More People Crowdfunded Basic Needs In 2025, GoFundMe Report Shows (fastcompany.com) 37
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Fast Company: More and more people are turning to GoFundMe for help covering the cost of housing, food, and other basic needs. The for-profit crowdfunding platform's annual "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.
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.
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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 the people who actually make the decisions [bbc.com], so everything is fine. [giphy.com]
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This sounds great to me! Instead of the government bureaucracy as a middle man poorly distributing or, from the latest headlines, out right stealing my tax dollars; I get to keep more of my money and I can help those in my local community directly.
If we are concerned about the oligarchy, where the rich create government policy; well then reducing the government's power would limit what they can influence.
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I sure wish you to experience the results of what you ask for fully.
Re: FAFO (Score:2)
Well, let's see what the data says:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/se... [stlouisfed.org]
https://fiscaldata.treasury.go... [treasury.gov]
So...tax revenue is not decreased, and neither is welfare spending. And the US ranks high on the list of countries in terms welfare spending as a percentage of GDP.
https://oecdstatistics.blog/20... [oecdstatistics.blog]
The country that ranks the highest is France, and as you can see, their poverty rate isn't doing much better than ours. Notice Italy ranks third, yet their poverty rate is higher. As you can see, welfare spending i
Funny way of writing "inequality increasing" (Score:1)
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.
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Everyone starving equally might be worse.
Except there is faaar more than enough for everyone. Nobody needs to starve.
Re: High inequality is bad (Score:2)
Come on, The Grapes if Wrath passage about burning the pigs and soaking the mountains of oranges in kerosene while guards stand over them with weapons so that the poor starving people canâ(TM)t get them?
There is always been more than enough, but capitalism requires suffering
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Of all the videos I saw of people complaining about their SNAP benefits running out, not one of them appeared to be starving.
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There indeed could be more people who cannot make their basic needs, but the increase in crowdfunding does not tell us that. It only tells us that there are more crowdfunding request for basic needs In 2025. It does not mean there are actually more people who cannot make their basic needs in 2025. It could be that more people realized crowdfunding might help, or it is a great new grift that people fall for. For instance, in 1929 there were no crowdfunding requests for basic needs on GoFundMe; but I suspect
Re: Funny way of writing "inequality increasing" (Score:2)
We have normalized this behavior. Asking for money regardless of need. People might actually need the money assistance but we have no idea what they spend their money on so it is hard to say. :)
Imagine gofundme prerequisite is to show your tax return first
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Agreed. I know there are people out there who truly need help; whether they got themselves in the situation because of their own bad decisions, misfortune, or some combination of both is something to know. Of course determining if they have need at all is critical so we do no reward grifters.
I am not sure I would even trust a tax return on GoFundMe since it could be forged or altogether someone else. There are good organizations I have worked with like the salvation army who are trained to vet need and prov
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Now consider what happens when those benefits were cut.
Okay...SNAP is gone, so now Walmart has to increase wages; otherwise their employees could not work because they are starving.
If they are not starving...well they do not need SNAP and Walmart pays enough.
They cannot work if they are starving; eventually they would die; then Walmart has no employees.
SNAP came first and created the opportunity for Walmart to pay employees less because the government would pick up the slack.
Walmart may be slimy, but the government is to blame as usual.
In other words, SNAP benefits are going to Walmart
Yes, always. Tomorrow whe
Firewood banks (Score:1)
Things like firewood banks [newrepublic.com] rely on donated goods and donated labor. They are less likely to need a GoFundMe fundraiser.
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.
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It's a pathetic commentary on our society that we fail to provide in the basic needs of so many. FTFY.
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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 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.
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Financial irresponsibility does exist, but so does genuine struggle.
Solving the latter allows us to expose the former.
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Yeah we all know inequality is getting worse and cartels etc buying up basic needs such as housing is a big problem, same with the dysfunctional health market -
But we can't forget how stupid the average person is - people paying a $700 car note, a 6 year note at 20% APR - every 3 years they roll that negative into a new car because "they want a new mom car" (yet my parents with 3 kids managed fine with a 3 door european hatchback in the 80's)
The other conspicuous consumption with clothes and trinkets etc -
American exceptionalism at play (Score:1)
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.
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So you get to pay taxes AND fund other peoples basic needs voluntarily through a non-governmental path.
The taxes go to the military industrial complex. Those come off the top.
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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.
That's really more akin to fascism rather than socialism, by which you of course mean Marxism.
A simple cow analogy,
Communism: you have two cows, the government takes both and gives you some milk.
Fascism: you have two cows, the government takes both and sells you some milk.
With the US, this really is a problem of it's own making. Not just with Trump, he's just the ultimate expression of a deep seeded problem in the US. The notion that someone who is poor or doesn't have enough money is in that situat
Money for necessities or to offset luxuries? (Score:2, Troll)
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
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Min wage has gone up significantly in the last 5 y (Score:2)
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Is the minimum wage increasing in real terms, as in accounting for inflation?
ftfy (Score:3)
More Americans Crowdfunded Basic Needs In 2025, GoFundMe Report Shows