Guidelines

Projects we can't support

Crowdfunder only allows donations and rewards based crowdfunding, community share offers and prize draws with a free-entry route. 

As explained in our terms of use Crowdfunder will not host Projects which involve any of the following:

• Promote, offer or involve a breach of UK law or relevant sanctions rules;
  
• Contain illegal content; 
  
• Are misleading, inaccurate, out of date or undeliverable;
  
• Support, promote, incite, encourage or reflect hatred, defamation, abuse, violence, threats, harassment or discrimination against any individual or group;
  
• Threaten the anonymity of victims, vulnerable adults or children; 
  
• Infringe the intellectual property or other rights of any third party;
  
• Contain personal data about children or ’special category’ or criminal conviction data;
  
• Promote, offer or involve any of the following (including as Rewards or prizes): 
  
  • Investments (other than in Community Shares set up via the Community Share product only), equity, returns, profit shares, loans or loan repayments, or any financial instruments or virtual currency.
    
  • Pornographic, sexually explicit or obscene material.
    
  • E-cigarettes, vapes, tobacco including nicotine products, pharmaceuticals, drugs or drug paraphernalia.
    
  • Firearms, weapons, knives, weapon accessories or replicas of weapons.
    
  • Manufactured products that don’t meet UK safety guidelines.
    
  • Any item, service or reward that is illegal to sell, offer, distribute or use in the UK.
    

• Gambling (but this does not prohibit a prize draw with a free entry route set up in accordance with these Terms); 
  
• Breach our payment processor Stripe’s restricted business rules or relates to a country they do not support; or
  
• Are otherwise unacceptable as determined by us. This will include behaviour or content that impacts other Users’ use of Crowdfunder or which in our judgement exposes us or any User to any liability or detriment.  
  

Competitions, prize draws and raffle guidance

You cannot run a lottery or raffle on Crowdfunder. However, you can run a prize draw with a free entry route (e.g. by post) provided 

• you use our bespoke prize draw product; and 
  
• You comply with our guidelines on how to run a Prize Draw on Crowdfunder.
  

Please note you are responsible for ensuring your prize draw terms and conditions , the way you run the draw and all other aspects of the prize draw meet relevant legal requirements. 

Information for backers and community members

While we recognise that some projects may become the subject of public debate, if they're lawful and compliant with our guidelines, the crowd will ultimately decide whether or not they receive funding.

Crowdfunder will not host projects where the act of raising funds, or the purpose of the project, is illegal under UK law. Crowdfunder uses Stripe, a US based company, to process all payments. Please review their restricted business rules to make sure your project complies and is not related to a country they do not support.

Good practice guidelines for projects

Crowdfunder is registered with the Fundraising Regulator, which provides best practice guidance for setting up and running a fundraising project. Following this guidance will help you to build supporter trust and encourage them to back your project.

In line with these recommendations, please make sure your project page clearly explains the following:

•  Who is running the project.

•  Whether the money raised is for a specific purpose or for the person receiving it to use as they see fit.

•  What the project’s target is and the date by which to intend to raise this amount.

•  What deductions will be made for expenses.

•  Whether you are raising funds on behalf of or for a charitable institution, and name the charitable institution.

•  If the money is for a charitable institution to use for a specific purpose, you must contact the charitable institution to make sure they are aware and happy to receive the money for this purpose.

•  What will happen to the money you raise if:

○  you do not meet your target

○  you raise more than your target

○  the original purpose for which you're raising money is no longer valid.

If you are a charity, you must also follow charity law and regulations relating to refunding or repurposing donations. The Charity Commission has published helpful guidance on this. 

When considering all of the above, we recommend that you choose the right funding model to support your project’s aims.

Special guidance for charities

The term ‘charitable institution’ applies to registered charities and organisations that are benevolent or philanthropic. The Fundraising Regulator provides clear guidance on what constitutes a charitable institution.

If you work for a charity, the outcome of your project must have public benefit. If you’re raising money for a cause where no charitable institution is identified as the beneficiary, you may need to be registered as a charity. This depends on the nature of your project and we recommend seeking expert advice on this.

Guidance on extra funding from our partners

Before applying for extra funding from our partners, please make sure you:

• Consider the eligibility criteria carefully, as these differ considerably between partners.

• Read the terms of use and privacy policy relating to each of the funding partners you’d like to receive extra funding from — these will apply in addition to Crowdfunder’s terms of use and privacy policy.

• Check if there is a requirement to get pledges from a minimum number of unique backers to be eligible for match funding. The minimum number of unique backers is generally 25, unless the funding partner’s criteria states otherwise.

• Understand that any pledge which shares the same backer’s name or email address, or any pledge made using the same payment card as another pledge, will not be counted as unique. We will also take into account other data such as name, address, location etc in determining if a pledge is unique.

We have procedures in place to detect fraudulent activity and attempts to manipulate the pledging on a project in order to obtain match funding. You will also be ineligible to receive Funding if we are not satisfied that all the Supporter pledges on your project are genuine pledges to the project.