FAQS
- What Fees Do PleaseFund.Us Take?
We take a flat 5% fee, but only if the project is successful. If the project is unsuccessful all the money is returned to the people that have pledged towards the project and we take no fee at all (as payments are only taken if the project is successful, there are no refund fees). If you are a project owner you should budget about 8% for the PleaseFund.Us fees and the Paypal (payment processor) fees, but if a substantial proportion of your funding comes through GoCardless this fee drops right down to near 6%. If you have any questions about this or the process to receive your payment just drop us a message to hi@PleaseFund.Us.
- What happens if the target funding isn't reached?
Everyone goes home upset. We failed, you failed, and everybody is a loser!
It isn’t that bad, the money is just returned to everybody that pledged their support for the project (there are no fees/no costs to anyone). Live to pledge another day.
- What does "all or nothing" mean?
Exactly what it says on the tin. If a project fails to achieve its funding target all the money is returned to the people that pledged towards it. This gives everyone the security of knowing that their money will either go towards a successful project (as the project owners have enough funding to complete their goals), or that the money will not be used to fulfill a half baked project.
No one wants to watch a half finished film!
- What are PleaseFund.Us fees?
We skimp 5% off the top of your project. This flat rate applies only to successful projects, if a project hasn't met it's target, then all of the money is refunded to the backers (there are no costs associated with refunds as payments are only ever taken if the project is successfully funded!).
Don’t hate us, it is pretty clear and if someone raises £500 on the site, our two months of work for that project net us a total of £25.
The payment processor fees range between 1% (for GoCardless payments) and 3.5% (sometimes more sometimes less for PayPal).
So any project owners beware, you need to make sure that your funding target includes the fees that we will take and that PayPal and GoCardless will take.
I.e. if you want to raise £1,000, you will need to set the target at £1,080 to make sure that after fees you receive all the money that you need for your project. Keep it simple!
- What happens when the target funding is reached?
The project owner receives the funding as well as a list of the people that have supported the project in order to fulfill their pledge requirements.
If the funding is reached before the end date of the project, the project is kept live so that further pledges can be made. For this reason don't make the project deadline too far away, you may have to wait a while to get your hands on the money.
No payments are actually collected until a project is successfully funded and reached the end of its funding deadline. So all backers, make sure that your PayPal and bank accounts have enough money in them when the project comes to an end.
Before the project owners receive their funds, they must enter into a contract with the pledge backers that engages the project owners to fulfill their pledge requirements to the backers (this is known as the Pledge Fulfilment Contract). Don't forget to budget for the fees!
- How do I change my e-mail address?
Nice and easy, just click on the My Account link at the bottom of the page, once you are logged in, click under My Settings, just change your e-mail address and click save settings.
- How do I collect my pledge reward?
When the project achieves full funding the project owner enters into a contract with you and everyone else that has pledged to the project.
The project owner will then have a contractual commitment to fulfill their pledges with everyone that supported to them. We have a copy of this contract at the PleaseFund.Us HQ in London, fear not!
- Do I have to use a video?
YES, YES, YES! We can't emphasise this enough, even if it is done with your friends iphone and involves you sat in a swivel chair lifting up some images from your project, this is going to give you a better chance of reaching your funding target. In fact it has got to the stage now, that we won't even let your project go live unless you have a video!
There is no set format to the videos, amazing computer games have done highlights, films have raised money using a little snippet clip, and fashion designers have showcased their existing ranges. To see some of our tips on making a good video go to our PROJECT INCUBATOR.
- Who is responsible for ensuring rewards are delivered?
Once a project has achieved the target funding level, the project owners sign a contract with the backers (people that have pledged money in support of the project), engaging to deliver on their pledge promises within a timely manner.
No funding is released to the project owners until PleaseFund.Us receive this signed contract.
- Who started PleaseFund.Us?
James Bailey and Tarkan Ahmet were the brave two back in 2011, that set out with a vision. This vision was to create a global platform that allowed people with creative projects to raise money for their ideas. We started out in bedrooms across London, Stevenage and Santa Barbara!
With Mr Steve Beyatte on board to develop our world class site and head up our Santa Barbara US HQ, we knew the tech was covered, all that remained was to grow our team into community management world beaters.
Oh and there are the other thousands of people kind enough to be part of the community who have helped us on our way! See more on About.Us
- Can projects raise more money than the target funding?
Yes, they often do! The only thing that will limit the amount of funding that you can raise will be the generosity of the crowd and the number of each type of pledge that you set when creating your project.
- Why should I give money to a project?
