GoFundMe is a decade old and celebrating its prowess at separating you from your dollars on behalf of good causes—or at least causes that sound good. (30 Marathons in 30 Countries Before I Turn 30, anyone?) The platform’s fundraising-fu is eye-opening, pulling in annual funds comparable to the GDP of countries like Guinea-Bissau and Gambia. Here are its biggest hauls:
- Biggest fundraiser of all time: $44.6 million in the ongoing America’s Food Fund campaign, launched by Laurene Powell Jobs and Leonardo DiCaprio.
- Most donations: Over 500,000 to the Official George Floyd Memorial Fund, raising $14.7 million, with an average of $29 per donation.
- Highest donation day ever: June 2, 2020, in response to Black Lives Matters and associated movements.
- Total funds raised since 2010: $10 billion-plus, from over 150 million donations (an average of $66 per donation).
These details and many more come in GoFundMe’s annual giving report, which this year includes a decade’s worth of snapshots and factoids. For example, 70% of donations are now under $50—up from 40% last year.
The platform has its problems: Crowd-funders with media savvy and wealthy zip codes often draw more funding than the marginalized people who most need help, and the most heart-wrenching stories win dollars—not the campaigns where monies might actually fund a solution.
But 2020 has been a year of big stories and bigger crises. Campaigns on the site reflect the attentions of the American psyche, and this year was heavy on fundraising for small businesses, racial injustice, natural disasters, and frontline workers’ PPE—racking up $625 million from March to August for pandemic-related causes alone.
These are the top five campaigns of the year:
- America’s Food Fund ($44 million)
- Official George Floyd Memorial Fund ($14.7 million)
- Frontline Responders Fund ($8.2 million)
- Justice for Breonna Taylor ($6.7 million)
- Navajo & Hopi Families Covid-19 Relief Fund ($6.5 million)
While the cumulative snapshot they create of America is chilling, a scroll through donors’ posts provides a much-needed boost of humanity.
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