The most successful GoFundMe campaigns of 2019
In the lead up to Christmas and New Year’s Eve, people tend to become more generous, buying gifts for loved ones and donating money to causes and charities they support.
As it turns out, Australians have been charitable all year long, ranking as the third-most generous country on GoFundMe.
A fundraiser is created on the crowd-funding website every eight seconds globally and can be established by anyone.
More than 61 per cent of Aussies have started an account on behalf of someone else, proving the country still has a strong sense of mateship.
Every second someone in the world makes a donation to a GoFundMe fundraiser and collectively more than 120 million donations raised more than $9 billion dollars in 2019.
The most prolific donor made more than 293 donations alone.
Australian generosity
More than one million donations were made by Australians this year.
The five Australian towns topping the list with the highest number of donations per capita are:
Wagga Wagga, NSW
Mackay, QLD
Launceston, TAS
Mandurah, WA
Bundaberg, QLD
One in 10 Aussies have made a GoFundMe donation this year, with Tuesday proving to be the most popular day for generous contributors.
Most successful Aussie fundraisers
GoFundMe operates worldwide, allowing donors to contribute to fundraisers outside of their own country.
The top five most successful homegrown fundraisers that also received donations from abroad include saving koalas affected by the bushfires, helping out a true survivor, freeing women jailed for living below the poverty line, children fighting cancer and the Singleton family, who lost three children in a ferocious house fire.
Help thirsty koalas devastated by fires
Our favourite fluffy mascot inspired the most successful fundraiser in Australia, with over 44,000 donors from more than 95 countries giving more than $2 million dollars in support of The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital – and the dollars are still pouring in.
Luke Toki: Australia’s true survivor
Australia’s second highest amount was for 2017 Survivor contestant Luke Toki.
More than 16,000 donations were made to support the father of two young autistic sons and a baby girl with cystic fibrosis, raising more than $550,000 for the family.
FreeHer
FreeHer received over 9,100 donations and has raised more than $481,000 for Sisters Inside, which works to free women from Western Australian prisons.
Currently, state residents with no criminal convictions are imprisoned if they don’t have the capacity to pay a fine, leaving those living in poverty with no choice but to stay in jail.
ForLove
This cause was created by a diverse group of people from different walks of life to support Children’s Cancer Foundation and Twenty10, a cause which provides health, legal, and housing services to people of diverse sexualities and gender identities.
Together, the group raised over $275,000 from 5,800 donations.
Singleton family devastated by fire
Matylda and Scarlett, 5, along with their brother Blake, 11, all died after a fire ripped through their home at Brittliffe Close in Singleton, in the NSW Hunter Valley, in June.
More than 5000 donations poured in to help the family, with $275,000 raised.
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