Create a fundraiser

Fundraising is the oldest thing Ardent Africa does and, until now, the one thing these guides never explained how to do. This is the whole path, including the two places people get stuck.

Start it

Open Create and choose Start a campaign, on the website or in the app. The wizard has nine steps and it saves as you go, so a step you have finished is not lost if you close the tab.

1. Legal. What you may and may not raise for. Read this one; it is the basis on which a campaign is later approved or refused.
2. Country. Where the campaign is based. This decides which currency and payment methods apply, and it is a real choice across the African countries Ardent serves.
3. Phone and verify. A verified phone number. Nothing is published against an unverified number.
4. Type. Fundraising, petition, or hybrid, which collects signatures and money on the same page. Hybrids are how a campaign that needs both pressure and funds runs as one thing rather than two pages competing for the same supporters.
5. Beneficiary. Yourself, somebody else, or an organisation. Choosing somebody else asks for their details, because a donor is entitled to know who the money reaches.
6. Details. Title, story, category and cause. This is what supporters read.
7. Goals. Your target, your deadline if you want one, and whether donations continue after the goal is reached.
8. Media. A cover image and any supporting photos.
9. Review. Everything in one place before you submit.

Write a story that earns trust

The single biggest difference between campaigns that raise and campaigns that do not is specificity.

• Lead with the need, not the ask. Who is affected, what happens without help, and what changes with it.
• Break the goal down. A target with a short list of what it covers reads as a plan. A round number on its own reads as a guess.
• Use real photographs. Your own, of the thing you are describing.
• Say who you are. A named organiser with a verifiable connection to the cause is worth more than any amount of adjectives.

Verification, and why your page cannot take money yet

A submitted campaign goes to review before it can receive anything. This is deliberate, and it is what makes a donation on Ardent worth making.

Reviewers are looking for three things: that the campaign is what it says it is, that the beneficiary is real, and that the organiser can be contacted. A clear description, real media and accurate contact details are what make this fast. Vague copy and stock images are what make it slow.

You can also apply for Verified Cause, a stronger badge that appears on your page and in the directories. See Trust and safety.

After it is live

• Share it first with people who already know you. The first day matters more than any other, and your own contacts are what make a page look worth joining.
• Post updates at milestones. Crossing one reaches everybody following the campaign, which is what keeps people with you between the day you start and the day you finish.
• Open a durbar. A live audio room attached to your campaign lets you answer questions in your own voice. See Durbar.
• Add your team. Other people can be given a role on the campaign from Manage.
• Ask for hands, not only money. A volunteer opportunity attached to your campaign reaches people who want to help and cannot give.

Getting the money out

Withdrawals are requested from Manage, and the fees that apply are shown to you at the moment you request one, read live from the platform's own configuration rather than written into a page like this that could go stale. See Fees and charges for the current rates.

Impact reports are how you tell the people who gave what their money did: what the last payout was spent on, with figures. Post one from Manage and it goes to a review queue, then appears on Impact reports.

Posting one is not required before a second withdrawal today, and there is a platform setting that can make it so. Post them anyway: a campaign that has shown where the first payout went is the one people give to twice.

When a campaign ends

Declare the outcome. A campaign that reached its goal becomes a success story; one that did not still deserves a closing update to the people who backed it. Either way, the supporters you gathered are the reason the next one starts faster.

Last updated: 24 August 2026