GoFundMe Reports 62% Increase in Fundraisers Created for Nonprofits

New “Kindness Gap” report reveals growth in supporter-led giving, with peer-to-peer challenge fundraisers more than quadrupling on GoFundMe

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As nonprofits prepare for year-end giving, GoFundMe today released “The Kindness Gap,” a new report examining supporter-led and community fundraising on its platform. The research draws on more than 34 million nonprofit donations made by 8.6 million donors through GoFundMe from July 2025 through June 2026, totaling $2.7 billion.

The report explores a central idea: Declining donor participation does not necessarily mean declining donor intent. It defines the “kindness gap” as the distance between a person’s desire to help and a clear opportunity to act. Through platform data, the report examines how people discover causes, give, and fundraise, including patterns of repeat giving and supporters becoming fundraisers themselves.

Nonprofit giving on GoFundMe grew during the period analyzed, with the number of nonprofit donors rising nearly 10% year over year. From July 2025 through June 2026, the number of fundraisers created for nonprofits increased 62% compared with the prior year, while the number of first-time organizers grew 30%.

Challenge fundraising, a newer format on GoFundMe, saw particularly rapid growth as adoption expanded. The number of challenge fundraisers increased 306% year over year, while the number of donors participating in those challenges increased 419%. These fundraisers let supporters connect an activity, such as walking a set number of miles or reading books, to a nonprofit cause, with friends and family donating along the way.

“What stands out is that people are doing more than giving. They’re inviting others to participate,” said Steve Froehlich, Chief Customer Growth Officer at GoFundMe. “On GoFundMe, supporters can connect a cause they care about with something personal, like a walking challenge, and invite friends and family to join them in supporting it. The growth we observed reflects more people taking that active role.”

Key Findings from the GoFundMe Report

Together, the findings show how nonprofits can expand their communities by giving supporters an active role, creating giving experiences that help donors follow through, and nurturing those connections so supporters keep showing up.

The Kindness Effect: One Fundraiser Can Open a New Donor Community

• On average, a nonprofit’s peer-to-peer campaign brings in 123 donors who are new to that cause.
• Among those new to nonprofit giving on GoFundMe Pro, 16% made another nonprofit gift during the year analyzed and 10% became organizers themselves.
• Every organic social channel measured brought in more first-time donors to GoFundMe Pro than organic search, paid search, or paid social. Instagram and Facebook accounted for nearly 80% of first-time gifts from organic social.

Supporter-Led Fundraising Is Expanding

• As adoption of GoFundMe’s challenge fundraising format expanded, challenge fundraisers more than quadrupled year over year, increasing 306%, while challenge donors grew more than fivefold, increasing 419%.
• The number of fundraisers created for nonprofits on GoFundMe increased 62% year over year from July 2025 through June 2026.
• The number of nonprofit organizers grew 28%, with first-time organizers increasing 30%.

Clear Giving Experiences Help Turn Interest Into Action

• In an August 2025 GoFundMe experiment, hiding goal progress reduced completed-gift conversion even as donate-button clicks increased. Hiding recent donation activity also reduced conversion and total giving.
• In a September 2025 GoFundMe test, reducing the donation grid from six suggested amounts to four lowered conversion and donation volume.
• In a separate GoFundMe test conducted from November 2024 through January 2025, highlighting a personalized suggested donation amount increased conversion and donation volume.
• When optimized for revenue, campaigns using Intelligent Ask Amounts raised 7% more, on average.

“In philanthropy, a donor isn’t just completing a transaction. They’re putting their values—and sometimes their own story—in your hands,” Froehlich said. “Clear goals, visible momentum, and thoughtful choices can give people the confidence to act. Technology can make that path easier, but the nonprofit’s mission and donor relationships have to remain at the center.”

Together, the findings point to a supporter-led model for nonprofit growth: help people discover causes through those they trust, give supporters meaningful ways to participate, and provide the context donors need to act with confidence.

For the complete findings, methodology and actionable guidance for nonprofit fundraising and marketing leaders, read the full GoFundMe report: pro.gofundme.com/c/resources/the-kindness-gap/.

About the Methodology

This report analyzes de-identified internal transaction data from GoFundMe and GoFundMe Pro from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. Platform records were used to measure giving activity, unique donors, and funds raised for nonprofits and individuals.

For cross-platform analysis, donor records were matched using a shared hashed email identifier. Donors appearing on both platforms were counted once in the combined unique-donor total. Platform classifications distinguished gifts to nonprofits from gifts to individual fundraisers. These findings reflect observed activity within the included data and do not establish that activity on one platform caused later activity on the other.

About GoFundMe

GoFundMe is a community-powered fundraising platform dedicated to helping people help each other. GoFundMe combines storytelling and fundraising to make it easy for people and nonprofits to share their stories, connect with supporters, and reach their fundraising goals. GoFundMe empowers individuals and organizations to make a meaningful difference for the causes and communities that matter most to them. GoFundMe has enabled more than $40 billion of help for communities across the globe.