burger-menu

How it Works for Donors, Lawyers, and Clients

Give Me the One-Pager
I'm Ready to Draft My Campaign

Table of Contents

For Donors

What is Article Two?

  • What does Article Two do? We help lawyers crowdfund for public interest law issues. We are the only crowdfund built to help lawyers comply with their professional duties. We are here to help fill the justice gap. 
  • Where does my donation go? Straight to your values. Our payment processing company protects your payments, so we never see your account details. They take a processing fee and we receive 5 per cent, then your donation gets directly released to the lawyer who owns the campaign. Lawyers use your donations to do the work they promise to do in their campaign. As Article Two grows, more lawyers and law students will be able to find each other through our campaigns, so your donation also supports a stronger public interest lawyer coalition.
  • Can I make a tax-deductible gift? Yes under Australian tax law, if the legal service who receives the donation has DGR status. You must receive a receipt from them for the amount they receive, less the payment processing fee and 5 per cent to us. 
  • I’m based in another country, not Australia. Lawyers can do legal work in any country, as long as the lawyer who owns the campaign is admitted in Australia. We accept donations from 45 different countries, and we accept campaigns as long as the campaign owner is an Australian-admitted lawyer. These lawyers can work in international teams.
  • How does it work? Lawyers draft a campaign for the work they want to do. They have to use the money as they promised in their campaign, or they have to provide updates if their strategy changes. If they don’t, in the worst case they can be reported to the lawyers’ regulator. Article Two helps lawyers draft high-quality campaigns that don’t overpromise. 
  • What is public interest law? Anything that improves the community but doesn’t punch down.

How did you think this through?

  • How can I trust an Article Two campaign? We made a custom Terms of Use to support lawyers’ ethical and financial duties, and all our policies are based on our research of regulations and case law on crowdfunding. Campaigns have to meet our definition of ‘public interest’, or they can’t be listed. We spent 2025 speaking to private lawyers, community lawyers, international lawyers, and pro bono lawyers at big firms so Article Two can help as many people as possible.
  • Can I give my opinion on how my donation should be used? No, and that’s to keep all users safe. Opposing lawyers go after donors if donors take an active role in litigation. Also, lawyers have a strict duty to take instructions only from their client. 
  • Will I receive updates? Lawyers have to provide updates if not providing an update could mislead new donors. However, sometimes outcomes take a long time, or they can be confidential, so you might not learn everything about your campaign when you get an update.
  • Curious about legal words? Check out our Glossary.

For Lawyers

What do you fund?

  • Who’s allowed to list campaigns? Only Australian-admitted lawyers can own a campaign and receive the funds, but you can work in domestic or international teams, or teams of lawyers and non-lawyers. Then it’s up to the lawyer to disburse the funds. 
  • How do you define ‘public interest’? Improving the community but not making things worse for a vulnerable community. In short, campaigns cannot punch down.
  • Do you only fund human rights, climate change, and civil liberties? No. We fund any law that makes the community better. Public interest can come from anywhere, including protecting small business, challenging oligopolies, advocating for tax and regulatory reform, or changing industry codes of practice. Rights don’t live in a vacuum, and people have to pay bills and do business. 
  • Do you only fund litigation? No. Use your creativity. We trust lawyers know what they need. It can be things like an investigation, law reform advocacy, paying interns, or paying for expert reports. You can crowdfund disbursements only, and act pro bono, if you want to.
  • What do we have to write in the Campaign? See our Draft Your Campaign Guide, which sets a minimum quality standard so donors understand what they are donating to. 
  • Where does Article Two operate? We only allow campaigns from Australian-admitted lawyers, but you can work in international teams. We accept legal work in any jurisdiction, and donations from 45 different countries, but require you to identify and eliminate risks that donations will benefit sanctioned nations or individuals.
  • Does Article Two expect anything from the Lawyers who run the Campaigns? We expect you to comply with your professional obligations, and keep the promises you make in your campaign, or update the campaign if your strategy changes. This includes thinking through your costs agreement, if you have a client. We also expect you to identify and address any risks of donations to you breaching AML/CTF and sanctions regulations.
  • Is this only for community law? No. We know private firms see systemic issues in their areas of practice, and know how to solve it, thanks to their experience. Community law and private firms complement each other.
  • Does it have to be for one client or one application? No. You can crowdfund for a group of clients with the same issue.

