Following the Bell V Tavistock legal judgement [1], GenderGP has seen a significant increase in the number of families getting in touch to enquire about accessing puberty blocking treatment. We are aware that as a private provider the cost might be out of reach for some families, so in response to the legal judgement we launched our GenderGP Fund [2]; providing subsidised trans healthcare to trans youth who urgently need it.
In addition to the GenderGP Fund award, some families may decide to fundraise the balance of the treatment cost, or crowdfund to cover the entire cost of treatment if they’re not eligible to receive financial assistance from the GenderGP Fund. For those families, we have developed this guide, to give technical tips and advice on launching a crowdfunder to cover the cost of trans healthcare.
GenderGP recommends that families crowdfunding for puberty blockers and trans healthcare for under 18’s use the GoFundMe website [3] as we know there have already been successful crowdfunders run by several families raising money for trans youth healthcare. GoFundMe have indicated that they are happy to host and release the funds for crowdfunders raising money for trans kids to get private transgender healthcare and puberty blockers prescribed by GenderGP.
Top tips for launching a GoFundMe crowdfunder for trans healthcare:
Top tips for launching a GoFundMe crowdfunder for trans healthcare:
- Use bright colourful images to illustrate your crowdfunder
Ideally these would be of the young trans person being supported by the crowdfunder. In selecting pictures of people make sure they’re well lit, smiling and ideally with the person looking at the camera.
However, it’s understandable that many families might not want to post pictures of their trans child in the public domain. If you don’t want to use images of your child, then why not get them to draw some pictures of their favourite things, or take photographs of objects or activities that represent their personality and interests.
Alternatively, select images where they’re not identifiable, anything that gives the potential donor an idea of who their money is going to be helping.
In addition to photos and images, you could also create some visual copy-based messages asking people to “Please donate and share” or “Help (insert name) to get the healthcare they need” These are also an excellent tool to convey messages of thanks as the crowdfunder progresses.
Make sure that if you’re using images from elsewhere that you have permission to do so – you don’t want your crowdfunder taken down because of a copyright claim. Both Unsplash and Pexels have a range of royalty free images that you can use, if you don’t have your own. GoFundMe allows you to post up to five images – Make sure you post all five images, as GoFundMe research has shown that crowdfunders with more images get more donations than those with only one.
NOTE: If you’re creating images, GoFundMe uses 734 x 489 pixel landscape format pictures.
- Create some engaging videos.
These can either be of the young person giving a message directly to potential donors, or of them doing something that tells the viewer a bit about them.
If you would rather not feature your trans child in a public video, there are other ways video formats can be used – Create a video of them talking about themselves while focusing the camera on another object, record them playing a musical instrument, or if you have access to video making software, you could make your own video story.
NOTE: Videos on the GoFundMe website are posted via YouTube link. If you want to remain anonymous, you will need to create a new YouTube account for this purpose.
- Write an engaging headline and copy
People donate to causes that they care about, so you need to write your headline and crowdfunder copy in an emotive way. Imagine you’re writing a newspaper headline – what will make the reader want to click on your story and carry on reading? Make sure it’s clear from the headline what the crowdfunder is for, as this will be the only message seen when you start sharing it on social media.
People like to know what they’re donating money towards, so be clear from the start about who is setting up this GoFundMe, who the crowdfunder is raising money for, and why. If the crowdfunder is time critical, make it clear, along with any other key details that help you paint a picture of why the crowdfunder is important and what any donation will be spent on.
Once you have communicated the details of the GoFundMe it also helps to give more information about who the crowdfunder is helping, again this is all about painting a picture of the real person behind the request for money. This is the opportunity to give a human face to the campaign and lets the donor understand who they are helping. Obviously if you are remaining anonymous, the detail will have to be de-personalised.
This example of a successful crowdfunder shows exactly how it looks in practice: “Help Emily get the puberty blockers she urgently needs” GoFundMe.
We support trans youth – find out more
- Share your crowdfunder with anyone who can help
This is not the time to be shy – Share the link to your crowdfunder with your family, contacts, friend groups, LGBT and trans support groups, and on social media. Don’t be afraid to ask people if they can share, even if they’re not able to donate… You never know when someone might know someone who might be able to donate, or boost your crowdfunding campaign to a whole new audience. You could even contact local news media if you’re willing to share your identity publicly. Twitter is an excellent place to share – If you want to remain anonymous, consider setting up a Twitter account specifically to boost the crowdfunder.
If you’ve started a crowdfunder to raise money to pay for a young person to receive medical help from GenderGP let us know and we will share on our social media platforms. If you post your crowdfunder on social media, use the hashtag #GGPCrowdfunder so we can find and share it.
- Post regular updates to keep your donors informed on your progress
If someone has donated, they might donate again to help you reach a key target. It’s also a great way to encourage those who have already donated to share the crowdfunder with their own networks. It’s a good idea to include additional images, ‘thank you’ graphics, or even a short video to keep donors engaged with your campaign. Don’t forget to update social media and your networks with how you’re progressing – keep the interest and ‘news-worthy nature of the fundraising going.
Some technical notes for running your GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign:
- Calculate how much you need to raise and communicate this clearly on your crowdfunder. You might want to raise money for all the expected treatment costs, before you start, or choose to get funds to cover your costs on a year-by-year basis. You can use our fee structure available on the GenderGP website here to work out costs, or you can ask us for a quote on expected costs by getting in touch with us via the GenderGP website here. GoFundMe might ask you to provide a calculation of costs or a quote for treatment, so it’s worthwhile having your calculations ready if requested.
- GoFundMe requires anyone downloading funds to have either a passport or drivers license as proof of ID. If you don’t have either of these, you will need to find someone you trust to receive the funds on your behalf. Their information will be visible on the GoFundMe crowdfunder page, so if they want to remain anonymous to the general public, they may need to create an anonymous GoFundMe or linked social media account.
- Don’t forget that GoFundMe takes a ‘processing fee’ of 2.9% of the amount donated so you will need to raise slightly more than your calculated amount if you are to cover all costs.
- You can find out more information about the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform and how it works here.
We would love to hear your stories of successful crowdfunders, so please let us know when you’ve reached your target.
If you want to know more about the GenderGP Fund, please visit our dedicated webpage here. You can also contact GenderGP anytime via our Help Centre.