REWARDS = Happiness…. Project owners put up brilliant ideas and the persuade you to support them with brilliant gifts, ideas, products, benefits, experiences. Don't be surprise if you find yourself browsing the site just looking for bargains.
TALES OF SUPPORT = These are new ideas and you are at the forefront helping the story unfold. None of the projects have happened and they won't happen unless people support them, but as you support them the blog updates, the videos, the stories will be revealed taking you on a journey through to the project's completion.
Also because they are brilliant and you are very kind! Oh and it isn’t like JUSTGIVING……..you actually get something awesome in return.
- How do I set my target for funding?
Very easily, you send in the amount of money you would like to raise on the PleaseFund.Us platform and it is entered into your project. When working out your funding target you need to consider the costs of the pledges that you are offering to people as well as the percentage that Paypal and PleaseFund.Us take. If you would like some help working out what you should put your target funding level at drop us an e-mail at Hi@PleaseFund.Us. Alternatively, why not check out our Project Incubator for some ideas on setting your target and how to shape your project.
- Are pledges tax deductible?
Sadly not, as you are receiving goods/services in return for the pledges and not all the projects are raising money for charity. We are working on being able to have charitable funding exempt for tax purposes.
- Where else can I see PleaseFund.Us?
We are everywhere! We are major sponsors of mass participation sporting events (marathons, triathalons, iron mans – you name it we like it!). Online we promote every project through our facebook community, twitter followers, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, DiggIt to name but a few. Our team is constantly blogging/posting tweeting about what you do because we want to see you succeed.
Don’t worry, once you have got the funding we won’t forget about you, we will keep talking about you to our friends!
- Who can come up with a project?
Me and you! Seriously, if you have an idea and want to make it happen, drop us an e-mail at Hi@PleaseFund.Us and we will try and get it going for you as soon as possible.
Or you can start creating your project here and now.
- Who decides whether a project lists on PleaseFund.Us
The very scary PleaseFund.Us moderation committee! Click here to have a look at their barnets.
- Can you raise more than the target funding?
Yes, many projects do.
We are going to try and help you bust that target level through the roof!
- Can I use the PleaseFund.Us logo to promote my project?
We have some lovely PleaseFund.Us widgets to help you promote your PleaseFund.Us fundraising, all you need to do is paste the code on your website, facebook page and twitter as well as other social networks!
Soon we will have a page dedicated to providing PleaseFund.Us logos and artwork.
- Are PleaseFund.Us on Facebook and Twitter?
Yeah we are! Check us out if you haven't already - www.facebook.com/PleaseFund.Us and www.twitter.com/PleaseFundUs.
- How do I close my PleaseFund.Us account?
To close your account with PleaseFund.Us, log yourself in, click on My Account and select My Settings. Under your settings there is an option to Delete Your Account.
Be warned that once you go for this option you are permanently deleting your account and all the information held. We are not interested in keeping hold of people's details that are leaving us, so everything is taken from our servers. There is no reactivation process. If it is our newsletter messages that are bugging you, but you still like the site and may come back another day, why not unsubscribe from them (simply by clicking Unsubscribe at the top of the e-mailers).
Anyway, all that remains to be said is that if you do decide to close your account we will be sorry to let you go and if you could let us know why you have decided to switch off that would be very kind (two line e-mail to Hi@PleaseFund.Us would amazing).
- What if the project owner doesn't know my size/taste/choice of colour?
Tell the project owner what you want, we are sure that they want you to be happy too.
- Can I change the target funding after launch?
Sadly no. We don't think that you should be changing the target funding level in the middle of a fundraising campaign. It is really important that project owners think really hard about the target funding that they need before they start and are absolutely sure about the costs of the pledges that they are offering to their supporters.
- Can I pledge in my own project?
The idea is to garner the support of your friends, family and the wider community. It is pretty impossible for us to stop people pledging towards their own project or getting a family member to do so on their behalf, but we feel that you should be trying to raise all of the money that you have outlined in your target.
- Can anyone help me make my project better?
Surely not. Yeah we can. Just drop us an e-mail and we will be more than happy to give you a few pointers and ideas for how to make it more appealing to our community! At the end of the day it is your project, so all we will be doing is guiding you on how to make it more suitable for the platform and sharing our experiences with you.
When creating your project, you can also submit it for feedback at any point and one of our community managers will give you as much advice and guidance as possible.
If however, you want to read up on some hot tips on your own, be sure to check out our Project Incubator for some help.
- How can I change my e-mail settings?