How do lawyers get the donations?

  • Do I have to have a trust account? No. Because trust accounts are for client work not yet done, you can crowdfund into a transactional account for: invoices for client work already done, or any work that doesn’t involve a client. You are still bound by your regulatory obligations for the uses you promise in your campaign. 
  • If we crowdfund through Article Two, do we have to use only Article Two? No. Mix and match as suits you. Use us to run your pilot, then apply for more funding to keep the pilot going. Or hold an event and make a donation through us as the cost of entry. Ask a philanthropic fund to match dollar-for-dollar. Use more than one funding platform. (To prevent scams, consider disclosing in any online donation campaigns where your official funding campaigns are.) 
  • Are Donations through Article Two tax-deductible? Yes, if your legal service has DGR status. You will be able to issue receipts for the amount you receive, less payment processing fees and 5 per cent to us.
  • What are your fees? Your donation less payment processing costs, which all online payments charge, and less 5% fee to Article Two, which most crowdfunds charge. Don’t just think about fees, though–we also want to be a website where lawyers can see what others are doing, and strategise with and inspire each other. We want law students to come and see the kinds of public interest law that goes on. Consider joining to be in the same place, working together.
  • How do the Donations flow? Our payment processing company holds the donations until you choose to release it, which can be a manual release, or weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. Article Two only gets the 5% fee when the funds are released to your account. When you create an Article Two account, you can also create a Stripe Connect account, if you don’t have one already.
  • What if my Donations get stuck? We can help you in the first instance, so contact us.

How else are you involved?

  • Do you get involved in the campaign? No. We will not intervene in the lawyer-client relationship, and we trust lawyers know what they are doing. If you have a client, you must consider amending your costs agreement to reflect an Article Two campaign. 
  • Will you review my draft campaign for me? We will suggest feedback, but you are the expert in your area, and (if you have a client) we will not breach confidentiality. When you are considering any feedback from us, do not disclose anything you would not want subpoenaed. 
  • Will you market my campaign for me? Crowdfunds are most successful when the community around the issue is mobilised, so we’re not the best marketers. Crowdfunding campaigns have had success with traditional media engagement, social media posts, and in-person engagement with small and big donors. Broader research on crowdfunding also shows that updates, the development of a community, and showing innovativeness can contribute to the success of a campaign. 

How else can I protect clients and donations?

  • What if the work changes during the campaign? Post an update explaining the change and why you had to make the change. Failure to do so might be considered misleading behaviour. 
  • What do I consider for a costs agreement? In litigation, remember costs recovery usually follows the indemnity principle: ordinarily, the losing party indemnifies an obligation of the winning party to pay their lawyers. If there is no obligation, there is no indemnity. You should also think through: what happens if insufficient funds are raised to meet the goal, or if excess funds are raised. The same regulations about client fees apply regardless of the source of the funds.
  • I have a day job as a lawyer but want to crowdfund for a campaign in another capacity. We’re fine with it, as long as you’re an Australian-admitted lawyer and the campaign is for legal work covered by your admission.
  • I feel a bit nervous about crowdfunding. Our Compliance and Precedents Guide points you to the 2019 Law Council of Australia Crowdfunding Guidance Note, relevant financial and ethical obligations about crowdfunding and use of raised money, and 15 years of reported decisions dealing with crowdfunded money. Crowdfunding is analogous to a client’s parents chipping into their legal costs, so it is not so different to costs arrangements lawyers already work with.

Lawyers' obligations relating to funds

Lawyers also have:

– common law obligations to establish with clarity the identify of persons to whom advice is given and understand the purpose behind transactions;

– obligations when dealing with trust monies, where the use of lawyers’ trust accounts is restricted by statute to matters or transactions in relation to which legal services are provided. This means a lawyer cannot accept money into trust except in the course of or in connection to underlying legal services. There are also rules relating to the reporting of irregularities/record keeping for trust monies; 

– for certain transactions involving “designated obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) and related rules, as to be amended and apply to lawyers from 1 July 2026; and

– obligations under sanctions regulations to not enable funds to benefit sanctioned nations or individuals.

