GoFundMe reports surge in cost-of-living campaigns

Australians are leaning more on their neighbours to get through the cost-of-living crisis, according to new figures from crowdfunding platform GoFundMe that show more people are taking the difficult step to publicly ask for financial help.

Tim Cadogan, chief executive of the US platform, says the site has seen a 175 per cent increase in cost-of-living fundraisers in Australia in the past two years.

Cost of living pressures have prompted more Australians to raise money through crowdfunding platform GoFundMe.Credit: Louie Douvis

In 2023, more than 1000 GoFundMe cases were set up to help Australians struggling under high-interest rates and inflation and $2.26 million was raised for causes that mentioned “cost of living”.

In the first six months of 2024, 539 cases seeking assistance for cost-of-living pressures generated $1.16 million in donations.

The Reserve Bank has also previously said that “more people than usual”, including two-income households, have been seeking help from community organisations.

Cadogan says one case on the crowdfunding platform has stuck with him the most – a single mother of three children called Bo-Anne Kolkman from Western Australia.

Kolkman wrote on the platform in 2022 that her son had a serious medical condition and she was struggling to afford her rent. “[She] ended up raising about $12,000, which was just about enough to make a deposit on a house,” Cadogan said.

Before June 2022, Kolkman wrote on the platform she was desperate for help, saying: “As I write this now, I am utterly and completely exhausted, sad, confused and on the verge of a mental health breakdown.”

In February 2023, Kolkman provided a final update since her fundraiser first went live, saying: “Life has been wonderful, and we keep thinking back every day to all the people that have helped us get here.”

Survey data from the National Bank of Australia (NAB) shows that on balance, 36 per cent of Australians say they have cut back on charitable giving. But consumers are easing their way back into spending more, including for charity.

“While consumers are making cutbacks to offset cost-of-living pressures, in the September quarter, most consumers reported cutting less in all areas including charitable giving,” said Dean Pearson, head of behavioural and industry economics at NAB.

Australians have donated $1 billion to GoFundMe causes since 2015, and in the US the platform has raised more than $US30 billion ($45.7 billion).

In most countries, the category that is most widely donated to is medical causes, but in Australia, emergency and animal categories receive the most donations. Emergency cases, such as property damage from bushfires, have grown by 80 per cent in the last year alone.

Community is another popular category, with donations increasing by 40 per cent, in which members from a certain community will pitch in for shared resources. The “diaspora” category has also seen a huge uptick from Australians from diverse communities helping out overseas communities.

The Nepalese community in particular has set up more than 20 fundraisers and raised more than $750,000 in Australia for their overseas communities.

GoFundMe’s fundraisers must pass certain eligibility requirements. For example, the platform says it does not allow fundraising to support any armed conflict efforts.

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.