Spatial and temporal patterns in Canadian COVID-19 crowdfunding campaigns

PLoS One. 2021 Aug 23;16(8):e0256204. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256204. eCollection 2021.

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19 / economics*
  • COVID-19 / epidemiology
  • Canada
  • Charities / trends*
  • Fund Raising / trends*
  • Humans
  • Spatio-Temporal Analysis

Grants and funding

This analysis was funded in part by Simon Fraser University’s ‘Next Big Question in Big Data’ fund. VAC is also funded by a Scholar Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and holds the Canada Research Chair in Health Service Geographies.