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More More people are turning to it gofundme To help cover the costs of housing, food and other basic needs.
The for-profit crowdfunding platform’s annual “Year in Help” report, released Tuesday, highlights ongoing concerns about affordability. According to the company’s 2025 review, the number of fundraisers launched to help cover essential expenses like rent, utilities and groceries increased 20% after already quadrupling last year. “Monthly bills” were the second fastest growing category after personal support for nonprofits.
According to GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan, the number of people raising “essential” funds has increased over the past three years in all of the company’s major English-speaking markets. This includes United States of America, CanadaUnited Kingdom and Australia.
In the United States, the self-published report comes at the end of a year that has seen weak wage growth for low-income workers, sluggish hiring, a rise in the unemployment rate and low consumer confidence in the economy.
Cadogan said GoFundMe could see people struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living.
“Maybe someone is behind on rent or needs a little extra help to get through the next month,” Cadogan said. “It’s a function of what’s going on in these economies. And what’s interesting is that people come forward and support people in those situations.”
Among campaigns aimed at addressing broader community needs, food banks were the most common recipients on GoFundMe this year. According to Cadogan, the platform experienced a nearly six-fold increase in food-related fundraising between the end of October and the first week of November, as many Americans’ monthly SNAP benefits were suddenly cut off during the government shutdown.
According to Martin Look, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto, these uses show that online crowdfunding has come a long way from its roots as a way for entrepreneurs to raise money for their artistic or business endeavors.
Luk, who studies economic inequality and is co-author of a book about “the unfulfilled promise of digital crowdfunding,” said the findings serve somewhat as a “barometer of where things are in terms of desperation.”
“When there’s no other net to catch people, I think GoFundMe is where they often end up,” Luk said.
Lueck cautioned that the GoFundMe data does not show “the full extent of the desperation” because not everyone in need participates and many users do not reach their goal. Organizers must have Internet access and technical know-how, he said, and a successful campaign often requires savvy storytelling and strong social networks.
Cadogan said his team always expects countries to have strong government programs for health, housing or the well-being of seniors, for example. But GoFundMe recognizes that no country’s system addresses everything, he added.
At the end of a year that began with the Los Angeles wildfires that affected Cadogan’s Altadena community, the GoFundMe CEO said he is “shocked” by the power of help. Although asking for help can be a “difficult step,” he said, it is a “courageous act” that is worth taking.
“Taking that action opens the door to incredible goodness,” Cadogan said.
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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits is supported through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.