Letter from our Executive Director
Over the past year, communities across the country faced extraordinary challenges. Devastating flooding in Texas Hill Country. Winter storms that left families without power for days. Economic uncertainty tied to the federal government shutdown. Historic flooding in Hawaii.
In each of these moments, your generosity offered something powerful: hope.
GoFundMe.org exists to make that hope tangible. We believe people closest to hardship know best what they need. We also believe that when donors and partners trust that instinct, the impact is lasting. Our work is built on that conviction.
Because of donors like you, 4,000 families received emergency cash grants this year. Those grants helped cover urgent needs like temporary shelter, transportation, groceries, and other essentials when disasters and financial disruptions upended their lives. Cash grants work because they put resources directly in the hands of people facing hardship, allowing them to address their most urgent needs with dignity and flexibility.
We were also honored to advance the philanthropic priorities of partners who share our values. This year, we launched three new funds. One helps women-owned small businesses rebuild after disasters. Another opens more inclusive pathways into environmental spaces. A third fosters belonging for orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda. Together, our partners raised more than $4.8 million and distributed 2,000 grants to individuals and nonprofits.
This year reinforced something I have long believed: the challenges we face are too urgent and too complex for any one organization to solve alone. When mission-aligned organizations work toward common goals, we can extend our reach. We can deepen our impact. And we can respond more effectively to the needs of communities.
It is a privilege to do this work alongside such dedicated partners, supporters, and donors. Thank you for your trust, your generosity, and your belief in the power of community. Together, we are building a more resilient and hopeful future.
Our Mission
To raise and mobilize charitable donations to help individuals and communities impacted by crises, natural disasters, and social inequalities.
Fiscal Year 2026 Impact
$8.2M+
Dollars Mobilized for Charitable Causes
5,394
Grants Delivered
111
Nonprofits Empowered
$1,934
Average Grant Amount
49,001
Donors Activated
$.97
of Every Dollar Granted Directly
Our Signature Impact Funds
Every year brings a different mix of crises. This year, historic flooding and financial hardship saw families across the country navigating some of the hardest days of their lives.
Your generosity met those moments.
Because of your support, fast, direct, and dignified relief reached thousands of households.
Families displaced by devastating floods found stability. Households struggling to afford basic necessities received critical relief. And people navigating extraordinary hardship were reminded that they were not alone.
Fiscal Year 2026 Crisis Impact
$3M+
Dollars Raised
4,125+
Fast Cash Grants Delivered
$1,000
Average Grant Amount
52
States Served (US states and territories)
24
Average Hours from Crisis to First Grant Delivery
11,473
Donors Activated
4,125+ households helped by 11K+ donors who raised $3M+
Immediate Outcomes
When a crisis hits, the window to stabilize is narrow. A past-due bill becomes a shutoff notice. A missed rent payment becomes an eviction filing. Direct cash assistance meets people inside that window — fast enough to matter, flexible enough to help with whatever is most urgent.
In the past year, GoFundMe.org granted over $3 million in direct cash assistance to more than 4,000 people navigating crisis. These grants gave households a much-needed degree of security.
Flood Relief Fund
In July 2025 we launched the Flood Relief Fund in response to a significant and growing surge in flood-related need we’d been tracking for years.
As historic flooding displaced residents and caused extensive property damage across Texas, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Alaska, Arizona, and Hawaii, you responded.
Thanks to over 6,600 donors, more than $1.7 million in direct, immediate relief reached families and small businesses quickly, long before insurance payouts or government aid could arrive.
1,400+ households helped by 6.6K+ donors who raised $1.7M
Recipient Voices
Hawaii Flood Response
When the March 2026 Kona Low Storm caused widespread flooding across Hawaii, we quickly mobilized donations into our Flood Relief Fund. An initial gift of $100,000 from GoFundMe, Inc. jumpstarted our emergency grantmaking for impacted residents.
Jack Johnson’s Instagram
Kim and Jack Johnson, and the Johnson ʻOhana Foundation, donated a total of $150,000 and helped drive tens of thousands more in community support by amplifying the Fund across social media.
In a matter of weeks, the Fund raised more than $1 million for Hawai‘i, enabling over 980 households to receive direct emergency cash assistance.
