Frequently Asked Questions

Take a look below for answers to some of our most frequently asked questions.

What is FreeStartr?

FreeStartr is a comprehensive fundraising platform with an absolute free speech guarantee. We support creative, charitable, journalistic, and social campaigns — our limits are the same as the limits of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Is FreeStartr more like Patreon, GoFundMe, or Kickstarter?

All of them! FreeStartr gives you the option to launch monthly campaigns like Patreon, one-time campaigns with set goals like Kickstarter, and more open-ended one-time campaigns like GoFundMe. FreeStartr can help you no matter what kind of fundraising you’re planning to do.

What is a fixed length campaign?

A fixed length campaign is a one-time campaign that has a start date and an end date. The goal amount for the campaign has to be met or exceeded by the end date, otherwise the campaign is incomplete and nobody is charged for their contribution. This campaign type is similar to Kickstarter and is best for projects with a fixed and known cost, such as films, comic books, or events.

If you contribute to a fixed length campaign using a credit or debit card, you will not be immediately charged, but FreeStartr will immediately pre-authorize your contribution (i.e. put a hold on your funds equivalent to the amount of your contribution) to confirm that the funds are available.

If successful, the pre-authorization will be immediately lifted and you will be charged for your contribution when the campaign reaches its end date, but only if the campaign also successfully reached its fundraising goal. If unsuccessful, you will not be able to contribute.

What is an open-ended campaign?

An open-ended campaign is also a one-time campaign, but it doesn’t have an end date — just a goal amount. Every contribution is immediately charged. This campaign type is similar to GoFundMe or IndieGoGo and is best for projects that are easily scaleable, such as legal defense funds or poster campaigns.

What is a subscription campaign?

A subscription campaign is a recurring campaign that charges contributors every month, without an end date. This campaign type is similar to Patreon and is best for on-going projects such as podcasts, YouTube videos, or citizen journalism on Twitter.

What’s the fee?

FreeStartr creators will always keep 85% of their fundraising haul. Our payment processors keep 3-5%. FreeStartr takes the rest to pay for operating costs and provide our absolute free speech guarantee.

Why is the fee higher than on other crowdfunding sites?

Our fee makes our absolute free speech guarantee possible. Other crowdfunding sites do not enforce free speech and regularly buckle to political pressure to shut down certain fundraising campaigns.

We do not buckle, which means we have to deal with attacks on our platform, hosting, payment processors, etc., all of which increase our risk and operating costs enormously.

Who is responsible for completing a campaign as promised?

The creator of a campaign is responsible for completing it as promised. FreeStartr itself is not involved in the completion of campaigns.

Just like the other major crowdfunding websites, FreeStartr does not guarantee that campaigns will succeed, nor do we investigate a creator’s capacity to complete their campaign and deliver on their promises.

FreeStartr gives creators a huge list of tools — including photos, video, FAQs, links, descriptions, and more — to demonstrate to potential backers that they are capable of completing a campaign as promised. It is up to you, the backer, to ultimately decide whether a creator is worthy of your funding!