LIVING BENEFITS

You ’ ve seen these campaigns in growing numbers over the past decade or so – you ’ ve likely donated to them yourself . Sometimes it ’ s someone you know personally who has been in a car wreck or suffered an unexpected diagnosis ; other times , an acquaintance is passing the virtual hat for a close friend of theirs who needs help with medical expenses . It may even be a complete stranger who is suffering , and GoFundMe offers the opportunity for us to answer the call by donating to a crowd-funded campaign to get the affected parties the help that they so desperately need .

Trend in paying expenses

Created in 2010 as a crowdfunding tool to fund any variety of projects and causes , GoFundMe has increasingly become a go-to solution for American families when disaster strikes . Creating and running a GoFundMe campaign on behalf of an afflicted friend , coworker , or family member who is suffering some sort of emergency has become a standard way of showing support , and raising money for medical expenses has become the most common reason GoFundMe campaigns are created .

But new data examining all medical GoFundMe campaigns from 2016-2020 suggests that GoFundMe campaigns cannot be relied on in a true financial emergency resulting from a health event .

Funding success

The American Journal of Public Health released a brand-new study earlier this year ( February 2022 ) that sought to better understand the use of the popular GoFundMe platform in medical emergencies . The results from the study were eye-opening .

GOAL

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