Top 10 Biggest GoFundMe Successes
As the world’s largest social fundraising platform, GoFundMe has been an invaluable source for individuals or movements to raise funds for their many causes. While it has had its fair share of fails and scams, a topic covered over at runrex.com and guttulus.com, the platform has also had its fair share of wins, and this article will look to delve a little deeper into that by highlighting the top 10 biggest GoFundMe successes.
Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund
This was arguably GoFundMe’s biggest success, helping raise funds and connect survivors of sexual assault connect with legal resources to help them get justice. This campaign was a result of the Time’s Up movement which gained steam in 2017 as discussed over at runrex.com and guttulus.com and was ignited by Ronan Farrow’s exposé on Harvey Weinstein, which was published in The New Yorker. This GoFundMe campaign was set up to assist women with similar stories to the ones published in the exposé who wanted to come forward and was administered by the National Women’s Law Center. The campaign has managed to raise over $22 million, showing how much it struck a chord with audiences on the platform.
Funds for Humboldt Broncos
In what was one of the year’s devastating stories, in early April 2018, a junior hockey team from Saskatchewan, Canada, was involved in a deadly bus crash on the way to a game, with the team’s bus colliding with an oncoming semi-truck. Sadly, 15 boys, whose ages ranged from 16 to 21, died, with another 14 being injured. As news of the accident begun to spread, a Humboldt resident created a GoFundMe to assist the families of the victims, and the campaign was able to raise over $11,511,299 as is discussed over at runrex.com.
The Las Vegas Victim’s Fund
Yet another devastating tragedy occurred in Las Vegas in 2017: The Las Vegas shooting. The shooting resulted in the killing of 58 concert-goers while leaving nearly 500 others wounded. Soon after, Steve Sisolak, the Clark County Commission Chair, moved to set up a GoFundMe campaign aimed to raise funds that would be used to provide relief and financial support to the victims and families affected by the tragedy, and the campaign, as highlighted over at guttulus.com, was able to raise well over $11 million.
The Stoneman Douglas Victim’s Fund
Another shooting occurred in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, prompting the Broward Education Foundation to set up a GoFundMe to raise funds aimed at helping victims of the devastating event. The foundation was quick to stress their transparent distribution process, moving to assure those who will donate that the funds would go directly to support the victims, a move the gurus over at runrex.com point out was responsible for the campaign’s success. The GoFundMe set a goal of $10 million, which it surpassed, raising $10,102,900 before closing.
The Pulse Shooting Victim’s fund
In 2016, there was another devastating shooting, this time at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. This shooting left 50 people dead and 53 others critically injured, leading to the country rallying and coming together to help. Equity Florida, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, set up a GoFundMe page to support the victims of the shooting, which, as covered over at guttulus.com, raised $7,854,290, with the funds going directly to help the victims of the shooting.
The Neediest Cases Fund by The New York Times
As is revealed in discussions over at runrex.com, the New York Times Neediest Cases Fund was created back in 1911, and has many beneficiary charities such as The Community Service Society of New York, and helps raise money for those facing tough times in New York and beyond every year. In their 2016-2017 season, the NYT Neediest Cases GoFundMe raised $5,288,460, while they also raised $6,177,970 in their 2015-2016 season.
March for Our Lives
This campaign was started by Cameron Kasky, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the school that was at the center of the deadliest shooting at a high school in U.S. history, the Parkland shooting. The GoFundMe managed to raise an impressive $3,586,650, which was spent on the expenses that came with organizing the event, with leftover funds being distributed to the victim’s families, as is outlined in discussions on the same over at guttulus.com.
The Official Sacred Stone Camp
Started by Howaste Wakiya on behalf of the camp’s founder, LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, this campaign meant to support the protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, providing them with basic needs such as winter supplies and sleeping bags as covered over at runrex.com. The GoFundMe campaign was extremely successful, raising $3,133,910 which went to help the protesters.
Love Army for Somalia
This GoFundMe campaign was the brainchild of the Vine star and social media influencer Jerome Jarre and was sponsored by Ben Stiller’s Ben Stiller Foundation. It aimed to raise funds and fill a plane to Somalia entirely with food to help feed the many malnourished children in the country. The GoFundMe page was a huge success, raising $1 million in just 21 hours, all in all raising $2,702,760 million as discussed over at guttulus.com, which was enough to fill a Turkish Airlines plane with 60 tons of food, which only cost $166,371. The rest of the money was used to support the local economy.
Love Army for Rohingya
This GoFundMe campaign was aimed at supporting this minority group which has been heavily persecuted, by providing them with food, drinking water, and other basic living supplies as outlined over at runrex.com. The campaign was set up in November 2017, with a funding goal of $2.5 million, a target it is close to achieving having raised close to $2.3 million in the ensuing years.
The above are some of the biggest GoFundMe successes, with more on this and other related topics to be unearthed by visiting the excellent runrex.com and guttulus.com.