WonderWe launches faith-based crowdfunding platform

Kansas City-based software startup WonderWe hopes to tap a specific market for its new faith-based crowdfunding platform.

Launched in early June, WonderWe combines faith-based values, the latest in crowdfunding tech and new proprietary features to “be one of the leading names” in crowdfunding, said Dominic Ismert, founder of WonderWe.

The platform currently accepts fundraisers for everything from the arts and education to freedom of religion and pro-life causes, pledging to “build the kingdom of God, one fundraiser at a time.”

Examples of fundraising on WonderWe include mission trips, real estate development, disaster relief and  financial support for individuals. To date, WonderWe has hosted crowdfunding campaigns for 30 organizations that have together raised more than $47,800.

Ismert said that the company’s technology is what will set it apart.

“The top, household names in crowdfunding are great products,” Ismert said. “They have good tech. We matched that tech — and improved upon it. And, in doing so, we tried to build a product that was more communal, where people worked together to raise funds for worthy causes.”

Ismert cites the platform’s peer-to-peer feature — which allows people who support a cause to endorse the goal and share it through social media — as a top differentiator. Allowing people to endorse causes helps establish a campaign’s legitimacy as well as spread the word, he added.

“At WonderWe, we talk about how we want to help crowdfunding be more about ‘the we’ and less about ‘the me,’” he said. “WonderWe’s peer-to-peer features empower people to help people. … This is important for the people fundraising, because they get help. This is also important for the people who are giving, because they get to see who supports the fundraiser and why. The endorsement factor helps to prevent fraud, and it makes the fundraiser a more communal effort. That’s important.”

In September, WonderWe acquired Kansas City startup VolunteerMark and its technology to schedule volunteers for events, and create reports about programs.