Number of people using GoFundMe for 'essential expenses' quadrupled this year, platform says

GoFundMe said more people are using its crowdfunding site to pay for “essential expenses” like housing and food based on their annual “Year in Help” report released earlier this week.

The number of these types of campaigns quadrupled since last year, GoFundMe said. The platform also said monthly bills were one of the fastest-growing categories for donation campaigns.

Examples of this highlighted in the report include a family in Los Angeles who faced eviction from their apartment of 37 years and a family in Las Vegas who needed help to keep their home after health issues, job loss and other financial burdens.

Other areas that attracted donors were medical fundraisers — collectively raising more than $1 billion this year — and educators, who collectively raised more than $3.3 million using GoFundMe to help supply their classrooms with school supplies.

The platform issued over 2,000 grants and raised nearly $1.3 million to help provide disaster relief after Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. Disaster relief also accounted for the most generous day globally, GoFundMe said, when hundreds of thousands of people donated on Oct. 1 to support hurricane recovery efforts.

Over 42 million donations were made to individuals at an average rate of two donations per second on the platform this year.

The average donation amount was $77 and people supported one another with comments or reactions on the pages over 20 million times, according to the report.

The most generous states in the U.S. based on the number of donors per capita were Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, while the most generous cities were Marietta, Georgia; Sarasota, Florida; and Fort Lauderdale.

Ireland was the most generous country in 2024, while Norway was the top country to support fundraisers beyond its borders, GoFundMe said.

The most generous donor came from Australia, donating more than 1,300 times.

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