Please go to the My Account page, click on Account Settings and then you will have the option to edit your e-mail settings including updating your e-mail address. Once you are happy click save.
- Can a project be deleted?
Alas yes. We very occasionaly do take projects down for the benefit of our community. Sometimes projects are not suitable for PleaseFund.Us or an event has changed the project owners ability to fulfill his pledge rewards. We are here to help our project owners deliver and we will never just delete a project.
However, if a project does not receive a single pedge (no matter how big or small) within the first week of its campaign, then it will be 'closed' until we hear from the project owner who can then negotiate for it to be re-opened. The reason for this is to stop spam advertising (for projects that have no intention to campaign, but rather to establish a free link on our site).
- Can I use Facebook to login?
Oh go on then! Really simple, if you set up your account with the same e-mail address as your facebook account, or click on the facebook connect then you'll never have to remember yet another online password to access our site. Sound good, it is good, have fun out there!
- Can I change my profile name?
Of course you can. You can call yourself anything that you want, just don't be naughty. To do it, just click on My Account, log yourself in and then under My Settings just change your username.
- Why should I use PleaseFund.Us?
Our unique ability to get projects funded in an incredibly short time span has meant that hundreds of people have come to us to get their brilliant ideas funded.
The platform is really simple and secure to use. We use Paypal to process all the funding transactions and we do not keep the money in our bank account, it is held separately from us and the project owners until the day that they achieve the full funding. If a project fails to achieve the full funding, then all the money (minus the tiny paypal commission) is returned to the people that have supported the project.
Already, PleaseFund.Us have the largest social network following for all of our projects, we have the strongest community and we are always investing in new technology to make your fundraising efforts easier, more efficient and more effective. For more information on how PleaseFund.Us works, please go to How We Work.
- What currency does the project have to be in?
Currently our website shows it in GBP (we are working to get USD, AUSD and EUROS rapidamente!), that being said projects can come from anywhere that Paypal works as can the funding.
As a project owner all you need to have is a bank account that can be linked to a paypal account. Anyone wanting to pledge, paypal accepts all kinds of credit and debit cards for one off payments without even needing you to have a paypal account.
- What are the project updates for?
You are embarking on a journey. The people backing you are the wind behind your sail. Keep them updated on what you are doing. For more information on how to post updates check out our PROJECT INCUBATOR.
- Is the amount that I funded public?
The amount that you funded is not public knowledge. The project owner will be made aware of how much you pledged should the project be successful in raising the money. However, the public will not know how much you pledged. They will know that you backed the project as your username will appear amongst the backers (behind the video for the project).
- What are the best ways of raising the profile of my project?
Well in addition to the work that we will do in terms of putting it in front of our loving community, you should try and use your social networks to make your friends and fans aware of what you are trying to do.
This might mean posting links on your facebook profile, getting in touch with local papers, blogging about your new idea, tweeting every day with updates. Essentially, you are the only person who is going to make absolutely sure that your project succeeds. You need to think of competitions and prizes that you can run online whilst your project is being funded to keep the community interested.
Keep updating your project with any news that you have no matter how small. People are parting with their cash to help you, keep them involved in your journey.
- What can I offer as rewards?
Anything, be creative as you want! Please don't be too naughty though. Try and think of what you are going to be doing with the money and don't just say that any surplus funding is going to go towards a charity.
The most creative ideas get the funding they deserve and we will help promote them even more if we find them interesting!
- How do I help fund a project?
This is really easy to do, you click on the pledges on the right hand side of the project that you want to support, you check that the amount of money that you are about to pledge is correct and that you have checked the right box that you are interested in backing and then click submit.
This takes you to the paypal screen where you can either pay with a credit/debit card or your paypal account. Thanks for you support, welcome to the community!
- Can I get a job with PleaseFund.Us?
Maybe.…..
Tell us why you want to be a part of one of the fastest, most interesting crowdfunding companies in the world - Careers@PleaseFund.Us, but before you do, please make sure that you check out what we are looking for first on our PleaseFund.Us Careers page.
- If a project is successful can a project owner end it early?
If a project is successful the project owner can get in touch with us and let us know that they are happy with the funding target level having already been reached and request that we transfer the funds over sooner rather than later. Should this happy situation arise, we will notify everyone that has supported the project and update the project listing showing that funding has been reached and the funds are being handed over to the project owner.
Normally, we would advise against this as whilst your project is still live on PleaseFund.Us you still have the chance to raise more money that can always be useful in promoting and developing your project once you have the funding.
- Can I pay by cheque or cash?
