AUSTIN, Tex. - Until lately, there was no easy way to collect money online from a group of people. Now Fundable.com provides simple fundraising tools that allow people to collect money for projects from groups of people they know. To use Fundable.com, a person creates a fundraising page, setting the amount to be raised and providing a description. Next, this person invites his or her social circle to visit the page and pledge money. Once enough pledges for a project have been secured, Fundable.com turns them into real payments and sends the total to the group leader. No one takes a risk when making a pledge: if a project expires before reaching its total in pledges, Fundable deletes all pledges and never charges money. This allows people to participate in a fundraiser without worrying about what others will do. No one pays until and unless everyone else makes a pledge. Group projects on Fundable are not limited to fundraising. Users have successfully collected money for snowboarding trips, short films, birthday gifts, group purchases, and other personal projects. For example, Amy Dillard, journalism student at the University of Tennessee, collected $3424 from friends and family to fund a 4-month long trip to Ghana, where she will do volunteer work and intern with local media. Amber Beard, a graduate student at the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, used Fundable to finance her graduate thesis film, "Growing Up Vegas." Aaron Asbury, a recent audio engineering graduate, raised $1620 from his community to build a studio in his house to provide recording services for local bands. Amelia Scheider, a twenty-year-old classical soprano singer, pre-sold her first CD before entering a recording studio. "If I get $400 in pre-orders, I will be able to afford the rest [of the studio costs]," she told potential contributors. Fundable's all-or-nothing model ensured that none of her customers would lose money if she fell short of her goal. Amelia sold over $940 in albums. Fundable's unique approach to fundraising allows anyone to collect money online. Contributors know that they'll either get what they paid for or they'll get their money back. Name : Louie Helm