FAMILY MONEY Susan Hely
What do you do when your child has a medical emergency and you can't afford the treatment? Or your beloved pet runs up vet bills that you can't pay? Or you want to raise funds to help care for threatened species?
One path is to appeal to people for money through an online fundraiser. Digital appeals have become increasingly popular, replacing doorknocking and charity sports events.
One of the biggest fundraising platforms is GoFundMe. Launched in 2010, it operates in 19 countries and has raised over $10 billion. For example, it supports more than 250,000 medical appeals, worth around $650 million, every year.
Another is Chuffed.org, whicbeen around for 10 years. It says the average amount raised is around $7000, but the biggest campaign collected $345,000.
How they work
Online fundraisers
