Paloma Raggo: How For-Profit Crowdfunding Sites Trade on Our Goodwill
By Karen Kelly
The company GoFundMe is probably best known for personal campaigns to raise money for medical and funeral expenses. But recently, it鈥檚 in the news for a much bigger campaign: a fund to support the 鈥淔reedom Convoy 2022鈥 protest that raised $10 million dollars (USD) on behalf of anti-mandate protests in Ottawa and elsewhere.
When GoFundMe shut down their account due to 鈥渆vidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration had become an occupation,鈥 the protest group turned to another for-profit American company, GiveSendGo, and raised millions more before that account was frozen by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
For Canadians who grew up pledging to the Terry Fox Run or collecting UNICEF donations on Halloween, these companies represent a completely different approach to giving.
鈥淭hese are businesses, not charities, that are relying on the good work that nonprofits do while not being held to the same standards,鈥 explains Paloma Raggo, a professor in the Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership program in the School of Public Policy and Administration (SPPA). 鈥淚鈥檓 not saying that they鈥檙e all bad, but they just haven鈥檛 been held accountable.鈥