NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Quintin Sharpe considers it a duty to support those without means. Whether collecting food pantry goods through local service groups or helping out his parents’ nonprofit music school, he regularly gives back to his small-town waterside community in southeast Wisconsin.
But the 27-year-old wealth manager encountered a situation last year that prompted another form of charity. A former classmate’s father got 鈥渂lindsided鈥� in a motor vehicle accident, he said, and crowdfunding proved to be the 鈥渆asiest way to help鈥� with hospital bills. He donated more than $100 to the family’s GoFundMe campaign.
鈥淐rowdfunding can be a little bit more expedient because there鈥檚 less reporting,” Sharpe said. “Funds are going directly to one site. It doesn鈥檛 have to go through a board, doesn鈥檛 have to get approval from a lot of people.”
Sharpe is among the roughly 2 in 10 U.S. adults who donated money to a crowdfunding campaign last year, according to the results of a poll from , with medical expenses proving most common.
Crowdfunding, or pooling donations online through organized platforms such as GoFundMe, has emerged as a convenient way to seek help covering costs for emergency treatment, Little League sports equipment and anything between.
But the poll also shows Americans 鈥� including crowdfunding donors 鈥� have some doubts about whether people who crowdfund really need the money and use it responsibly. Most U.S. adults don’t have high confidence that crowdfunding sites charge reasonable service fees or that campaigns generally reach their goals.
Sharpe said it would be 鈥渘aive鈥� to think every campaign is 鈥渁boveboard.鈥�
鈥淯ltimately, it depends on the person receiving the funds, if they鈥檙e gonna do what they say they鈥檙e gonna do with it,鈥� he said.
Most crowdfunders give small gifts
Participation still lags behind more formal avenues for giving.
Overall, the share of Americans who said they had given to a crowdfunding campaign was far fewer than the roughly 7 in 10 who in 2025.
These efforts lend themselves to small gifts. The AP-NORC poll found that about 6 in 10 crowdfunding donors gave $50 or less when they last supported a campaign.
The lower donation sizes underscore the importance of strong personal networks. Without offline connections, or large social media reach, campaigns can face difficulties reaching the critical mass of small-dollar contributors necessary to meet their goal.
Karla Galdamez, a former teacher from California, supported her first crowdfund when a fellow educator died by suicide. She knew him 鈥渁 little bit,鈥� she said. A group of teachers started a GoFundMe, and she didn鈥檛 see another more effective way of collecting donations for his family.
鈥淭he word spreads pretty fast like that,鈥� Galdamez said. 鈥淭hen people start sending each other links. And it works.鈥�
Medical expenses resonate with donors
Sites are often filled with requests for tens of thousands of dollars to help subsidize health care costs 鈥� or as campaigns often put it, the 鈥渓ong road to recovery.” So ingrained is the practice that some patient advocates even recommend crowdfunding to avoid debt.
Sure enough, medical expenses and health care causes proved to be the most commonly supported category in the AP-NORC poll. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults who donated to campaigns this year said their last donation fell in this category, highlighting .
Jeremy Snyder, a bioethicist who researches medical crowdfunding, said its continued prevalence reflects the persistent gap between what insurance covers and what health care costs. People might also find it easier to seek help covering medical costs 鈥� which can be justified as non-negotiable, one-off emergencies 鈥� than other expenses.
He fears more patients will be driven to crowdfunding with the recent that helped reduce the cost of health insurance for most Affordable Care Act enrollees.
鈥淐osts keep going up,鈥� he said. 鈥淐overage is still a struggle and probably getting worse.鈥�
The second most common cause for crowdfunding donors was memorials or funerals. Following that category was groceries or other daily necessities, veterinary expenses or animal causes and natural disaster relief.
Doubts about crowdfunding sites’ fees
There are broad doubts, though, about whether the crowdfunding sites charge reasonable service fees.
The AP-NORC poll found that only 44% of U.S. adults are at least 鈥渟omewhat鈥� confident that the sites charge reasonable service fees.
鈥淚 just think it鈥檚 kind of crappy that people are in need and they charge a service fee,鈥� said Maria Barrett, 68. 鈥淭here ought to be a way to do that without it. But I guess there isn鈥檛.鈥�
Major for-profit fundraising sites say they only charge transaction fees to cover payment processing costs. GoFundMe takes 2.9% plus 30 cents off individuals’ U.S. donations and solicits optional tips. , a Christian alternative, similarly takes 2.7% and 30 cents.
There is a 鈥減ervasive sense鈥� that platforms have 鈥渕andatory fees,” apart from processing fees, Snyder said, when they largely do not. Consumers may associate companies with the larger platform fees they previously charged. In 2017, for example, GoFundMe dropped its 5% fee on those who launch personal campaigns.
鈥淕oFundMe’s model is intentionally designed to ensure the maximum amount of help goes directly to the people and nonprofits who need help, while giving donors the choice of whether to contribute anything additional for our services,鈥� Sarah Peck, GoFundMe’s vice president of communications, said in a statement.
Lack of confidence about where the money goes
More than half of U.S. adults were at least 鈥渟omewhat鈥� confident that people who raise money through crowdfunding sites really need the money, and about half were at least 鈥渟omewhat鈥� confident that they use it responsibly. But only about 1 in 10 were 鈥渧ery鈥� or 鈥渆xtremely鈥� confident.
Barrett sends money as long as she knows the organizers or is satisfied with her research on their campaigns. The New Jersey resident recently donated to a woman with brain cancer. Her son went to high school with the patient鈥檚 partner, she said, so she knew of their situation.
There was also the survivor of a house fire. 鈥淚 know that the house was on fire because it was in my town,鈥� she said.
She occasionally finds fundraiser goals to be 鈥渁 little astronomical.鈥� But she’s seen the process work firsthand. After her son died, she said, her daughter-in-law received 鈥渕ore money than I could ever imagine鈥� when someone started a campaign on his family’s behalf.
Barrett’s greater concern is with the factors that force people to resort to such lengths.
鈥淚 just wish it wasn鈥檛 so difficult for people to get help in this country without having to crowdsource and stuff,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ne illness can wipe out a family. One death can wipe out a family. And that just doesn鈥檛 seem right in this country that鈥檚 supposed to be the best country in the world.鈥�
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Sanders reported from Washington.
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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP鈥檚 collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of the AP鈥檚 philanthropy coverage, visit .
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,146 adults was conducted Dec. 4-8 using a sample drawn from NORC鈥檚 probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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