The North Shore is my hometown, and this flooding is affecting our community in a very real way. Many of our friends, neighbors, and local farmers were hit hard. Recovery will take time, and we hope this pledge encourages others to come together to support the people who need it most.
To reach as many flood-affected residents in Hawaii as possible, we produced a video that walks viewers through our Flood Relief Fund from start to finish, from how to set up a GoFundMe for verification/eligibility, to how applications are reviewed, and how grants are delivered.
The video resonated strongly, generating significant engagement and resharing among organizations on the ground.
In all, we raised and distributed more than $1 million in donations to support ~1,000 households impacted by the Kona Low storms. This includes 644 off-platform grants sent via Prezee e-gift cards to people facing significant hardship who had not started a fundraiser on GoFundMe but who nevertheless needed help.
We identified and verified these households through trusted community partners. Close partnerships with Aloha United Way, Maui United Way, Big Island United Way, Help Maui Rise, and Extreme Weather Survivors helped us extend support beyond the platform, and keep our commitment to accessibility and equity.
Together, our on-platform and off-platform grant making ensured that critical relief reached people wherever they sought help.
This $50,000 investment from GoFundMe.org helped Maui United Way reach flood survivors throughout Maui, Molokai and even some on O'ahu who are often hardest to access through traditional systems, including kūpuna (elderly), undocumented individuals, and community members with limited technology access or digital literacy. By working through trusted grassroots relationships, we were able to get direct support quickly and compassionately to those who may have otherwise fallen through the cracks.
MSW, CEO, Maui United Way
Weather Resilience
We delivered the final investments from our $2 million Weather Resilience Fund in June, concluding a multi-year effort to support communities in Florida, California, and Arizona disproportionately impacted by dangerous weather extremes.
This project began with a $500,000 investment in Florida, supporting low-income families living in areas at high risk of hurricane damage. We expanded our focus to California, where a $1.5 million commitment became the cornerstone of the fund’s work. Through community partners Comité Cívico del Valle (CCV) and the Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN), residents in the Central and Imperial Valleys gained access to critical resources that improved health, safety, and resilience in communities facing extreme heat, poor air quality, and unsafe drinking water.
Over the life of the California program, partners delivered:
546
Air Purifiers
257
Cooling Systems
127
Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration Systems
3,400+
People with access to cleaner air, safer drinking water, and protection from extreme heat
This fiscal year, we completed the California initiative with final grants to CCV and CCEJN. We also delivered funds to Extreme Weather Survivors (EWS) and Rural Arizona Engagement (RAZE) to support communities enduring dangerous summer temperatures in Arizona.
Collectively, these investments demonstrate how community-led solutions can provide immediate relief and help families build resilience to the growing challenges of extreme weather.
More than $2.2M invested across 3 states helped low income households prepare for hurricanes, stay safe during extreme heat, and access cleaner air and drinking water.
Essentials Fund
For millions living paycheck to paycheck, a single unexpected expense can be catastrophic.
The Essentials Fund covers critical everyday needs—food, rent, utilities, and healthcare—for people experiencing financial hardship or sudden loss of income.
The federal government shutdown from October 1 to November 12, 2025 created uncertainty for families across the country. Delays in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits left millions concerned about how they would afford groceries and other basic necessities.
This help will make a huge difference in our quality of life. We’ve been struggling to pay rent and buy daily essentials for our family of five since my husband was out of work. This money will help us catch up on rent so we don’t have to worry about being evicted. This financial help means the world to our family.
Essentials Fund grantee
We saw a surge of GoFundMe fundraisers from families struggling to make ends meet and asking for help putting food on the table. Because of your generosity, our Essentials Fund was able to respond immediately.
In just three weeks, supporters helped raise more than $220,000, enabling us to provide nearly 500 emergency cash grants to families facing food insecurity during the shutdown.
2,600+ families and individuals helped by 4.5K+ donors who raised $1.31M+
Recipient Voices
The Case for Direct Cash
A persistent narrative in American philanthropy holds that people facing financial hardship can’t be trusted with unrestricted cash. It has shaped how billions of dollars in aid are delivered — through vouchers, restricted cards, mandated case management, and elaborate verification of how recovery dollars are spent.
