To set up a memorial fundraiser, begin the process of setting up a free online memorial. After you enter your loved one’s name and add a picture if you wish, you’ll be asked if you would like to add a memorial fundraiser to the page. Check “yes,” and you’ll be asked to enter your goal fundraising amount and other basic information.

Payments are securely processed through Stripe. Stripe is a secure, reliable payment processing service that we use to deliver the donations you receive to your bank account. At the end of the fundraiser creation process, you'll be asked to connect to Stripe. To do this, you will need the following:

• A bank account in the US
• An address in the same country as the bank account receiving donations
• Personal information of the bank account owner, such as full name, date of birth and government issued ID.

You will be able to manage and withdraw your donations through the Stripe Dashboard.

No! Creating a memorial fundraiser is completely free.

Donors will have the option to leave a tip for Cake that helps support the site. Tips allow us to offer memorial fundraisers at no cost to the deceased's loved ones, build new tools to help grieving families and offer live support with a real person. We do not charge a fee to create a memorial website or use the fundraising service.

Stripe, our third-party secure payment processor, may apply a fee for credit card transactions. This is common for payment processing websites, and is typically 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. (Cake does not receive this fee. This fee is automatically collected through Stripe.)

Writing a memorial story for your fundraiser is understandably difficult, but we’re here to help. Here are some tips:

• Start by describing your loved one. For example: “Martha was a wonderful mother, sister, and friend who brightened the lives of everyone around her.”

• Describe the purpose of the fundraiser. For example: “Because Martha’s passing was so sudden, her family wasn’t prepared to cover the expenses of the funeral, burial, and memorial. We want to honor her in a way that fits her shining personality and generous spirit.”

• Detail the expenses you’ll cover with donations. Create a bulleted list of the expenses you need to cover with the funds raised. These can include the funeral service, burial or cremation, and even debts your loved one had unpaid.

• Thank those who donate from the bottom of your heart. Make sure that those who donate to your fundraiser know how grateful you are for their support.

For more ideas and help writing your memorial story, check out this page, which offers a full walkthrough, step by step, for writing this section.

When your memorial page is finished, you’ll receive a link to your published page. The memorial page will include a tab titled Donate, which contains the fundraiser.

You can then share your memorial page and fundraiser by copying the link into an email, text, or social media post.

Want some additional ideas for getting eyes on your memorial fundraiser? This page offers a step-by-step explanation of how to share your fundraiser for the best results.

After entering your fundraiser information and creating your memorial story, you’ll be asked to connect a Stripe account.

Stripe is a secure, reliable payment processing service that we use to deliver the donations you receive to your bank account. You can learn more about how Stripe processes payments here.

If you don’t already have a Stripe account, it only takes a few moments to create. You can also skip this step and return to it later.

If you want to stop collecting fundraising donations, you have two options:

1. Pause donations. Under the Visibility heading in the fundraiser section of your memorial page, you can check the option: “No, pause donations.” Doing this will hide the Donate button from visitors to your memorial page so that no additional donations can be accepted. Previous donations will still be visible. You can return to Settings and unpause donations at any time if you want to begin receiving donations again.   
2. Delete the fundraiser. If you want to remove and stop your memorial fundraiser completely, contact our Support Team for help with this process.

If you’d like help at any point when you’re setting up a memorial fundraiser, you can contact us by sending us a message on our Contact page. We read every message and will respond within one business day.

If you believe that a memorial page is in violation of the Memorial Guidelines, please contact us with the following information:

• URL of the page you are reporting
• Reason you are reporting the issue
• Your email address. (We will use this only to ask you follow-up questions if needed. We do not share your email address with the owner.)