Ketto is an Indian online crowdfunding platform that allows you to raise funds for social, personal, and creative causes. The company name ‘Ketto” stands for Key to Tomorrow based on Ketto business model. Other than individuals, entrepreneurs and NGOs can utilize this platform to raise money through donation-based crowdfunding.
Do you know what the best part of Ketto is? Its platform is completely free for you meaning there is no platform fee! In this way, it ensures maximum finds for you. What you have to do is only submit the verified documents and identity proofs. It has more than 72 lakh donors and more than 3.2 lakh fundraisers. Founded by the trio Varun Sheth, Kunal Kapoor, and Zaheer Adenwala in 2012, Ketto successfully raised over INR 1100 crore with more than 2 lakhs of campaigns.
The numbers are continuously rising! But how does Ketto make money? You may ask! Because of its effective Business model.
In this article, we will shed light on the business model of Ketto.
Stay tuned!
Working Strategy (Ketto Business Model)
Let’s begin the Ketto business model with its working strategy. Ketto is a donation-based crowdfunding platform. “Crowdfunding” refers to the practice of giving monetary funds to overcome specific social, cultural, or economic hurdles that users face in their day-to-day lives.
Steps
The key steps to raise the funds are-
- Step 1: Sign up on Ketto by submitting valid documents needed for verification.
- Step 2: Fill up the form by providing details about you and the one for whom you are going to raise funds.
- Step 3: Create a crowd-funding campaign to raise the funds
- Step 4: Share the fundraiser with your friends and family through WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and email.
- Step 5: Track the incoming funds.
- Step 6: Withdraw the raised funds directly to your bank account.
Services of Ketto
Ketto provides a wide range of services that helps you to accomplish a successful fundraising campaign.
- Payout– You can withdraw the money at any point during the fundraising campaign.
- Personalized Web app– You will get instant updates about the progress of your fundraising campaign through instant alerts and email. Also, you can track everything in real time on the web application of Ketto.
- 24/7 support– Ketto provides 24 by 7 assistance regarding fundraising updates through WhatsApp, email, SMS, and Instant Chatting Interface.
- International Payment Support– Are you worried about donations in foreign currencies? If so, then don’t worry because Ketto accepts donations in multiple currencies from around the world.
- Dedicated fundraiser expert– Ketto provides an experienced and dedicated fundraiser expert who can guide you in the fundraising process.
- Fundraising Marketing tool– It is a highly intelligent marketing tool, which provides all insights on your fundraisers.
- Advertising support– Ketto provides marketing and promotional support for your fundraising campaign. We will discuss it in the upcoming section.
How does Ketto make money? (Revenue Sources)
Basically, Ketto earns money from the “Commission-based Revenue Model.” Ketto makes money by charging a small fee for every successful campaign that is hosted on its platform. But that’s not all! It has a handful of revenue sources that aided it to sustain and expand its services rapidly. Some of the major revenue sources are-
1. Campaigner Fees/ Transaction Fees
Ketto charges a 5% commission fee on the total funds raised by the campaigner. This fee will be deducted automatically from your funds raised by the campaign. You will need to pay campaigner fees only if the campaign is successful and accomplished the funding goal. However, that 5% is charged only on campaigns where Ketto team helps the campaigner. You can run campaigns without paying a 5% cut as well but you will receive no marketing help from Ketto’a team.
2. Payment Gateway Fees
Although you are not required to pay any platform fees you have to pay the payment gateway fees. This fundraising company uses third-party payment gateways for processing payments. The third-party apps are PayU, Paytm, and Razorpay to process payments. These payment gateways charge a fee of 2-3% on each transaction. This fee is charged by the payment gateway provider and is passed on to the campaigner.
So, when a campaign is created on Ketto, you have to pay a 5% fee on the total funds raised + a Payment gateway fee of 3% on the amount raised. This is the basic revenue source of Ketto.
