I was a representative in water polo from age 13 to 19 and know only too well how hard it can be getting the funds together for the costs associated with being an athlete in an unfunded sport. I cleaned cars and houses; made pizzas, muffins and cake; baby-sat, assembled packaging, worked in KFC and a ton of other random tasks just to make a buck to gather the funds I needed to represent my country.

If you or someone in your family or networks is fundraising for a worthy cause, forget the time-consuming sausage sizzles and raffles which raise next to nothing, and use some of these cool websites to mobilise online campaigns seeking funds, quickly and easily.

I recently introduced my personal trainer to these, and using one from the list, Fundrazr, he was able to create a link promoting his daughter’s upcoming trip to compete for Australia at Muay Thai in Malaysia.

He was amazed at how easy it was to set up, and how credible it made the cause look, with him able to share the link created across his social networks, with people who in turn shared it and generously donated money.

So here’s a list of sites to check out. You’ll need an established PayPal account for the funds to be deposited into, and please make sure you have checked and are comfortable with the associated fees for the use of the sites, as this is how they make money to stay in business.

1. My Cause

mycause is an Australian cause funding community for charity causes and personal causes.

Founded in 2007 mycause has raised millions of dollars for Australian charities and people in need. Whether you are running for a friend in need, skydiving for your favorite charity or you just want to give back to the community mycause has a simple socially integrated platform for you to get the most from your efforts.

MORE INFO: https://www.mycause.com.au/

2. GoFundMe

GoFundMe claim to be the world’s #1 in personal online fundraising websites. They allow fundraising for individuals, groups & organizations.

MORE INFO: https://www.gofundme.com

3. IndieGogo

Indiegogo is an international crowdfunding site where anyone can raise money for film, music, art, charity, small businesses, gaming, theatre, and more.

MORE INFO: https://www.indiegogo.com

4. Fundrazr

FundRazr is another social media fundraising application anyone can use and also spreads through your social networks to help you raise money and awareness for causes that you and your friends care about.

5.… Gogetfunding.com,

Gogetfund.com is yet another crowdfunding/fundraising site. Gogetfund.com claim to beat gofundme.com on price, amount raised annually and successful campaigns so could also be worth a try!

MORE INFO: https://fundrazr.com

Do you need to raise funds for a worthy cause? Have you thought about doing it online? Have you used some of the tools above? Are there others we should have listed? Comment in the section below.