The biggest reason people launched GoFundMe campaigns in 2024

The top fundraising campaign on crowdfunding platform GoFundMe in 2024 reflects what has been a major pain point for millions of Americans: inflation. 

The company's annual giving report shows that the number of fundraisers launched this year for people raising money to cover the cost of rent, food and other basic living expenses quadrupled compared to 2023. The proliferation of such campaigns reflects "the way people have been struggling with prices that have risen over the past few years," GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan told CBS MoneyWatch.

Indeed, the platform often mirrors societal needs, filling in the gaps where public programs have failed to cover Americans' essential costs. 

Other popular GoFundMe campaigns this year point to something that many consumers may not have needed so much as desperately wanted. For example, Taylor Swift fans flocked to the platform, with tens of thousands of "Swifties" raising and donating money to help buy tickets to the singer's Eras Tour shows, and in one case even funding a wedding so that a fan could avoid having to sell a guitar signed by Swift.

The fastest growing category of fundraisers this year were tied to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, with a number of athletes launching campaigns to help defray travel and training expenses, or to fly their families overseas to see them compete. 

Vermont was ranked the most generous state in the U.S., and Ireland the most charitable country by donors per capita, according to GoFundMe. "Vermont is famously community-oriented, it's a small state and a tight-knit state," Cadogan said.