How Ko-Fi works, plus pros and cons
Author: Sarah Namann;
Reading Time: 3 minutes
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Are you looking for an easy way to accept donations or sell your products and services online? You don’t need to set up a complicated website or ecommerce store — Ko-fi might be just what you’re looking for.
In this post, we’ll explain what Ko-fi is, why it could be useful for your organisation, and how to get started.
What is Ko-fi?
If you’ve looked into platforms like Shopify, Etsy, or setting up your own donation system on a website, you’ll know they can be expensive, time-consuming, or overly complex.
Ko-fi is a platform designed to help creators, charities and small organisations accept donations, sell products, and offer memberships. It’s free to use and doesn’t take a cut of your donations. You don’t need any tech skills — if you can set up a Facebook page, you can set up Ko-fi.
We’ve created an example Ko-fi page you can explore here: ko-fi.com/promocymru.
Why should third sector organisations use Ko-fi?
Many small charities or community groups don’t have the time or budget to build a fancy online shop. Ko-fi gives you a simple, no-fuss alternative:
- Keep the money you raise – Ko-fi doesn’t take a cut on donations
- Customisable and shareable – Your page can match your brand and is easy to promote
- Quick and flexible setup – Take one-off or monthly donations, sell digital or physical products, or fundraise for a specific goal, all in one place
What about Gift Aid?
Ko-fi doesn’t currently support Gift Aid natively, as it processes a mix of payments for services, products, and donations. Only pure donations are eligible for Gift Aid, so Ko-fi can’t automatically handle the process within its system.
However, organisations can work around this by setting up an automation that sends a Gift Aid declaration form to donors who make a qualifying contribution. Once the donor signs and returns the form (or if you already have one on file), you can manually claim Gift Aid on those donations.
DigiCymru can support organisations in setting up this process.
How to set up your Ko-fi page (step-by-step)
You can be up and running in less than an hour. Here’s how:
- Go to ko-fi.com and click “Start a Page”
- Sign up with your email or Google account
- Choose your name and profile type
- Add your logo or profile image
- Write a short description of who you are and what you do
- Connect a payment method (PayPal or Stripe)
- Set up what you want to offer: One-off donations, memberships, products or services for sale or commissions
- Customise your page appearance to match your branding
- Publish and share your link
You can also add a donation button or link on your website, newsletter or social media.
Want help setting up?
If you’d like support setting up your Ko-fi page, or if you’re not sure whether it’s right for you, our DigiCymru team is here to help. We offer free digital support to third sector organisations across Wales — just book a slot, and we can talk through your goals and set-up options.
And don’t forget to check out our demo Ko-fi page for inspiration:
Commissioned by Catalyst