3. Value Added Services (Premium Services)
Now coming to the next part i.e. value-added services. Ketto also offers value-added services to its users for helping them with their campaigns. The users of this premium service are usually campaign creators and fundraisers. They use it for various services such as marketing, social media promotion, campaign strategy, dedicated account management, and personalized campaign management. Ketto charges a specific amount for these premia and value-added services based on each case
4. CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Partnerships
Ketto partners with corporations to help them fulfill their CSR goals. It connects the corporations with the non-profit organizations that need funding. Ketto charges a fee for these partnerships. This kind of partnership generates enormous revenue for Ketto through a percentage-based commission.
One such famous partner of Ketto is Practo, the leading and integrated healthcare company in India. Practo partnered with Ketto to implement its Social Impact Plan reward program. This partnership aided the premium users of Ketto to avail of unlimited free online consultations from the verified physicians and specialists of Practo.
5.Voluntary contribution to Ketto
This is a unique revenue source of Ketto that depends on the love and support it gets from donors and users. Ketto introduced the section “Voluntary Contribution to Ketto” to receive support from the fund donors. According to the founders, voluntary contribution helps innumerable people to run their marketing campaigns.
Marketing Strategies (Ketto Business Model)
You should never underestimate the power of marketing for any fundraising event, and that too from the public. Do you know the spread of words about your fundraising campaign may serve as a boon? The strategic promotional marketing efforts of Ketto can be highly fruitful even if you have a strained budget. Therefore, Ketto makes an effort on various marketing strategies to fulfill your fundraising campaign. The following marketing methods of Ketto help to exponentially expand its reach among the public.
1: Email Marketing
Email marketing is a cost-effective approach and an effective promotional strategy for crowdfunding. So, Ketto uses email marketing to reach out to potential donors and supporters. It regularly sends personalized emails to users and newsletters to its subscribers who have shown interest in similar campaigns in the past. This encourages them to donate to ongoing campaigns or start their fundraisers. Ketto keeps its subscribers updated about new campaigns, success stories, and other relevant information. This helps in building a loyal community of donors and supporters.
2: Social Media Marketing
Online sources act as critical platforms for promoting fundraising campaigns. Most of you have social media accounts too. This acts as an efficient marketing platform for fundraising campaigns. Ketto uses various social media channels to engage with its audience, promote campaigns, and encourage donations. It has active pages on popular social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, where they regularly post updates, stories, and other engaging content. This helps it to reach out to potential donors. They regularly post updates, success stories, and testimonials from campaign creators to engage their audience and create a sense of community.
3: Content Marketing and Press Releases
Ketto has a blog that features inspiring stories of successful fundraisers, tips for creating effective campaigns, and updates on ongoing projects. This content helps to educate users about the platform and encourages them to start their fundraisers.
Have you ever wondered why the press release is still a highly sought marketing platform for centuries? Because no matter how advanced you are, you always look for a written form of communication to get authentic information. Likewise, publications including blogs and success stories serve as an essential method for acquiring loyal users. Other than blogs, Ketto also releases videos to educate its audience about the causes and campaigns it supports. This helps in creating awareness and inspiring people to contribute towards social causes.
4: Search Engine Optimization
Ketto optimizes its website and campaigns for search engines to improve its visibility and reach. This helps in attracting more traffic to the website and increasing the chances of donations. Ketto has a strong online presence and employs SEO techniques to rank higher on search engines like Google. This ensures that the website appears on top of search results when you search for related keywords such as “crowdfunding platform” or “online fundraising”.
5: Event Marketing (Word of Mouth)
You can get the attention of the local community through various events. Therefore, Ketto organizes and sponsors events to promote its platform and raise awareness about ongoing campaigns. These events also serve as an opportunity for users to connect and share their fundraising experiences. Thus, event marketing can effectively promote fundraising campaigns with the teamwork of volunteers, staff, community members, and past donors.
6: Partnership Marketing (Engaging Media Partners)
Engaging Media partners increases the visibility of fundraising campaigns. Free press coverage is a golden opportunity to get the attention of the public. So, Ketto partners with organizations, NGOs, and companies to support their social causes and raise funds. This helps in creating a network of supporters and donors who can contribute towards various causes. Thus, it greatly helps to make crowdfunding successful.
Conclusion
With a brilliant Ketto business model, it has been successful in establishing itself as a leading crowdfunding platform in India. Thus, you can raise funds for overcoming various hurdles like medical bills, education, social, and economic causes.
