Help Center

Contribute.to is dedicated to helping artists and creators succeed – because likes alone don’t pay the rent. Contribute.to is a simple and direct way for artists and creators to get financial support for their work online.

Contribute.to provides a unique contributions link tied to the artist’s name. The Contribute.to link launches a universal media card that enables instant contributions, which can be doubled by patrons from our network.

No, Contribute.to is not another social media platform. What the Contribute.to media Card does is work beautifully across all of your existing social media networks and messaging platforms.

With Contribute.to, you are able leverage your existing social platforms and followers to generate contributions directly on those platforms.

Contribute.to provides a unique contributions link tied to the artist’s name. The Contribute.to link launches a universal media Card that enables instant contributions, which can be doubled by patrons from our network.

Contribute.to provides a unique contributions link tied to the artist’s name. The Contribute.to link launches a universal media card that enables instant contributions, which can be doubled by patrons from our network.

The amount of contributions any artist or creator raises will directly depend on the amount of time and effort you put into crafting a compelling ‘why?’, activating your existing networks, and systematically sourcing support.

Simply posting your Card on your social media channels will not generate much traction. But those creators that proactively and systematically leverage their networks have seen real, impactful results.

We’ve found that spending as little as 30-60 minutes on the steps I will outline here each day of a mini, week-long campaign makes a huge difference in generating contributions. Artists who follow our guidance have made on average more than $2,000 with a 7-day campaign!

Artists and creators who focus on raising money for a limited time – say a week – do better than those that just put a link up and wait for contributions to come in.

A campaign could focus on the work you’re doing right now, or an upcoming project that you have in mind. Any time you start something new, you can build another campaign to support it. Just remember to update your Card with the details and reach back out to your fans for help on that project.

For your first campaign, we recommend that you focus around your ‘why’. What are you working on now that needs support?

Please review our terms and conditions for a complete list of what content is acceptable on Contribute.to.

We do not allow any explicit content on our site, such as nudity. This includes photos, videos, and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks. This also includes photos of female nipples. As with social media sites like Facebook and Instagram photos in the context of breastfeeding, birth giving and after-birth moments, health-related situations (for example, post-mastectomy, breast cancer awareness or gender confirmation surgery) or an act of protest are allowed.

This also includes imagery of children. For safety reasons, we reserve the right to remove images that show nude or partially-nude children. Even when this content is shared with good intentions, it could be used by others in unanticipated ways.

Again, please review our full terms and conditions for more information.

Please refer to our privacy policy for a full description of how Contribute.to may use your data and information.

Simply visit Contribute.to and click on the “Get Started!” button.

The artists who generate the most contributions have a very distinct reason and purpose. People want to understand what they are putting their money toward. So, you need to find your why! Why do you need these funds!?

We know. Coming up with a “why” is a huge existential question. This is NOT easy. (We have trouble with it ourselves!) If you haven’t already, we highly recommend watching this TED talk.

Start by asking yourself the following:

• What do you do? (Do you make art about kittens? Do you create time based video work? Make sure you have stated it as plainly as possible.)
• What drives you? What do you stand for?
• What are you desperate to do? What makes you happy?
• What will the money you are raising go toward? (For example, “Your contribution goes toward supporting my next album/book/series/exhibition.”)

Remember, people respond and connect with goals, causes and purpose, not with vague asks!! Here are two examples:

1. I am an emerging photographer. I am obsessed with the horizon line and all my images are centered on the landscape. For my next project, I want to combine a study of the male form with the natural world, and explore them in parallel. Unfortunately traditional magazines aren’t going to commission me to do this. I hope you will help me start a new narrative about masculinity.
2. I am a painter, and my only subject is my cat. He’s called Albert. He doesn’t reciprocate my obsession. Everyday for the next year, I want to paint his portrait in the vein of famous artists. Think PicCATto, Mary CassCATt, BasquiCAT. I’d happily paint your cat too, but I am in fact a full-time mum and teach part time. I’d love to make my passion my 9-5. Throw me a dollar or two?

The character count for your “why” must be between 500 and 750 characters.

