In February 2023, Kolkman provided a final update since her fundraiser first went live, saying: “Life has been wonderful, and we keep thinking back every day to all the people that have helped us get here.”

Survey data from the National Bank of Australia (NAB) shows that on balance, 36 per cent of Australians say they have cut back on charitable giving. But consumers are easing their way back into spending more, including for charity.

“While consumers are making cut backs to offset cost-of-living pressures, in the September quarter, most consumers reported cutting less in all areas including charitable giving,” said Dean Pearson, head of behavioural and industry economics at NAB.

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Australians have donated $1 billion to GoFundMe causes since 2015, and in the US the platform has raised more than US$30 billion ($45.7 billion).

In most countries, the category that is most widely donated to is medical causes, but in Australia, emergency and animal categories receive the most donations. Emergency cases, such as property damage from bushfires, have grown by 80 per cent in the last year alone.

Community is another popular category, with donations increasing by 40 per cent, in which members from a certain community will pitch in for shared resources. The “diaspora” category has also seen a huge uptick from Australians from diverse communities helping out overseas communities.

The Nepalese community in particular has set up more than 20 fundraisers and raised more than $750,000 in Australia for their overseas communities.

GoFundMe’s fundraisers must pass certain eligibility requirements. For example, the platform says it does not allow fundraising to support any armed conflict efforts.

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