You can pay with credit or debit cards as well as paypal. Sadly, we don’t take your cash off you, we will always welcome someone in for a coffee though!
- Who is allowed to help fund a project?
Everyone who is over the age of 18 can get behind these projects. We want to help and we are delighted that you are even considering it. Pledging your support is really easy, choose the project that you want to help, click the fund button on the pledge that interests you and follow the instructions. In less than a minute you could have made a huge difference to one very happy project owner!
- How does PleaseFund.Us work?
First of all there were the birds and the bees, then we created the How We Work page to explain the basics. If you have any more questions, then please please get in touch via e-mail with Hi@PleaseFund.Us and we’ll get back to you right away. Or drop us a postcard.
- Will I be notified if the project is successful or doesn’t reach the target?
Yes, the project owner will be in touch saying that they are delighted to have reached their funding target, or if a project is unsuccessful, you will be notified by Paypal when the money that you pledged is returned.
- Can I have more than one project live on PleaseFund.Us at a time?
Yes you can, but we would advise against it. The reason being that this is an All or Nothing platform, so if you fail to reach your target all the money gets returned to the backers and you are left with nothing.
What we recommend is that you finish one project and then you can move onto the next one as soon as you would like. This way you are not splitting your crowd and can concentrate on the task in hand.
Be careful not to over crowd your crowdfunding campaign either!
- Can I change my target funding deadline?
No no no. The idea is to have worked out your budget before you list your project. This is an all or nothing funding platform so you need to make it happen with the funding that you get!
- How do I stop facebook automatically logging me in?
We have facebook connect working on our site, to stop facebook logging you in, either log out of your facebook account, or click on My Account and click on the De-Connect Facebook link.
- Do projects need a funding target and end date?
Yes, it helps put the pressure on you and the crowd to support you.
- How do I know someone won't just take my idea?
It takes passion, conviction and courage to make any idea come to fruition. Be the first, be the biggest and by putting it up on our platform we will let everyone know that it was your idea.
If you are still unsure, think about the reality. If thousands of people have seen your idea on our website and someone were to come along and take it, you have thousands of people that have pledged to you and made a financial commitment to your project. They are with you!
- Can a project be blocked?
Sadly, some projects are not suitable for our platform. We try our hardest to make sure that only the genuine projects get onto the platform. If you think that a project has slipped through the net, please let us know and we will have a good hard look at it. If you are not sure if your project is suitable for PleaseFund.Us, why not look at the Project Guidelines page.
- Can I change my project after it has gone live?
Normally no, you are allowed to get in touch with the PleaseFund.Us team and beg us to change something. So long as we don’t think that it is substantially changing the nature of the project or what was offered we will happily get the tweaks in place right away.
If you have a glaring typo up there, we will be happy to change it for you. Rather than thinking about changing your project once it has gone live, try and get everything ready before launch and use the UPDATES tab to keep all of your backers up to date with how your project is progressing.
- What is the maximum or minimum amount of funding you can raise?
There are no maximums or minimums. If you want to raise a couple of hundred quid to make that artwork then get the project over to us.
If you need a couple of mill for your blockbuster film, lets get it funded! Remember the pledges have to back up your aspirations.- What do I need to put in my project video?
This is your chance to shine. You are trying to persuade people that you have the most brilliant idea and that they should be putting their money behind you. Explain what you are doing, why you are doing it, how long it is going to take you to do it and then how much it is going to cost you to do it. Once you have got that out of the way, explain what you are offering up as your pledges. It is really important to be clear and explain fully what each pledge involves and why someone would want it.
Remember be creative with your pledges, most of us have enough coffee mugs. Saying that if it is a particularly good one, I could always do with another!
- Can anyone make up a pledge reward?
Project owners come up with pledge rewards as a way of raising money for their project, they can be gift in kinds, experiences, opportunities, anything relating to the project. These are essentially coupons that will be redeemable if the project is successful in reaching it's funding target. If a project fails to reach the target funding then you pledges are returned and your money refunded (sometimes minus the payment processor fees depending on how long ago it was that you made the pledge and when the project passed its deadline).
If you think that you have a brilliant idea for a project and want some help coming up with the possible pledge rewards that you could offer please get in touch with us we would love to help! E-mail us at Hi@PleaseFund.Us.
- I forgot my password, where do I go to reset it?
When you registered with PleaseFund.Us, we sent you an e-mail that contained both your username and a link to reset your password. If you can't find that e-mail, then you can go to My Account, under My Settings section, there is a link saying forgot your password, click on this and follow the instructions to have a new e-mail sent to your registered e-mail address.