Absolutely! When you create your Card, you will be given the option to link to all your social media accounts.

Absolutely! When you create your Card, you will be given the option to link to your website.

This is the first big step, so congratulations! It’s time to take a minute to pat yourself on the back.

It’s also time to get your Contribute.to Card working for you!

We’ve found that spending 30-60 minutes on these steps each day of a mini, week-long campaign makes a huge difference in generating contributions.

The first thing you will want to do is update the bios on your social media accounts. Update your bios on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Clubhouse, TikTok – and even LinkedIn and YouTube – to include the link in your profile.

Next, create an initial post on all your social media channels and share the Card with your network, linking to your Contribute.to page.

For example:

“I am raising funds to support [your cause]. Imagine a world where there are no more struggling artists, only artists supported by their fans. Artists can’t survive on likes alone! I really hope you might consider giving me a few dollars. It would mean so much.”

The first thing you will want to do is update the bios on your social media accounts. Update your bios on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Clubhouse, TikTok – and even LinkedIn and YouTube – to include the link in your profile.

Next, create an initial post on all your social media channels and share the Card with your network, linking to your Contribute.to page.

For example:

“I am raising funds to support [your cause]. Imagine a world where there are no more struggling artists, only artists supported by their fans. Artists can’t survive on likes alone! I really hope you might consider giving me a few dollars. It would mean so much.”

The Contribute.to Card has been designed to work beautifully on all social media platforms. Just include the link in the body of a post and it will auto-populate as a clickable image on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

You can also include your Contribute.to link in your bio on social media platforms including Instagram and Tiktok.

Did you know that an Instagram post will, on average, only be shared with 10% of your followers? That’s why it’s so important to post on all your social channels, every day of the campaign.

Write a message that seems personal, without being too specific. Remind your friends that you are working really hard, and are dedicated to this passion, but that you need financial support. Post this on every platform and channel that you’re active on – and don’t forget to always include a link to your Contribute.to Card!

Then adjust your text, find a new angle for the same message, and post again, every day, until your campaign is ended. It’ll really make a difference!
Post consistently over a week-long period.

Write a message that seems personal, without being too specific. Remind your friends that you are working really hard, and are dedicated to this passion, but that you need financial support. Post this on every platform and channel that you’re active on – and don’t forget to always include a link to your Contribute.to Card!

Then adjust your text, find a new angle for the same message, and post again, every day, until your campaign is ended. It’ll really make a difference!

Your Contribute.to Card can live wherever you can place a link on Facebook including your bio and in posts.

Your Contribute.to Card can live wherever you can place a link on Twitter including in your bio and in tweets.

Your Contribute.to Card can live wherever you can place a link on Instagram including in your bio, IGTV videos and as Swipe-Up links in your Story.

Your Contribute.to Card can live wherever you can place a link on YouTube including in the description box of each video.

Your Contribute.to Card can live wherever you can place a link on TikTok including in your bio and in direct messages.

With WhatsApp’s broadcast list feature, you can send a message to several of your contacts at once. Broadcast lists are saved lists of message recipients that you can repeatedly send broadcast messages to without having to select them each time.

Broadcast lists are a one-to-many communication.

1. Write a list of the 50 contacts in your phone that you want to send your contribute.to link to.
2. Open WhatsApp, and select Broadcast Lists.
3. Search for or select the contacts you want to add. Tap the check mark. This will create a new broadcast list. When you send a message to the broadcast list, it’ll be sent to all recipients in the list who have your number saved in their phones’ address book. Recipients will receive the message as a normal message. When they reply, it’ll appear as a normal message in your CHATS screen. Their reply will not be sent to other recipients in the broadcast list.
4. Use the campaign text or the text you have added to your Card to describe the cause you want them to support, and be sure to include a link to your Contribute.to page! Add a personal note
For example: “HEY! As you know I’ve been working really hard on this new series, about my. . . cat. Everyday for the next year, I want to paint his portrait in the vein of famous artists. Think PicCATto, Mary CassCATt, BasquiCAT. I’d happily paint your cat too, but I am in fact a full-time mum and teach part time. I’d love to make my passion my 9-5. Throw me a dollar or two?
5. Send the same message to another 50 contacts on Day 2. Then wash, rinse, and repeat! The key here is to write a message that seems personal, without being specific. That way you can send it to 100s of contacts on WhatsApp without rewriting it by using WhatsApp Broadcast.

