National

The pandemic, natural disasters and response to other tragedies spurred giving in 2021, according to GoFundMe's annual report.

Why it matters: The crowdfunding platform says one donation is made every second to help people across the globe. One in three fundraisers is started for someone else.

Details:  Though the annual report did not specify numbers for every fundraiser, it highlighted some of 2021's "most notable" campaigns where people turned "hard to watch headlines into meaningful help." The company would not share which campaigns raised the most money.

Pandemic: In April, people around the globe raised tens of millions to provide critical oxygen supplies and meet other medical needs in India as the country faced a devastating COVID wave. 

LGBTQ travel site GayCities launched a campaign to help keep LGBTQ venues open during the pandemic.

Natural disasters: GoFundMe raised nearly $10 million to help Texas residents caught in power outages and freezing temperatures amid deadly storms in February.

June's Surfside condo collapse spurred a $2.4 million campaign to help locate survivors, reunite families and treat injuries. 

People raised millions to help those impacted by deadly flooding in Germany. 

Millions of dollars also went toward relief efforts for communities ravaged by wildfires in Canada, California and Greece. 

Fundraisers went up to help people in Haiti after the devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake in August. 

Other tragedies: AAPI communities saw a surge in support after a white man killed eight people, including six Asian women, in a mass shooting in Atlanta. 

Following the discovery of Indigenous children's remains at a former residential school in Canada, people chipped in to fund searches for other missing children. 

Fundraisers were set up to support Afghan refugees after the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan. 

People rallied around Kevin Strickland and raised $1.5 million to provide financial support after he was exonerated in one of the longest wrongful conviction cases in the U.S. 

A deadly crowd surge at Astroworld led to an outpouring of donations for victims and their families in November. 

Tragedies, pandemic drove GoFundMe giving in 2021

One donation was made every second to help people across the globe, according to GoFundMe.

Photo of a webpage showing a GoFundMe for an Afghanistan rescue mission, with $7.2 million secured

A GoFundMe raising money for an operation to evacuate hundreds of Afghans. Photo: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

Fundraising

Climate change

Coronavirus

Afghanistan

The pandemic, natural disasters and response to other tragedies spurred giving in 2021, according to GoFundMe&#x27;s annual report.Why it matters: The crowdfunding platform says one donation is made every second to help people across the globe. One in three fundraisers is started for someone else.

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Tragedies, pandemic drove GoFundMe giving in 2021

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