GoFundMe Medical Fundraisers Rarely Hit Their Goals: Why?

A study published by the American Journal of Public Health recently revealed that most GoFundMe medical fundraisers never reach their fundraising goals. These findings challenge the common misconception that GoFundMe medical fundraising is a reliable “safety net” for patients who need help covering unmet medical bills.

Why do so many GoFundMe campaigns fall short of their goals? What should patients do who need assistance with unmet medical expenses?

As a trusted and supportive alternative to GoFundMe, our nonprofit explores the answers.

After analyzing the performance of a half a million GoFundMe medical fundraising campaigns over five years, 88% of GoFundMe campaigns did not meet their fundraising goals, and 16% of campaigns received no donations at all. The number of donations made to GoFundMe medical fundraisers has decreased over time, reaching their lowest point in 2020.

While GoFundMe labels itself “the leader in online medical fundraising,” the platform’s leadership has also been clear about the brand’s view of its position in this space:

“We are not a substitute for major government social programs.” – GoFundMe

The average GoFundMe medical fundraising campaign raises a total amount that typically falls between $2,000 to $2,600. In comparison:

The average Help Hope Live campaign raises $15,000 – six times more than GoFundMe.

While every campaign is different, all Help Hope Live campaigns carry significant advantages over GoFundMe campaigns, including tax-deductible donations for donors and protection for patients’ state-based benefits.

In light of the most recent findings about GoFundMe, we want to highlight four other reasons why Help Hope Live may be a more dependable and effective option for patients and families seeking fundraising for medical expenses: our tailored fundraising help, our extensive industry experience, our platform’s built-in legitimacy and trust, and our wide range of additional resources.

We explore each of these unique benefits below.

Many patients start crowdfunding for medical expenses on GoFundMe thinking that they will instantly reach a large and engaged audience of potential donors. The truth is that new medical fundraisers are started every day, and the average person is overwhelmed with requests for assistance and contributions to crowdfunding platforms and fundraisers.

At Help Hope Live, we know that successful medical fundraising does not mean just launching, waiting, and hoping that support comes back in return. Instead of asking you to rely on strangers for donations, we devote our time, energy, and resources to ensure that every client can make the most of the community of support they have.

With us, you won’t start crowdfunding for medical expenses and then be left on your own to navigate the medical fundraising process. We’re more than crowdfunding: we provide one-on-one fundraising assistance that is tailored to what we learn about you and your community of support as we work together.

A medical crisis can be isolating and overwhelming. We know that the last thing you need right now is to face the associated financial challenges (and fundraising needs) on your own. Our team is here to provide personalized fundraising assistance—plus customized materials and much more—for the lifetime of your fundraising campaign.

When you turn to Help Hope Live, you are never alone in your medical fundraising journey.

To be successful in fundraising for medical expenses, you need more than just a donation page. You need persistence, assistance, resources, fundraising motivation, and hope. That’s exactly what we provide to you when you start a medical fundraising campaign with us.

At every stage of your fundraising campaign and your medical journey, we are here to celebrate the highs and help you navigate the lows, so you won’t lose sight of your goals and capabilities.

When we work with you to make the most of your community of support, we aren’t delivering experimental medical fundraising strategies. Our nonprofit is fueled by true medical fundraising expertise.

We’re not a one-size-fits-all fundraising platform to meet every potential need. We’re a focused and specialized resource that has supported just one type of campaign since 1983: medical fundraisers.

As a result, every time we deliver fundraising assistance to a client, that assistance is backed by the full force of our multiple decades of medical fundraising experience. We know what works and what doesn’t, and it’s our job to make sure you do, too, so you and your community can work together to effectively reach your fundraising goals.

Whether it’s sharing our instructions for how to run a golf tournament fundraiser or explaining how to set a realistic fundraising goal based on your community of support and your anticipated medical costs, we are the experts in medical fundraising. It’s our mission to share that expertise with you.

Over the years, you have probably encountered many stories of fundraising fraud—and so has your community. Over time, potential donors may have become suspicious of new requests for assistance, wondering whether they are falling prey to a scam, a false narrative, or simply an untrustworthy individual using donations for unknown purposes.

Are you losing donations due to your community’s fears about medical fundraising scams? Even if your medical cause is entirely legitimate, it can be challenging to convince donors that you are who you say you are and that you’ll use donations only for relevant and legitimate needs.

Help Hope Live is different. When you fundraise with Help Hope Live, we verify your medical need with a health care professional and add a Verified badge to your fundraising page. When potential donors see that badge, they know that they are giving to a cause that is 100% legitimate, trustworthy, and secure.

Not only that, but because we manage all the funds raised in your honor and pay bills directly, donors can trust that their donations will never be used to cover anything but essential medical expenses and related costs.

The end-to-end security, trust, and legitimacy that we’ve built into our medical fundraising platform provide your community with complete peace of mind—and they give you the greatest chance of securing new supporters who don’t want to donate without that certainty. You can also invite supporters to find creative new avenues of support such as foundation grants and employer matching, avenues that aren’t available with for-profit crowdfunding campaigns for medical expenses.

At Help Hope Live, we know that fundraising is just one part of a larger ecosystem that makes it possible for individuals and families to heal, live, and thrive after a life-changing medical event. That’s why we don’t stop at providing you with a medical fundraising campaign and tailored assistance.

We want you to meet your critical medical and related needs, whether or not fundraising is the primary way you get there. We are constantly growing and expanding our non-fundraising resources, including these:

Our transplant, injury, and illness Resource Directories deliver hundreds of hand-picked sources of additional support, including grant sources and other financial aid pathways
Our Partner Discounts make it even easier to meet your needs
Our Hope Talks offer in-depth insights on topics that matter to you, delivered by partners and ambassadors who have been right where you are now

GoFundMe may not be willing to serve as a replacement for the failings of a broken health care system and insurance that falls short of meeting your needs. But at Help Hope Live, we have served as a safety net for families for decades, and we’re not turning away from that identity when so many patients still need us.

We know that unfair health care costs and insurance coverage practices place a massive burden on patient families, and we know the system must change to bring true health and wellness within reach for patients across the country. While we believe that you should never have to choose between financial stability and medical care, we will continue to embrace the role we play in making help and hope tangible parts of your life as you navigate the costs associated with a medical crisis.

Until every patient can meet every medical need on their own, and until no one feels alone and overwhelmed in a time of need—Help Hope Live will be here.

Your Next Steps

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Written by Emily Progin