Giving Compass' Take:

• GoFundMe rolled out a new component of their platform in which you can now fundraise in teams to crowdsource donations. 

• How will the concept of team fundraising help GoFundMe as a company in terms of visibility?

• Read about what crowdfunding tools mean for philanthropy. 

Popular social fundraising platform GoFundMe has just launched a new way for people to fund their endeavors. It’s called Team Fundraising, a new feature that rolls out today, allowing people to combine forces and start joint campaigns for crowd-sourced donations.

GoFundMe CEO Rob Solomon, who consistently talks about growing the “giving layer” of the Internet, says that addresses a massive new pool of prospective fundraisers and donors. It’s a tool to reach sports teams, school groups, and groups of people who want their own way to rally around a community cause or specific charity.  Teams will still have a traditional GoFundMe page, but each will get a personalized link that lets the team track who has raised the most.

GoFundMe tested that idea by giving several groups early access before the formal launch. Teams of anywhere from 20 to 60 or so people have since combined to raise several thousand dollars for things like sending a cheerleading squad to nationals, or a high school science team to their own STEM-related tournament.

As donations roll in, the site tracks all of the activity, so people who shared a personalized link to the larger campaign can trace back which contributors gave through it and personally thank them.

How much GoFundMe profits from all of this is unclear because the company no longer charges a dedicated service fee. It’s moved to a tip-based model, which allows donors to give extra funds to support the service, without carving a flat fee from what recipients are receiving.

Read the full article about group fundraising by Ben Paynter at Fast Company