Abstract
Online crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe are used to raise funds for health-related expenses associated with medical conditions such as organ transplantation. By investigating crowdfunding in Canadian organ transplantation, this study aimed to increase understanding of the motivations and outcomes of organ transplantation crowdfunding. Canadian liver and kidney transplantation campaigns posted to GoFundMe between May 30 & 31 2018 were identified and after exclusion, 258 kidney and 171 liver campaigns were included in study. These campaigns were coded for: worthiness of the campaign recipient, requested financial and non-monetary contributions, how monetary donations would be spent, and comments on the Canadian health system, among others. Results suggest Canadian organ donors, transplant candidates, recipients, and their families and caregivers experience significant financial difficulties not addressed by the public health system. Living and medication costs, transportation and relocation expenses, and income loss were the expenses most commonly highlighted by campaigners. Liver campaigns raised nearly half their goal while kidney campaigns received 11.5% of their requested amount. Findings highlight disease burden and the use of crowdfunding as a response to the extraordinary costs associated with organ transplantation. Although crowdfunding reduces some financial burden, it does not do so equitably and raises ethical concerns.
Highlights
Medical crowdfunding is a rapidly growing practice where campaigners use online platforms to raise money for health-related needs via social networks
Between May 30 and 31, 2018 we used GoFundMe’s internal search engine to identify medical crowdfunding campaigns related to kidney and liver transplantation
There were more donors for the liver campaigns compared to the kidney campaigns
Summary
Medical crowdfunding is a rapidly growing practice where campaigners use online platforms to raise money for health-related needs via social networks. By far the largest charitable crowdfunding platform is GoFundMe, which dominates the medical crowdfunding market in North America and globally. GoFundMe has exhibited rapid growth in the number of campaigns it hosts and money raised, demonstrating widespread and growing interest in medical crowdfunding. Between its launch in 2010 and 2016, GoFundMe raised $930 million (USD) out of a total of $2 billion for health-related costs [1]. During 2017, one third of GoFundMe campaigns were for health-related expenses and this platform raised $650 million for this type of campaign [2].
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