GoFundMe is setting its sights on a philanthropic product traditionally favored by the ultra-wealthy because it seems to broaden past its crowdfunding roots. The fundraising platform’s latest instrument is Giving Funds, a spin on donor-advised funds that provides contributors a decrease barrier to entry and goals to unlock extra charitable {dollars} nationwide.
Launched immediately (June 30), Giving Funds is free to make use of, with no administration charges or minimal steadiness necessities. “We constructed Giving Funds to offer everybody a easy strategy to handle their charitable giving in a single place—with out the charges or obstacles that after stored donor-advised funds out of attain for most individuals,” mentioned Tim Cadogan, GoFundMe’s CEO, in a press release.
Donor-advised funds (DAFs) enable people to contribute cash to a fund, obtain a direct tax deduction, and distribute grants to charities over time. They’re particularly favored by the rich—2025 survey discovered that 96 p.c of two,100 DAF customers had a internet price exceeding $1 million—and have been criticized by some for his or her tepid transparency necessities and tax-free advantages.
At the moment, solely round 1 p.c of Individuals use DAFs, mentioned Sarah Peck, GoFundMe’s vp of communications. “Giving Funds gives a straightforward new strategy to handle your charitable giving multi functional place, and also you don’t should be accustomed to the worlds ‘donor-advised fund’ to begin one,” she advised Observer in an emailed assertion.
Of the greater than $250 million held in conventional DAFs, the overwhelming majority of those funds have gone undistributed. GoFundMe says the accessibility of its new instrument may assist speed up the at present sluggish tempo of charitable grant-making. Giving Funds customers have 1.4 million charities obtainable to select from and may make presents as little as $5, with the instrument functioning successfully as a “private charitable pockets,” in keeping with GoFundMe.
So as to entice donors to offer, GoFundMe will use discovery, advice and sharing options to assist customers discover organizations they’re aligned with. The platform may even make it straightforward to offer rapidly throughout crises by surfacing nonprofits aiding in pressing aid.
GoFundMe’s pivot into the nonprofit sector
Based in 2010, GoFundMe is greatest recognized for its crowdfunding campaigns that, in some instances, have turn out to be so prevalent that complete industries depend on the platform to cowl prices. It’s amassed greater than 200 million customers and earlier this 12 months celebrated elevating greater than $40 billion over the previous 15 years.
In latest months the corporate has tried to outgrow its roots and broaden additional into the nonprofit sector. “Charitable giving has hovered round 2 p.c of U.S. GDP for many years,” mentioned Cadogan. “We consider that with the precise instruments, we may also help enhance that.”
Giving Funds is a part of a broader suite of recent instruments launched by GoFundMe to broaden its attain and impression. Over the previous 12 months, the corporate has launched options similar to Profiles, a customizable house for particular person customers; Dwell Fundraising, which allows livestreamed donation drives; and GoFundMe Professional, a software program resolution designed for nonprofits.
With its newest DAF–impressed product, GoFundMe is stepping right into a aggressive panorama. DAFs—sometimes managed by group foundations, company charitable arms, and more and more by fintech startups like Daffy—have seen a surge in reputation. In 2023 alone, DAFs distributed roughly $54.7 billion in grants, whereas whole charitable property held in these funds grew 9.9 p.c year-over-year to $251.5 billion, in keeping with a latest report.
GoFundMe is betting that by making DAFs extra accessible, it will probably unlock a market that has traditionally catered to the rich. “In contrast to conventional DAFs, Giving Funds are constructed to make it intentional and simple for anybody to help the causes they care about—and to get extra funds out the door to nonprofits that want them,” mentioned Peck.
