It allows users to set up their own fundraising page, through which supporters can find information about their campaigns and make donations through Rally.org's proprietary payment system.

The company was founded in Austin, Texas, as Piryx, in 2009 by Tom Serres, Brian Upton, Jonas Lamis and Naveed Lalani.

[2] Rally.org is a free online social fundraising or crowdfunding platform[3] with a built-in proprietary payment system,[4] which is used by individuals and organizations to raise money for their causes.

[13] In addition to the fundraising platform, Rally.org offers space within its San Francisco headquarters for rent at a subsidized rate to non-profits and socially conscious entrepreneurs.

[7][16][17] Tom Serres developing the precursor company, Piryx, in 2009 with co-founders Brian Upton Jonas Lamis and Naveed Lalani, originally as a platform to help political campaigns raise money online.

The platform allowed donors to make payments directly to a campaign's bank account, and included an app that tracked donations and reported them to the Federal Election Commission.

[19] In June 2011, the company announced that it was rebranding as Rally.org[4] and widening the scope of its platform to a broad range of organizations and individuals, such as charities, filmmakers and students, in addition to political campaigns and candidates.

[3][21] Investors included Greylock Partners,[22] Mike Maples of Floodgate Fund, Michael Birch, Tim Ferriss, Eric Ries and Google Ventures.

[15] Also in February 2013, Rally.org introduced a new feature called Covers, which allows fundraisers to add a video link or image about their cause to their donation form.