Division 400 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth), which deals with the proceeds of crime, applies to everyone, with offences for dealing (including recklessly or negligently) with money or other property that is or is likely to become, proceeds or an instrument of crime.

Where is this going long-term?

  • Are you here to replace legal aid and philanthropy? No. We want to supplement, and we want to help legal aid and community law to advocate for more funding, by sharing overall funding figures for different issues.

For Clients

What is Article Two? 

  • We help lawyers fundraise to fix public interest law problems. Sometimes it’s a client issue and sometimes it’s a broader systemic issue.
  • How do I launch a campaign? Find a lawyer who is experienced in the area. Also try legal aid and community legal centres. If they think Article Two is the right fit, they can submit a campaign to us. 
  • If I have a campaign on Article Two, is my case free for me? You have to discuss this with your lawyer. Most have to sign a costs agreement with you too, so you should ask about one. If you are litigating, you should ask about the risk of a costs order against you.
  • Is my case public interest? It has to make the community better but not punch down. Your lawyer will help show the public interest. If we have questions, we’ll get in touch with your lawyer. 
  • Why can’t I list my own campaign? Donations to crowdfunds aren’t really protected by regulations, but lawyers have professional duties. If your lawyer does something wrong, the legal profession regulator can investigate and discipline them. There have been cases where crowdfunded money has been spent on something else. Our rule builds trust and helps donations go where they are intended. 
  • How do I get the donations? The lawyers receive the donations. They have to use the money in accordance with the campaign and the costs agreement, if you signed one. All lawyers have to comply with financial obligations, and the same ones apply to their handling of crowdfunded money.
  • There’s a lot of legal terms here! Law shouldn’t be only for lawyers. Our Glossary explains some of the legal words you might come across in your public interest law journey.

What do I need to discuss with my lawyer?

  • What should my lawyer discuss with me? What do you need to crowdfund and how much will it cost? How long will your campaign go for? What will your description be? What images or videos will you use? What kind of law do you need: litigation, a submission to an inquiry, an application to an agency? How much should you disclose to generate funds but not expose yourself to the risk of defamation, protect your confidentiality, and not give away your litigation strategy? Do you need a costs agreement? Do you need to pay anything out of pocket?
  • Can I share more details about my case with donors, or people I know? You should discuss this with your lawyer, because it will be different in every case.
  • Do I have to tell people about the progress of my case? Your lawyer will advise you when you can, and what you could say. Legal advice is confidential to the client (you), so your lawyer needs to help you here.
  • Will I have to pay the other parties if I lose a lawsuit? In litigation, it is ordinary that the losing party pays some of the costs of the winning party. The judge might award less in costs in cases where a party sues in the public interest. You may decide, with your lawyer, that you should reserve some crowdfunded money in case an order is made to pay the other party’s costs. Our Compliance and Precedents Guide helps lawyers to advise you on these issues.
  • What happens if I fundraise more than I ask for? Your lawyer should discuss this with you, and write the outcome into a costs agreement too. The intention is that lawyers and clients should not get an extra profit off money that comes through Article Two. You could donate excess funds to an organisation working on the same cause, or re-donate leftover money through Article Two to another campaign.
  • What happens if I don’t meet my fundraising goal? Your lawyer should discuss your options with you to decide your strategy, and reflect any agreement in a costs agreement or another document.

What happens after the campaign launch?

  • Will you market my campaign for me? You, your lawyer, and your community are the best placed to market your campaign, because you know the people who care as much as you do.
  • How do I maximise funding? With your lawyer, create a timeline and plan to promote your campaign. Get the interest of advocates who are already working on your issue. Speak to journalists and post on social media to generate broader interest in your issue. Engage with people in person, including bigger donors and philanthropic funds. Towards the end of the campaign, do your last big push as you count down to the deadline. Lawyers sometimes have marketing resources, too. 
  • Do you stay involved with my case? You might need to crowdfund again if there are additional costs, but you don’t need to hear from us again! Your work will be with your lawyer. Good luck!
  • I’m worried about my case and campaign. If you can’t fix it with your lawyer, you can contact us. We can’t solve your problem, but we can advise you who to talk to next.
I'm Ready to Draft My Campaign
Give Me the One-Pager