colectar

To collect — most often used for gathering funds, donations, or data, especially common in Latin American Spanish: colectar fondos para una causa, colectar información. In Spain, recaudar (for money) or recopilar (for data) is often preferred.

• La organización colectó fondos para las víctimas del terremoto. — The organization collected funds for the earthquake victims.
• Colectaron firmas para presentar la petición. — They collected signatures to submit the petition.
• El estudio colectó datos de más de mil participantes. — The study collected data from more than a thousand participants.

Colectar is common in Latin America, but Peninsular Spanish more often uses recaudar for money or recopilar for data — both regions understand colectar, but it may sound slightly foreign in Spain.

Often confused with recaudar.