“Desperately Need a Car”: Analyzing crowdfunding campaigns for car purchases and repairs on Gofundme.com

Abstract

Our study explores the phenomenon of using the crowdfunding website GoFundMe.com to raise money to purchase and or repair a personal vehicle. We use both text mining and qualitative analysis methods to ask three research questions about GoFundMe campaigns from the United States created in 2018 and 2019. First, how do campaigners on GoFundMe describe their need for personal vehicles? Second, what precipitating events led them to seek crowdfunding for a car purchase or repair? Third, what are broader contexts for these requests for financial assistance? We find that many campaigns describe several interrelated crises, complications, or challenges that the campaigners faced, such as medical conditions, loss of employment, and housing crises. Most campaigners are without a functioning car because of an unexpected event-a car crash, a breakdown, or repairs piling up-combined with their inability to pay for the repairs or replacement. Finally, campaigners wanted cars to travel to work and school, to chauffeur children, and to access medical care.

In the driver’s seat: Pathways to automobile ownership for lower-income households in the United States

“…Respondents could select multiple options; the most common response was that respondents found an affordable car (42.5% of all respondents), followed by the need to get oneself/children to activities (27%), and having saved enough money (26.6%). This is consistent with previous work that highlights the strong association between income and car ownership (Dargay 2001;Brown 2017;Mitra and Saphores 2017;Klein, Tran, and Riley 2020).…”

“…Respondents could select multiple options; the most common response was that respondents found an affordable car (42.5% of all respondents), followed by the need to get oneself/children to activities (27%), and having saved enough money (26.6%). This is consistent with previous work that highlights the strong association between income and car ownership(Dargay 2001;Brown 2017;Mitra and Saphores 2017;Klein, Tran, and Riley 2020).Compared with financial circumstances, household changes and life-events were rarely a motivation for acquiring a car. That these events seldom factor into lower-income households' car acquisitions is expected given the previous finding that these events are less likely to be…”

“…However, it is possible that these decisions, although triggered by other factors, were accelerated by the pandemic (Basu and Ferreira 2021). Together, our research suggests that many lower-income households in the U.S. will acquire a car as soon as they are financially able (see also Dargay 2001;Brown 2017;Mitra and Saphores 2017;Klein, Tran, and Riley 2020). Given the spatial structure in the U.S. and the social and economic advantages of car ownership in the U.S. (King, Smart, and Manville 2019), it is not surprising that these factors rose to the top.…”

“…Lower-income households, minorities, and immigrants experience frequent transitions into and out of car ownership (Klein and Smart 2017). Lower-income households are also more likely to buy inexpensive, unreliable cars (Klein 2020) and lose cars because they experience an economic shock and cannot afford to keep the car (Klein, Tran, and Riley 2020).…”

How do low-income commuters get to work in US and Mexican cities? A comparative empirical assessment

“…In order to reduce costs but maintain accessibility, members of poorer households frequently drive without collision insurance (Clark and Wang, 2010). Automobility is so essential to accessibility that people who have lost a car through unexpected circumstances are turning to crowd-funding to support the purchase of a replacement vehicle to get themselves and their children to work, school, the hospital and other daily necessities (Klein et al, 2020).…”