

Incentivized

• Limit how much you want invest.
• This is an open trade website and there is a risk of losing your money based on your investments.
• If you make some sound investments and keep yourself within a budgeted spending limit there is the opportunity to make money on e-trade.

Incentivized

• Brought in new donors from outside our solicitation area.
• Appeals to younger audiences.
• Great way to include client testimonials and stories.

Incentivized