Indiegogo has launched a new service called Indiegogo Life, a free, eight-click process for funding life events like weddings and birthdays and for raising money for individuals. The company is careful to note that this is not a system for charities but for people who want to buy a present for a mutual friend or privately help out a family in need.
“We’ve always been open to any campaign,” said Indiegogo CEO Slava Rubin. “In 2010 we started seeing more ‘personal cause’ campaigns like life event fundraisers.” He said fundraisers were becoming extremely popular on the site, citing the $5 million raise for Code.org as a shining example. The founders created the service as a reaction to the problems associated with putting together traditional online fundraisers.
The company has long allowed anyone to make any sort of campaign, taking a small percentage of the proceeds. Indiegogo Life campaigns, however, are free. Rubin expects users to include those trying to pay for medical costs, celebrations, or memorials. They have streamlined the posting process and removed many of the tools, including the analytics dashboard, from the experience.
“If you don’t fall into those categories you should be using core Indiegogo.
Trying to game Indiegogo using Indiegogo Life it would probably be a pretty annoying experience for you as the campaign owner,” he said.
But is crowdfunding still the way to go?
Rubin is bullish on the concept, even as signs of crowdfunding fatigue are creeping in. I asked him whether we had reached “peak crowdfunding,” culturally.
“We’re not even close,” he said.
The new service is available today in English, German, Spanish, and French.