“Turns out maybe crowdfunding isn’t the ultimate in fundraising equity. In fact, Nonprofit Quarterly did a story on the inequalities of crowdfunding.
AP’s Laura Wilson ([email protected]) gave us a summary:
“Nora Kenworthy, an associate professor at the University of Washington Bothell, analyzed 175,000 GoFundMe crowdfunding campaigns during the first seven months of the pandemic. What she is startling.
— Of all the campaigns the researchers analyzed, 43% of the 175,000 efforts received zero donations.
— Requesters with proximity to wealth, such as golf caddies at upscale LA golf courses, had much more success as a result, further exacerbating already wide wealth inequities
— The platform’s homepage prioritizes well-performing, popular campaigns for casual browsers, forcing many requesters to rely on their own social networks to receive donations
— She concludes that while GoFundMe is a useful tool for mutual aid financial management, “careful consideration should be used when involving a for-profit company in a non-profit space.”
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