January 8, 2026
Twenty-one percent of the public have ever donated to a crowdfunding campaign, such as GoFundMe, but few have started a crowdfunding campaign either for themselves or for other people. Among those who have donated to a crowdfunding campaign, the most common reason is to help with medical expenses or for health care causes.
There is some skepticism about crowdfunding. Few people have a lot of confidence that money raised through crowdfunding sites is really needed or is used responsibly. About half the public lacks confidence that these sites are charging reasonable fees or that these campaigns typically reach their goals.
College graduates are more likely to have ever donated to a crowdfunding campaign compared with those without a college degree. And Democrats are more likely than Republicans to have ever donated to a crowdfunding campaign.
Three percent of adults report that they have started a crowdfunding campaign for a personal expense and 5% have done so for someone else.
When asked about the last crowdfunding campaign they donated to, fundraising campaigns focused on medical expenses or health care are most common. That is followed by memorials or funeral expenses and groceries or daily necessities. Contributions to campaigns focused on education expenses, youth activities, or life events like weddings are least common.
Among donors, 58% contributed $50 or less for their most recent donation. Another 3 in 10 donated between $51 and $100. Few gave more than $100.
While members of households making $100,000 or more are more likely to have ever donated to a crowdfunding campaign than people in households making less than $30,000 (24% vs. 14%), those in higher income households do not make larger donations on average.
Many hold some skepticism that people who raise money through crowdfunding sites genuinely need the money or use it responsibly. However, donors are more confident than non-donors. Compared with people who have never donated, crowdfunding donors are more confident that recipients really need the money (29% vs. 9%) or use it responsibly (24% vs. 5%).
Half of the public doubts whether crowdfunding sites charge reasonable service fees. This view is more strongly held among adults age 45 and older compared with younger adults (57% vs. 47%).
Very few are confident that crowdfunding campaigns generally meet their donation goals. Only 7% are very or extremely confident of this and about half are not very or not at all confident.
The nationwide poll was conducted December 4-8, 2025, using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,146 adults.
- Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. “Crowdfunding contributions tend to be small donations to help others in need” (January 2026). https://apnorc.org/projects/crowdfunding-contributions-tend-to-be-small-donations-to-help-others-in-need/