- What is the maximum someone can pledge?
Creativity is the limit. If you inspire someone, who knows they might pledge. We don't. No limits.
- How do I start my project?
Right here, right now! Drop us an e-mail with your idea and we can help you shape it – Hi@PleaseFund.Us.
Or
If you already know what you want to do and have thought up some ingenious pledges, then go to the start your project page and speed your way through the three simple steps!
- How can I contact PleaseFund.Us?
Drop us an e-mail at Hi@PleaseFund.Us or give us a bell in the UK on 0207 386 0860 or in the US on 805 613 7723.
We love good correspondance so if you do fancy sending us a little postcard we will be sure to reciprocate!
PleaseFund.Us Limited (UK)
Centenary House,
The Queens Club,
Palliser Road,
London,
W14 9EQ.or
PleaseFund.Us Limited (US)
1 North Calle Caesar Chavez,
Suite 102,
Santa Barbara,
California,
93103.- How do I know the project creator is who they say they are?
Normally you will see the project owner in their video and they should be talking about their project, anything they have done before and the people that they will be working with. If you are suspicious, then please get in touch with .Us – Support@PleaseFund.Us.
- If the funding doesn't get reached how much do I get charged?
This all depends on how long ago you made the pledge. We do our best to refund all failed project pledges as quickly as possible to ensure that the fees that get charged by paypal are avoided, but if you have made the pledge over a month ago you can expect to have a small refund fee charged, maybe up to 3%. So if you pledged £20 to a project, potentially you could only get £19.40 back.
- How long does the fund raising take?
The project owner sets the time that he/she would like the project to be live on the site, however 55 days is the maximum deadline.
The reason being that longer projects are not necessarily better: They tend to lose interest and fizzle out. Shorter projects on the other hand are easier to manage and keep an ongoing interest: There is a sense of confidence and urgency that helps motivate potential backers to reach your funding target.
This means that you can raise money for your dream project in less than a month if you really try.
- How do I share my project on social networks?
Every project that goes live on the PleaseFund.Us platform has exclusive access to the PleaseFund.Us vault where there are widgets, icons and graphics that can be posted up on your social networks, website and offline promotion.
In addition to this every project page has a social network toolbar that links to twitter, facebook, digg it, linked In and many other social networks, all you need to do is click on them and share the links to post it automatically to your social network. It really is very easy to get thousands of people to see your wonderful ideas in a matter of hours!
- If I realise that I can't complete my pledge rewards, what can I do?
Please get in touch with us as soon as you can. Drop us an e-mail to Support@PleaseFund.Us.
- What is a pledge reward?
A pledge reward is an offer that the project owner has undertaken to fulfill if a backer is confident enough in the project to support the project financially.
For more information on what makes a good pledge reward check out our blog and have a look through some of the other PleaseFund.Us projects to see what creative ideas have been thought up to help persuade our community to support your projects.
- How do I get funding for my project?
Three simple steps: 1) Log In. 2) Read the Guidelines. 3) Submit Your Proposal.
Ok there is a 4), you are going to need to tell everyone that you know about your project as well.
If you are keen to get started now just click on this link: Create A Project.
- If I pay for a pledge when do I get charged?
You will pay the moment you pledge. This is done through paypal. You can pay with your credit or debit cards if you don’t already have a paypal account.
- Who works for PleaseFund.Us?
We have a whole team of people dedicated to shouting about your fundraising plans. We are all social network enthusiasts that understand that the quickest way to help you raise the money that you need for your idea is by telling everyone that is interested in what you do about it.
Our team started off as just James and Tarkan and has rapidly grown to a giant of the tech world with ten of the brightest minds in W14 9EQ working in London and a further team of developers and customer support based in Santa Barbara. To find out more about .Us check out our team page: The Team
- When was PleaseFund.Us started?
PleaseFund.Us got started in 2011 as the brainchild of two frustrated entrepreneurs that had done the rounds trying to raise money for their ideas and come up against the difficulties that all young startups come across. Since its inception the company has gone from strength to strength, helping creative ideas get the funding that they deserve. To find out more about PleaseFund.Us and our team visit the About Us page.
- How much information is handed over to the project owner?
Your e-mail, name and username are handed over if the project raises its target funding. If the project doesn’t reach the target funding no information is passed over to the project owner.
- What projects are not allowed on PleaseFund.Us?
First up, read our Project Guidelines. Here you'll see that we cater for both creative and charitable projects, however the platform does not allow political causes.
Other than that, if it is street legal then it is fine by us. There are no boring people, just boring projects.