GoFundMe.org takes a different approach. Through our Signature Impact Funds, we deliver cash grants directly to individuals and families facing hardship. Quickly, and with no restrictions. So people can decide for themselves what they need most.
Between December 2024 and May 2026, we surveyed more than 1,700 grantees about how they used their grants and what receiving them meant. What they told us is the strongest empirical case we have assembled for our model.
The data consistently challenges the assumption that people in crisis will misuse cash. In our grantee surveys, the vast majority of recipients spent funds on exactly what you'd expect: rent, food, utilities, and medical care. What direct cash really does is give people the dignity of making their own decisions during the hardest moments they'll ever face.
Executive Director, GoFundMe.org
Three things we learned by surveying emergency cash grantees
1. People in crisis know exactly what they need
Across all funds, grantees spent their grants on the same short list of household necessities: rent or mortgage, utilities, food, transportation, medical care, and their children’s basic needs. The evidence is consistent and clear.
Among Essentials Fund grantees, the leading uses were rent or mortgage (54.7%), utility bills (38.9%), food and groceries (36.5%), daily living essentials (29.3%), and vehicle repairs (17.3%). Among Crisis Fund grantees — surveyed six weeks after a wildfire, flood, or hurricane — the leading uses were everyday essentials replacement (47.7%), utility bills (38.5%), temporary housing (37.8%), and food and water (32.1%).
The broad categories look similar across respondents, but the particulars differ in ways that matter. No program designed in advance can anticipate the specific shape of someone else’s emergency. When we attach conditions to aid, we substitute our judgment for theirs. These numbers argue against that substitution.
2. The grant changes something the moment it arrives
Long before any six-week follow-up, grantees tell us the grant has already shifted something. We see it in how they describe the moment funds land.
More than half said they felt relieved (57%) and supported (51%). Nearly half felt hopeful (48%). Four in ten said they felt less anxious (40%).
These are not just expressions of gratitude — though grantees express that too. They are measurable shifts in emotional state: less afraid, less alone, more able to keep going. A grant of $500 to $1,200 cannot solve every problem a household is facing. But it can change the weight someone is carrying as they face it. That change shows up immediately, in the first moment the money arrives.
3. The impact holds — and it’s both financial and emotional
Six weeks later, grantees report that the benefits lasted. Across nearly 1,000 scored responses, grantees rated the impact of their grant an average of more than 4.6 out of 5 on both financial security and emotional well-being.
More than 9 in 10 grantees (91.0%) said the grant was “very” or “extremely helpful” to their financial security. Nearly the same share (90.8%) said it was “very” or “extremely helpful” to their emotional well-being. These results show that unrestricted cash strengthens both financial stability and emotional well-being long after the funds are received.
Trust is not just a principle. It’s something people experience.
Why This Matters
The 1,738 surveys behind these findings represent real moments of crisis met with real support. Temporary housing secured. Utilities kept on. A family fed. And beyond the transactions, something harder to quantify but just as real: relief, dignity, hope. The evidence is unambiguous: unrestricted cash works. When people in crisis receive funds without conditions, they move quickly toward stability. Because they know what they need. Our hope is that this data advances the conversation, and encourages more people to extend the same trust to recipients that you have.
Methodology in Brief
GoFundMe.org surveys all grantees after they receive their funds. Essentials Fund grantees receive two surveys (when grant is sent and six weeks later); Crisis Fund grantees receive one survey six weeks after grant receipt.
All responses are voluntary. Figures cover 1,738 completed survey responses received between December 2024 and May 2026.
Quotes are presented verbatim from grantee responses, with first names used for readability; full attribution is preserved in our internal dataset and companion analyses.
Philanthropic Partners
Our partner fund portfolio supports women entrepreneurs, food-insecure families, refugees and newcomers, AAPI communities, girls and young women, vulnerable children, and BIPOC and queer communities.
These compelling causes are championed by celebrities like Paris Hilton, creators like Pattie Gonia, and mission institutions like Welcome.US, The Asian American Foundation, Mattel, and the Obama Foundation.
