Tragedies, pandemic drove GoFundMe giving in 2021
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A GoFundMe raising money for an operation to evacuate hundreds of Afghans. Photo: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
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.
