---
title: "set up donations and get funded by your community"
description: "How creators get paid by their community on chilli: one-time and monthly donations, a 0% platform fee, Stripe setup, banking fees, your balance and cash out."
url: "https://creators.chilli.club/resources/set-up-donations"
category: "fund your work"
updated: "2026-10-21"
reading_time: "5 min"
---

# set up donations and get funded by your community

> Your supporters can fund your work with one-time or monthly donations, right next to your actions. chilli takes a 0% platform fee: only banking fees come out of a donation, never the tip. You cash out to your bank.

fund your work · 5 min read · updated 2026-10-21

Research, editing, travel, the camera that survived three boat trips: impact work costs money. Brand deals come with strings, and grants take months. Your community is already acting with you. Donations on chilli let them fund you too, directly, with a 0% platform fee: chilli takes no cut.

## how donations work on chilli

- **where people give**: a **fund** button sits right next to your actions. On an action page it's the **fund the fight** section with **fund @yourname**. On your profile it's **fund my work**.
- **your direct link**: `app.chilli.club/memberships/yourname/flow` takes people straight to the donation flow. Handy for stories and newsletters.
- **one-time or monthly**: supporters choose. Monthly supporters can cancel anytime.
- **0% platform fee**: chilli takes no commission. Banking fees (2.9% plus €0.25, $0.30 or £0.20 per payment, depending on the supporter's currency) are charged by banks and card networks to move the money, and are deducted from each donation before it reaches your balance. Donors and your public pages always see the amount they gave. Full breakdown and fixed fees: [follow the money: how payments and cash out work on chilli](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/how-payments-work.md).
- **tip to chilli**: at checkout, donors can add an optional tip that goes 100% to chilli (to keep the app running). It's on top of their donation, never taken from yours, never part of the banking fees calculation, and they can skip it. For example: a donor gives $10 and adds a $2 tip. Banking fees are $0.59, you receive $9.41, and chilli receives the $2 tip.
- **powered by Stripe**: payments are handled securely by Stripe.
- **anonymous is fine**: donors can leave you a message, or keep their donation anonymous.
- **a goal that grows with you**: in **fund the fight** and in the donation flow, a bar shows what you've raised against a round goal chilli sets for you, and the goal moves up each time you pass it. Nothing to set. Until your first donation lands, the bar hides its percentage, so a brand new page never shows "0%".

> **key insight**
>
> Lead with an action people can take. Once donations are enabled on your account, the fund button on that action page gives them another way to back the work.

*app screenshot: the fund the fight section of an action page: the creator's bio, 477 euros raised of a 500 euro goal from 23 donations, a fund button and share instead (fund the fight, on every action page)*

*app screenshot: the donation flow: one-time or monthly, amounts of 4, 5 and 9 euros or custom, cancel anytime, and a fund button (the donation flow: one-time or monthly)*

## set it up

Donations aren't switched on for every account by default. Ask the chilli team to turn them on for you, then:

1. Open your chilli profile and tap **set up donations** on the "turn support into funding" card. Already created an action? Your dashboard's **getting started** checklist has the same shortcut: **turn on your donation module** (about 5 minutes).
2. On **set up your donation module**, pick the country you live in and tap **let's go!**
3. You're redirected to Stripe to finish setting things up, including the bank account your money gets sent to.
4. Stopped halfway? Your profile shows **complete setup** (and the checklist step stays open on your dashboard), and you pick up right where you left off.
5. Once it's done, the fund buttons appear on your profile and your action pages.

Stripe doesn't support every country yet. If yours isn't on the list, the app will tell you, and the chilli team can help you figure out next steps.

## write your fundraising story

Your profile has a **fund my work** section with **your fundraising story**: a few lines telling supporters what their money makes possible. Be concrete. "Support my work" is vague. "Every €10 pays for one hour of drone footage over the trawlers" is a reason.

Your story also shows in full, in « quotes », in the **fund the fight** section of every action you create, right above the **fund @yourname** button. No story yet? Your bio shows there instead. Your bio says who you are. Your story says what the money does, and that's what gets people to tap.

**fundraising story template**

```text
I don't take brand deals from [industry], so this work runs on you.

Your support pays for [concrete thing 1], [concrete thing 2] and [concrete thing 3].

Monthly support lets me plan ahead and keep the pressure on. Cancel anytime, and chilli takes no cut of it.
```

## your balance and cash out

Everything lives in your dashboard, under **revenue**:

- **earnings**: your all-time total, one-time and monthly combined, after banking fees.
- **recurring income**: "your work on chilli earns you [amount] / month", from your monthly supporters.
- **paying supporters**: the number of different people who've funded you.
- **monthly summary**: what you earned and cashed out each month.
- **download transactions**: a CSV of your full history, for your accountant or your spreadsheet.

Once the first donation lands, the dashboard home also shows a **revenue** card with your all-time total, one tap away from the full page.