This year, we sustained direct aid to wildfire survivors in Lahaina and Altadena, where families are still rebuilding. We continued support for Ukraine, funding refugee relief and supporting foster children through another winter of war. We helped to welcome newcomers through the Welcome Fund and the Sponsor Fund, turning community goodwill into housing, legal aid, and a real foothold. And we stood with AAPI families targeted by hate and backing girls’ confidence and education.
We also launched three new partner funds: to help women-owned small businesses rebuild after disasters, to create more inclusive pathways into environmental spaces, to bring a sense of belonging to orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda.
Fiscal Year 26 Partner Impact
$4.8M+
Dollars Raised
1,190
Grants Delivered
15
Programs Supported
Philanthropic Partners In Action
Community Engagement
Everyone affected by disaster deserves support, regardless of whether they have a fundraiser on GoFundMe. Over the years, we have developed strong partnerships with organizations that help us reach more people in need, so that when we respond to a crisis, we do so as equitably as possible.
This year, we joined representatives from United Way Worldwide and local 2-1-1 call centers for a panel on our joint response to hurricanes Helene and Milton. Our Hurricane Relief Fund supported off-platform grantmaking, with local United Way chapters and 2-1-1 identifying individuals in need. We delivered cash grants via Prezzee e-gift cards, a fast, simple way to get money directly to impacted families.
This is now a proven, repeatable model. We applied this approach to the LA wildfires in early 2025, and to support residents impacted by the March 2026 floods in Hawaii.
Partners like United Way bring the local trust and strong relationships that allow us to reach people we never could alone — and that is what equitable disaster response requires.
Lead Program Manager, GoFundMe.org
In March, we joined emergency management leaders from across the country at the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) Mid-Year Forum in Washington, D.C. We attended not to present, but to listen, learn, and deepen relationships with the people working on the front lines of crisis response every day.
The conversations were clarifying. Across agencies and organizations, the same themes surfaced: disasters are growing more complex, recovery gaps are widening, and people need fast, flexible support in the earliest moments after a crisis: the time window when direct cash assistance matters most.
We contributed where we could, sharing lessons from recent responses including the LA wildfires and Texas Hill Country floods, where unrestricted cash grants helped families navigate urgent needs before other aid arrived. Our perspective is shaped in large part by the survivors who share their stories through GoFundMe fundraisers — a real-time, ground-level view into what communities are actually facing and what they need most.
Effective disaster response requires collaboration, humility, and ongoing learning. Forums like NEMA are where trust gets built before the next crisis hits, and we’re committed to showing up, contributing what we know, and continuing to learn from leaders across the field.
We were deeply honored to receive Engage for Good’s Gold Halo Award for Best Partnered Disaster Response Coordination in recognition of our response to the Los Angeles wildfires.
The award honored GoFundMe.org as one of three organizations that quickly and transparently transformed contributions from Venmo/PayPal into direct support for households impacted by the Eaton and Palisades Fires.
We share this recognition with the donors, partners, and supporters whose generosity makes rapid disaster response possible. Thank you.
What’s Next
The families in this report didn’t see the crisis coming. You helped make sure we were ready when it did.
Imagine what next year’s report could look like if our capacity doubled. Not twice the numbers on a page, but twice the families moving from emergency shelters into rental apartments. Twice the parents who could focus on comforting their kids instead of figuring out how to replace everything they lost. Twice the households who felt – in one of the worst moments of their lives – that someone showed up for them, fast, with no strings attached.
Here’s how you can help us write that story:
- Give — A gift today funds the next response, before we know where it’s needed.
- Spread the word — Share this report with someone who cares about disaster relief, economic dignity, or the power of direct giving.
- Stay connected — Sign up below to receive updates and be among the first to know when communities need support.
- Partner with us — If your organization, company, or foundation is looking for a trusted charitable partner, we’d love to talk.
GoFundMe.org is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a trusted steward of emergency relief donations.
We mobilize tax-deductible donations through crisis-response charitable funds and quickly deliver unrestricted emergency cash directly to U.S. households impacted by disasters.
GoFundMe, Inc. powers and supports our work by providing technology, resources, and staff expertise, helping us maximize impact while keeping operating costs low.