New Report: Giving Goes Viral, Donations on GoFundMe Exceed $1 Billion in the Last Year
New GoFundMe Report Shows Technology’s Impact on Charitable Giving
A new report released on “Giving Tuesday” shows that crowdfunding is rapidly becoming a major way that American’s give back to their community. The report, issued by GoFundMe, the world’s largest crowdfunding site and one that focuses exclusively on personal causes, shows that donations on GoFundMe alone totaled $1.09 billion, which puts crowdfunded giving on par with donations to the top 10 of America’s largest charities.
Hailey’s Harvest campaign exemplifies crowdfunding’s rapid, widespread response to need. The campaign was created in May 2015 to help provide food and sleeping shelters for the homeless of Kitsap County, Washington, raising nearly $50,000.
“It’s nothing short of inspiring when you see someone like nine-year-old Hailey so moved by a homeless person on the street that she starts her own garden to donate fresh food,” said Rob Solomon, GoFundMe CEO. “And it’s incredible to watch her story catch fire. Hailey quadrupled her garden and expanded to building mobile sleeping shelters as a result of a campaign that attracted tens of thousands of dollars. I’m proud that GoFundMe helped give her the resources to make a real impact.”
“The disruption in the charitable giving space is happening person-to-person, community-to-community, and it’s tectonic,” said David Hahn, GoFundMe president and chief product officer. “What’s most exciting is that it has created an entirely new way for people to respond to the needs around them.”
Key findings:
- $1.09 billion in donations in the last year on GoFundMe alone puts crowdfunded giving alongside the top 10 largest American charities (1)
- Charitable giving grew 7.1% overall in 2014, according to Giving USA, while GoFundMe, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform, is growing in the triple digits
- 70% of people would take action after seeing a friend’s social media post about making a donation according to a Red Cross survey (2)
- Sharing a GoFundMe campaign on Facebook increases donations by 350%
Report link:
- GoFundMe report on crowdfunded giving: www.gofundme.com/GoFundMe-state-of-giving-report-2015.pdf
(1)The Chronicle of Philanthropy: https://philanthropy.com/specialreport/philanthropys-uneven-climb-s/73
(2)The Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/news/press-release/How-Your-Friends-Affect-Your-Donations-this-Holiday-Season.
