2016 was an emotionally rough year for many people, with the divisive US presidential election and a slew of horrific events — ranging from terrorist attacks and mass shootings to floods — taking their toll.
If the year has left you questioning the nature of humanity and annoyed at the negative part that the internet played, from fake news, to harassment and trolling, here’s some news that will cheer you up.
The internet also has a kinder, generous side. And it was in full display via fund raising site GoFundMe which just released its annual 2016 report.
In 2016, GoFundMe hit a number of milestones. For instance, the number of people who chipped in to one of its fund-raising campaigns tripled over the number that participated in 2015. Since GoFundMe’s start six years ago, more than 2 million people have launched campaigns to raise money for everything from medical emergencies to charities, and 25 million people have donated money to the causes.
The top 12 news events and natural disasters generated various campaigns that raised nearly $47 million in 2016. And the top 16 individual campaigns raised over $14 million.
These top 16 included the largest ever GoFundMe campaign since the site launched. It also included the largest ever GoFundMe in the UK and two campaigns started by celebrities (HBO’s Issa Rae, and country star Brad Paisley).
Here are some of the highlights that show the power of online fundraising:
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22% of American adults, or nearly 1 in 5, have donated to an online fundraising project on a site like Kickstarter or GoFundMe, and 3% of Americans have created their own fundraising project on one of these sites, according to Pew Research.
Source: Pew Research, "The New Digital Economy."
In 2016 more Americans donated to an online fundraising campaign (22%) than used a ride-sharing app (15%) or a home-sharing app (11%) or an online grocery delivery service (6%), Pew found.
Natural disasters attracted the most donations, with six of them on GoFundMe generating multiple campaigns that raised over $19 million.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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