After launching just over a year ago, The Chesed Fund has just passed the milestone of four million dollars raised for charity.
The platform’s founder, Avi Kehat, says he never expected the platform to grow so quickly. “I’m just a coder, holding down a full-time job. I devote whatever time I can find each day to programming the site, but this level of success really caught me by surprise.”
The Chesed Fund was created to help charitable causes raise funds from the public without charging the fees commonly associated with these types of platforms. If the average crowdfunding platform charges five percent of the funds raised, then the Chesed Fund has, in effect, saved the causes that used the platform a collective $200,000 in fees.
One of the The Chesed Fund’s biggest clients is Kupat Ha’ir, which uses the platform to raise millions of dollars for chesed cases in Eretz Yisrael. Avi Kohen, who oversees the organization’s marketing, explained the platform’s unique appeal.
“When you are raising as much funds as we are, even a small percentage point adds up to a significant amount. We are now able to use those additional funds to further assist the families in need.”
If The Chesed Fund collects no fees, how does it sustain itself? With the help of donations, explains Kehat. “It’s heartwarming to think that so many people have contributed to The Chesed Fund’s continued success. It’s a gift that keeps on giving, because it effectively saves thousands of dollars to all the other campaigns that run on the platform.”
Although The Chesed Fund does not charge any fees for running a campaign, it does offer some premium features. One, “Verified Campaigns,” involves a staff member reaching out to community leaders to make sure the contributions are going to a legitimate cause.
“Many people use The Chesed Fund to contribute to causes halfway around the world, because they are touched by the story,” explains Donni Lurman, who runs the account verification program for The Chesed Fund. “At the same time, they want to know that their money is going to a good cause. We use multiple methods to research the validity of a campaign before giving it ‘verified’ status.”
According to Lurman, methods include phoning local rabbis, asking for haskamos and supporting medical documents and more. Several campaigns have been rejected after research conducted into the details of the cause.
Despite its overwhelming success, Avi Kehat believes that this is only the beginning. “My vision is to create a centralized platform where everyone can go to give Tzedakah. It would be a place that aggregates all the causes under one roof and allows people to easily contribute to the causes that are closest to their hearts.”
