Seeking to help others during times of crisis, a new San Francisco-based crowdfunding platform known as Thoughful.org launched this week for projects that range from medical expenses to emergencies.
According TechCrunch, Thoughtful.Org was founded by Derek Rey, who helped build one of the first businesses that focused on social media. Like its founding team, Adly, the new platform is offers free “personal crowdfunding with dignity.” It is exclusively for medical, emergency and memorial causes. Rey revealed that the previous version of the website “had some success” and he added, “But the dent we hoped to make in the universe was no where close to what we had hoped.”
Also noting the platform’s inspiration, Rey shared details about losing his mother to cancer and that was what made him shift in the direction. He stated, “It’s a journey that exhausts all resources, as in the case for my family, and we had good health insurance and lived relatively close to our hospital in San Francisco. Meeting people from out of state without a caregiver or family member with them, or driving themselves to chemotherapy, or people who were not seeking treatment because they did not have health insurance, or adequate health [insurance]… Those are the people that made the shift in direction obvious. I hope they use the site.”
Continuing to explain Thoughtful.org’s key focuses, Rey noted, “When you share your story, you don’t want it to appear next to just anything (i.e. the go fund anything crowdfunding sites for a business, bachelor party, dream vacation, etc.).
Unlike other crowdfunding platforms, Thoughtful.org does not charge any fees. Instead, the website asks donors to include an “option gift” in addition to their funds. Those who use the platform for a campaign will not have to reach their project’s goal in order to collect any funds given.
In regards to how Thoughtful.Org will handle fraudulent projects, Rey reported that campaign organizers are asked to verify that all information is true through a “declaration of facts.” He then said that the platform will conduct phone interviews before the campaigns are approved and go live.
Since its launch, Thoughtful.Org has four crowdfunding campaigns that are ready to receive funds.
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