Don’t worry – there’s always more that you can do!

Are you active on email? Add the Card to your email signature, either as a link or a clickable image? People will see your Card and be encouraged to interact every time you contact them!

Do you have a website? Add a link to your Card from your homepage and on your contact us page. If you have content that people return to time and time again, place it there too.

Do you publish a newsletter or podcast? Promote the link and your cause there as well!

Once your campaign has ended, keep your Contribute.to Card link in your social media bios.

Be sure to tell your contributors “Thank You!!” across the same social media channels you used to promote the Card. This is a great opportunity to showcase your creativity and reinforce your why.

Making a video wherein you, personally, thank everyone for giving is a really nice touch.

Tell your friends to use Contribute.to, then start thinking about your next campaign!!

Update your Card with the work you made using the money raised, and explain that thanks to Contribute.to and the contributions raised, you were able to do XYZ.

It is possible that we may feature your Card on our social media channels, but we can’t do the heavy lifting for you. Remember, it is only by sharing the Card on YOUR channels and activating YOUR networks that you will see real success.

We’ve found that spending 30-60 minutes on these steps each day of a mini, week-long campaign makes a huge difference in generating contributions.

As many times as you want! Think of your Card as a living, breathing extension of your work. You can update it regularly with new content, new messages, and new “why” and then re-share it as part of a new campaign.

How often you do that is up to you!

Crafting a compelling “why” and actively sharing your Card with your networks are both essential to generating contributions. It is only by sharing the Card on YOUR channels and activating YOUR networks that you will see real success.

We’ve found that spending 30-60 minutes on these steps each day of a mini, week-long campaign makes a huge difference in generating contributions.

When matching is activated, our network of creative patrons double the amount of money raised by select artists. Matching makes contributions go twice as far!

Contributors will know that matching is active when the +Matching icon is visible on the contributions button.

As soon as your Card is created, you will be able to receive contributions. We are only able to pay those out to you after you have registered a valid bank account with our payment services provider.

You can do that now by accessing the Contribute.to dashboard – if your account is not yet connected you will see a prompt that explains what to do to get started. Once your account has been validated, we pay contributions directly into your account on a weekly basis.

You can see a list of all contributions made to your Card on the Contribute.to dashboard.

At Contribute.to there are no monthly costs, no complicated pricing structures and no hidden fees. We make money by taking a small platform fee whenever we facilitate a contribution
on your behalf. This helps to cover the cost of running our technology platform.

We take a flat platform fee of 6% for any direct contribution in addition to the processing fee charged by our payment service provider. Processing fees are assessed by the banks that process payments from your contributors. These fees will vary by payment method. Generally credit card payments fees equal 2.9% of the amount contributed, plus US$0.30. Contribute.to does not charge this fee, nor do we receive any part of it.

Login to your Contribute.to dashboard and then navigate to the Account page, and select the link to “Update Bank Account”.

We are only able to pay out contributions after you have registered a valid bank account with our payment services provider. You can do that by accessing the Contribute.to dashboard – if your account is not yet connected you will see a prompt that explains what to do to get started.

This information is needed to verify your identity for payout. We do not store your Social Security Number – it is passed directly to Stripe, our payment processor.

To deactivate your Card, please contact our Support team at [email protected] to request termination of your account.

Unfortunately our payment services provider, Stripe, does not support all countries at this time. If you are having trouble registering your account, it may be because your country’s banking is not currently supported. If that is the case, please do let us know and we will inform you when the Stripe list is updated. Alternatively, if you have a European or US-based bank account, we would recommend you use that instead.

Unfortunately at this time Contribute.to is not able to accept contributions made through PayPal. All contributions are made through our payment services provider, Stripe.