Locals gave nearly $1 million to GoFundMe campaigns last year
By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on February 7, 2025.
Photo courtesy GoFundMe
Southern Alberta bareback rider Austin Broderson was one of the recipients of local generosity after a rodeo injury in January of last year.LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com
When it comes to showing support to fellow community members, Lethbridge residents have shown remarkable generosity through a variety of GoFundMe campaigns, especially in 2024.
In 2024 GoFundMe recorded approximately 463 fundraisers created in Lethbridge, raising over $970,000 CAD. The community’s highest-grossing campaign was “Let’s help Austin Broderson,” a bareback bronc rider who on Jan. 15, 2024, had a riding accident at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado while the event was televised, and his family watched helplessly while the incident occurred. The campaign raised just over $96,000.
GoFundMe began with an idea in 2008 when co-founder Brad Damphousse envisioned an easy way for friends and family to come together online to raise money for life’s important events. He called co-founder Andrew Ballester and urged him to quit his job, saying, “I’ve got it.” Together, they launched one of the first crowdfunding websites.
In 2010, GoFundMe officially launched as a fundraising platform dedicated to helping people help each other and the platform has grown significantly over the years.
Ved Khan, Senior Corporate Affairs Manager at GoFundMe Canada told the Herald Wednesday that since 2010, they have been able to help raise billions of dollars for causes around the world, “which I think really demonstrates the level of trust that people have for our platform as we use technology to help analyze campaigns, similar to what banks use.”
In addition, GoFundMe has a money-back guarantee that ensures if something just isn’t right and you donated, the money is refunded no questions asked, said Khan. The website has a verification process that those creating a campaign have to go through.
“We have payment partners and what we do is when we set up a campaign, we ask that campaign organizers really uniquely identify who they are, who they are raising funds for, what their relationship is to the beneficiaries, how the funds will be spent,” said Khan. “But it’s not uncommon for us to request additional information just to ensure that we know that the funds are going where it’s intended to go.”
He added that GoFundMe campaigns are usually tied to emergencies, often to cover some medical expense or cost related to a loss. But they can be created for anything, with some limits, of course.
Khan added that generosity is high not only among Lethbridge residents, but Albertans in general.
“Since GoFundMe’s launch in Canada in 2010, there has been 57,000 fundraisers created in Alberta, raising approximately $182 million,” said Khan.
n 2024 alone, Albertans launched nearly 7,000 fundraisers, showcasing a strong community spirit, with a substantial $25 million raised for Alberta-based causes, reflecting the province’s commitment to helping those in need.
Family and monthly bills were the fastest-growing fundraiser categories across the province and 29 per cent of donations to Alberta-based fundraisers were made by donors from other provinces.
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Gᴏᴏɢʟᴇ ʜᴀꜱ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀɴ ɪɴᴄʀᴇᴅɪʙʟᴇ ᴏᴘᴘᴏʀᴛᴜɴɪᴛʏ! ᴇᴀʀɴ 𝟣𝟪𝟢𝟢+ ʙᴜᴄᴋꜱ ᴡᴇᴇᴋʟʏ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ʜᴏᴍᴇ! ᴀ ꜰᴇᴡ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜꜱ ᴀɢᴏ, ɪ ᴡᴀꜱ ꜱᴛᴜᴄᴋ ɪɴ ᴀ ʀᴏᴜᴛɪɴᴇ, ʙᴀʀᴇʟʏ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴇɴᴅꜱ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ. ɴᴏᴡ, ɪ ᴇᴀʀɴ 𝟤𝟢𝟧+ ᴀ ᴅᴀʏ ᴡᴏʀᴋɪɴɢ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ ꜰʟᴇxɪʙɪʟɪᴛʏ! ɴᴏ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ? ɴᴏ ᴘʀᴏʙʟᴇᴍ.
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Surprises me people trust go fund me anymore. Millions of $$ in donations were scammed that were directed to the freedom convoy. A worthy cause. A legal protest. Go – fund- me is not reliable or trustworthy.
my best friend earns over 15k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. the potential with this is endless…,https://short-link.me/ONY-