GoFundMe is an online fundraising platform where individuals, families, and organizations collect donations for nearly any personal or charitable cause. People use it most often to cover medical bills, funeral costs, and emergency expenses, but the platform supports a wide range of campaigns from education costs to animal rescue to small business launches.
How GoFundMe Works
Anyone can create a fundraiser for free, set a dollar goal, write a description of why they need help, and share the campaign link with friends, family, or the public. Donors contribute using credit cards, debit cards, ACH bank transfers, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. The organizer can withdraw funds as donations come in rather than waiting until the goal is reached, which matters when bills are urgent.
GoFundMe charges a transaction fee of 2.9% plus $0.30 per donation to cover payment processing. On a $50 donation, for example, $48.25 reaches the fundraiser. If a donor sets up a recurring donation, the fee rises to 5% per donation. There is no platform fee beyond those transaction costs, and creating or managing a campaign costs nothing.
Medical and Health Expenses
Medical fundraisers are among the most common campaigns on the platform. People use them to pay for surgeries, cancer treatments, physical therapy, prescription medications, and hospital stays that insurance doesn’t fully cover. Families also raise money for specialized equipment like wheelchairs or home modifications for a loved one with a disability. Because medical debt can accumulate quickly, many organizers start campaigns while treatment is still underway and update donors as the situation evolves.
Memorials and Funeral Costs
Memorial fundraisers help families cover funeral and burial expenses after a loved one’s death. The average cost of a funeral can run into thousands of dollars, and many families face that bill with little warning. These campaigns also sometimes fund scholarships, memorial benches, or donations to a cause the deceased cared about. Friends and extended family often organize memorial fundraisers on behalf of the grieving household.
Emergencies and Disasters
Natural disasters, house fires, car accidents, and sudden job losses drive a large share of GoFundMe campaigns. When someone loses their home to a flood or a family’s car is totaled in a crash, a fundraiser can help replace essentials quickly. Community members, neighbors, or coworkers frequently start these campaigns on behalf of someone affected, making it easy for a wide network to pitch in within hours of an event.
Education
Students and parents use GoFundMe to raise money for tuition, textbooks, study-abroad programs, and school supplies. Teachers also create campaigns to fund classroom materials and field trips that their school budgets don’t cover. Unlike student loans, GoFundMe donations don’t need to be repaid, which makes the platform appealing for covering gaps that financial aid leaves behind.
Charity and Nonprofit Causes
Registered charities can use GoFundMe to collect tax-deductible donations. Individuals also raise money on behalf of established organizations, directing funds toward causes like hunger relief, clean water projects, or community centers. The charity category overlaps with faith-based fundraising, where congregations collect donations for building repairs, mission trips, or outreach programs.
Animals, Sports, and Other Campaigns
Pet owners raise money for veterinary surgeries, and animal rescue groups fund shelter operations or transport costs for animals in need. Youth sports teams use the platform to cover tournament travel, uniforms, and equipment. Beyond those categories, GoFundMe supports campaigns for weddings, small business startups, environmental cleanups, and general personal needs that don’t fit neatly into a single label. If it’s legal and not fraudulent, the platform generally allows it.
What You Can’t Fundraise For
GoFundMe prohibits campaigns that intentionally mislead donors, violate its terms of service, or involve proven misuse of funds. Campaigns connected to illegal activity, hate speech, or weapons are not allowed. The platform employs fraud prevention technology and a Trust & Safety team that reviews flagged campaigns. If a fundraiser turns out to be fraudulent or funds are misused, GoFundMe’s Giving Guarantee offers donors a full refund.
Protections for Donors
Every donation on GoFundMe is covered by the Giving Guarantee. If you donate to a campaign and later discover the organizer misrepresented the situation or misused the money, you can report the fundraiser and request a full refund. GoFundMe says misuse of funds is extremely rare, but the guarantee exists as a safety net. You can file a report or request a refund directly through the platform’s support page.
Before donating, it helps to look for specific details in the campaign description, photo or video evidence, and regular updates from the organizer. Campaigns run by someone you know personally, or that are shared by a verified news outlet covering the story, carry less risk than anonymous fundraisers with vague descriptions.