More People Crowdfunded Basic Needs In 2025, GoFundMe Report Shows (fastcompany.com)
- Reference: 0180348747
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/09/2130256/more-people-crowdfunded-basic-needs-in-2025-gofundme-report-shows
- Source link: https://www.fastcompany.com/91457282/gofundme-year-in-help-report-crowdfunding-basic-needs
> More and more people are [1]turning to GoFundMe for help covering the cost of housing, food, and other basic needs . The for-profit crowdfunding platform's annual " [2]Year in Help" report , released Tuesday, underscored ongoing concerns around affordability. The number of fundraisers started to help cover essential expenses such as rent, utilities, and groceries jumped 20%, according to the company's 2025 review, after already quadrupling last year. "Monthly bills" were the second fastest-growing category behind individual support for nonprofits.
>
> The number of "essentials" fundraisers has increased over the last three years in all of the company's major English-speaking markets, according to GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan. That includes the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia. In the United States, the self-published report comes at the end of a year that has seen weakened wage growth for lower-income workers, sluggish hiring, a rise in the unemployment rate and low consumer confidence in the economy. [...] Among campaigns aimed at addressing broader community needs, food banks were the most common recipient on GoFundMe this year. The platform experienced a nearly sixfold spike in food-related fundraisers between the end of October and first weeks of November, according to Cadogan, as many Americans' monthly SNAP benefits got suddenly cut off during the government shutdown.
[1] https://www.fastcompany.com/91457282/gofundme-year-in-help-report-crowdfunding-basic-needs
[2] https://www.gofundme.com/c/gofundme-2025-year-in-help
Funny way of writing "inequality increasing" (Score:2)
What this really tells us is that the number of people that can get by on their own income is decreasing while the cost of things is increasing. Overall, inequality in the US is rapidly increasing.
High inequality is bad (Score:1)
Everyone starving equally might be worse.
Re: (Score:2)
> Everyone starving equally might be worse.
Except there is faaar more than enough for everyone. Nobody needs to starve.
Online panhandling (Score:5, Insightful)
> The number of fundraisers started to help cover essential expenses such as rent, utilities, and groceries jumped 20%, according to the company's 2025 review, after already quadrupling last yea
(emphasis mine)
That just implies there's more people asking for money, not that they're having any luck actually getting some. I'd imagine it's gotta be pretty slim pickin's.
Re: (Score:2)
The office I work in has a bunch of people with more money than sense. The guy sitting next to me hung up a GoFundMe QR code for veterinary bills at his cubicle and got 2 grand dropped in it before I quit counting.
I was able to confirm he really does have a dog, but I think the extent of the injuries and ongoing nature of the surgeries was getting puffed up.
Re: (Score:2)
I've seen a few people on my Facebook feed post GoFundMe campaigns and they seem to roughly have about the same amount of luck as the woman who approached me the other night at the Target parking lot, asking if I could "help her out".
"Sorry, I don't carry cash." (I really don't.)
I guess success with crowdfunding depends on the social circles you run in.
Re: (Score:3)
Well, the big problem is many employers are the ones forcing taxpayers to subsidize their employees. Most SNAP recipients work full time - Walmart is a famous employer who helps employees apply for benefits upon employment. In other words, SNAP benefits are going to Walmart - Walmart gets to mooch off taxpayers by not paying employees enough and relying on taxpayer programs to make up the savings in payroll.
Now consider what happens when those benefits were cut.
Firewood banks (Score:1)
Things like [1]firewood banks [newrepublic.com] rely on donated goods and donated labor. They are less likely to need a GoFundMe fundraiser.
[1] https://newrepublic.com/article/204051/firewood-banks-heating-bill-winter
eBegging (Score:2)
People seem to have no shame whatsoever now and are willing to publicly beg for subsistence money. It's a pathetic commentary on our society that people have so little pride.
Re: (Score:2)
> It's a pathetic commentary on our society that people have so little pride.
It's a pathetic commentary on our society that we fail to provide in the basic needs of so many. FTFY.
Re: (Score:2)
>> It's a pathetic commentary on our society that people have so little pride.
> It's a pathetic commentary on our society that we fail to provide in the basic needs of so many. FTFY.
I think you'll find that if you looked at the bank accounts of many of these people you'll find things like $700 car payments, loan and credit card payments for all the shit they've bought on Amazon. Hell it would appear that on Black Friday [1]there was $1Bn of stuff bought on Buy Now Pay Later. [fortune.com] I can't think of anything in the Black Friday sales you can buy that you'd die without.
[1] https://fortune.com/2025/12/05/us-consumers-financially-strained-bnpl-black-friday-cyber-monday/
Re: (Score:1)
Financial irresponsibility does exist, but so does genuine struggle.
Solving the latter allows us to expose the former.
American exceptionalism at play (Score:2)
This is exclusive to the US among all developed countries.
Hmmmm (Score:4, Interesting)
Socialism as a black market approach, interesting.
So you get to pay taxes AND fund other peoples basic needs voluntarily through a non-governmental path. Which means that only those people that are giving a fuck about others are actually contributing.
Money for necessities or to offset luxuries? (Score:1)
What I want to know about the people who are posting GoFundMe campaigns for basic items is how many of them fall into this category.
1) Working a minimum of 40 hours a week.
2) Are not quite quitting or otherwise putting in the minimum effort
3) Are actually trying to do their best and excel at what they do.
4) Not spending 6 hours+ a day on their phone.
5) Prioritize their needs over their wants. If you have Netflix/AppleTV/Peacock, but are begging for grocery money, then you are doing it wrong.
6) Are kind and
Re: (Score:2)
I bet if they had to publish their bank, credit card and Amazon statements they'd get a whole lot less sympathy.
Min wage has gone up significantly in the last 5 y (Score:2)
I could see this with the unemployed but min wage has gone up a lot in most places in the last 5-7 years. Seems more likely it's just people working the system.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, shit's happening exactly the way the voters asked for: lower taxes, less social spending, more dependence on private donations for the needful.
What could possibly go wrong?
Well, there are some issues that arise from the distribution of the benefits from the first two, and the variance in the likelihood to receive needed support increases dramatically for the last even assuming the same average, but these do not adversely affect [1]the people who actually make the decisions [bbc.com], so [2]everything is fine. [giphy.com]
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746
[2] https://giphy.com/gifs/this-is-fine-9M5jK4GXmD5o1irGrF