Spatial and temporal patterns in Canadian COVID-19 crowdfunding campaigns

Abstract

Online charitable crowdfunding has become an increasingly prevalent way for Canadians to deal with costs that they would otherwise not be able to shoulder on their own. With the onset of COVID-19 and related lockdown measures, there is evidence of a surge in crowdfunding use relating to the pandemic. This study gathered, classified, and analysed Canadian crowdfunding campaigns created in response to COVID-19 from GoFundMe.com, a popular crowdfunding platform. Spatio-temporal analysis of classified campaigns allowed for observation of emergent trends in the distribution of pandemic-related need incidence and financial support throughout the pandemic. Campaigns raising money on behalf of established charities were the most common in the sample, and accounted for the greatest portion of funding raised, while campaigns for businesses made up a small proportion. Dense metropolitan areas accounted for the vast majority of campaign locations, and total sample funding was disproportionately raised by campaigners in Ontario and British Columbia.

Struggling, helping and adapting: Crowdfunding motivations and outcomes during the early US COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Difficulties accessing key government assistance programmes such as unemployment insurance and the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) fell hardest on marginalised and minoritised populations, and these challenges were frequently brought up by campaigners (Howell et al., 2021; Moffitt & Ziliak, 2020; Ravenelle et al., 2021). While research outside the US suggests that people use crowdfunding for needs that fall beyond those formally addressed by government programmes, these data show people in the US are using crowdfunding —with limited success—to address more profound government abandonment and failure of the social contract (Coutrot et al., 2020; McKitrick et al., 2021).…”

“…Nascent research on COVID‐19‐related crowdfunding has tracked its scale, geosocial patterns of use, outcomes, and to a limited extent, intended purposes (Bian et al., 2020; Igra et al., 2021; McKitrick et al., 2021; Rajwa et al., 2020; Saleh et al., 2021; Wardell, 2021). Early in the pandemic, Rajwa et al.…”

“…(2020) observed that US campaigns focussed on basic needs like food, rent and lost wages, whereas European campaigns supported health‐care workers and facilities. In a Canadian study, donations went largely to charities and PPE (McKitrick et al., 2021). In a large study of US COVID‐19‐related campaigns, Igra et al.…”

“…Nascent research on COVID-19-related crowdfunding has tracked its scale, geosocial patterns of use, outcomes, and to a limited extent, intended purposes (Bian et al, 2020;Igra et al, 2021;McKitrick et al, 2021;Rajwa et al, 2020;Saleh et al, 2021;Wardell, 2021). Early in the pandemic, Rajwa et al (2020) observed that US campaigns focussed on basic needs like food, rent and lost wages, whereas European campaigns supported health-care workers and facilities.…”

“…Early in the pandemic, Rajwa et al (2020) observed that US campaigns focussed on basic needs like food, rent and lost wages, whereas European campaigns supported health-care workers and facilities. In a Canadian study, donations went largely to charities and PPE (McKitrick et al, 2021). In a large study of US COVID-19-related campaigns, Igra et al (2021) showed that areas with higher levels of income and education were better able to initiate campaigns in response to rising cases and economic impacts and that campaigns in those places did substantially better.…”