When you're ready, tap **cash out**. You'll see what's **available to cash out** (new payments show as **pending** until they clear). Cash out opens once you pass a minimum amount. Before anything moves, chilli asks **cash out [amount]?** and shows where the money goes: "to [your bank] •••• [last 4 digits of your account]". Tap **confirm cash out** to send it, or **not now** to keep it in your balance. Transfers usually arrive in your bank account in a few business days.

*app screenshot: the revenue dashboard: €257 earnings, €96 per month from 6 monthly supporters, €1,240 all-time, 18 paying supporters, cash out and monthly summary (your revenue: earnings, monthly support and history)*

**app walkthrough: check cash-out details**

check the balance, bank and confirmation before cashing out

[watch check cash-out details (silent video)](https://creators.chilli.club/app-videos/cash-out.mp4)

Supporters can pay in around 17 currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD and more). You get paid in your own currency at the current exchange rate.

Wondering why a payment is still pending, what **on hold** means or how banking fees are deducted? [follow the money: how payments and cash out work on chilli](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/how-payments-work.md) follows a payment from your supporter's card to your bank.

## ask like a human

Lead with action, then invite support. Keep it short, specific and guilt-free.

**caption: after an action**

```text
[Number] of you emailed [target] this week. That's the loudest this fight has ever been. 🔥

If you want to keep me doing this full time: there's a "fund my work" button on my chilli profile. One-time or monthly, and chilli takes no cut. No pressure, the action is what matters most.
```

**story frame**

```text
Everything I do here is independent. No sponsors telling me what to say.

If you want to back that, here's the link. 🫶

[link sticker to app.chilli.club/memberships/yourname/flow]
```

> **avoid this**
>
> - asking for money before you've ever asked for action
> - "I'll stop if you don't donate" energy
> - vague asks with no idea where the money goes

## why independence matters

A fight like Caroline Gleich's campaign against the Stratos data center (38 targeted ways to act, 12K+ actions, a 75% scale-down in five weeks) takes real hours: research, targeting, follow-up. That's work worth paying for. When your community funds it, nobody else gets a say in which fights you pick.

> **real win · Caroline Gleich**: [How Caroline Gleich made Stratos a national fight](https://creators.chilli.club/stratos-data-centers-in-utah.md)

## your next move

Ask the chilli team to switch donations on, then tap **set up donations** on your profile (or **turn on your donation module** on your dashboard) and finish Stripe in one go. Write three lines of fundraising story. Then turn one-time donors into a steady base with [grow your monthly supporters (without guilt-tripping anyone)](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/grow-monthly-supporters.md).

## the work behind it

- [How chilli helped Caroline Gleich turn Stratos into a national fight in just five weeks!](https://creators.chilli.club/stratos-data-centers-in-utah.md): Turn your audience into a force decision-makers can’t ignore. See how Caroline Gleich used chilli to mobilize 12K+ actions against a massive Utah data center.
- [How Captain Paul Watson used chilli to make Iceland's whale hunt harder to hide](https://creators.chilli.club/anti-whaling-campaign-iceland.md): Keep your community acting beyond a single post. See how Captain Paul Watson’s foundations used chilli to mobilize 47,674+ actions against Icelandic whaling.

## keep going

- [grow your monthly supporters (without guilt-tripping anyone)](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/grow-monthly-supporters.md): Viral spikes are fuel. Monthly supporters are the engine. Run actions every week, ask right after people act, show where the money goes, and your recurring income grows with your movement.
- [follow the money: how payments and cash out work on chilli](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/how-payments-work.md): chilli takes a 0% platform fee. Every payment goes through Stripe, banking fees come out of the donation (never the tip), and the rest waits about a week as pending before it's ready to cash out. Here's what each status means and what happens with refunds and bank disputes.
- [set up your creator profile (and make it your link in bio)](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/set-up-your-creator-profile.md): Your profile is your link in bio. Fill in the bio, pin your most urgent action, add a little of you in 'about me', and paste the link everywhere.
- [close the loop: show your supporters their action mattered](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/close-the-loop-with-updates.md): People who act and never hear back stop acting. Post an update within a week, name the numbers, and say "because of you". That's how one-time supporters come back.
- [community insights: read your numbers, run better actions](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/community-insights.md): Likes tell you what people enjoyed. Community insights tell you what people actually did. Check them weekly, fix the leakiest step, and run the next action smarter.

## along the path

- previous guide: [community insights: read your numbers, run better actions](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/community-insights.md): Likes tell you what people enjoyed. Community insights tell you what people actually did. Check them weekly, fix the leakiest step, and run the next action smarter.
- next guide: [grow your monthly supporters (without guilt-tripping anyone)](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/grow-monthly-supporters.md): Viral spikes are fuel. Monthly supporters are the engine. Run actions every week, ask right after people act, show where the money goes, and your recurring income grows with your movement.

## next step

Book a free call with the chilli team. We’ll shape your first action with you, from the story to the ways to help, and get it live: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ01g8S_PtdUlvXCTxD-pS1u4XmLdcBskzOKdjdrlPeX2aVrQ20e76YifYlNHXzow4KG4xIS0Vsl