If you want to gauge the constructive power of social media, look no further than the crowdfunding campaigns for Nepali earthquake victims, which proliferated in the last few weeks since disaster struck the country.
Over $10 million has been raised by more than 1,667 campaigns between the three largest crowdfunding sites – GoFundMe, Crowdrise and Indiegogo. In what follows we present the facts about these campaigns and the funds they collected.
Let’s clear one myth first before we begin.
Myth : These websites have waived all costs involved with donations and 100% of what you donate is received by the campaign starter.
Truth: Most websites operate on a 5% fee deducted from each donation received. These fees have been waived by websites for Nepal earthquake relief fundraisers. Separately, their payment partners charge a small processing fee of about 3%, which is deducted from each donation. This fee still applies to all donations. (Note that credit card fees may be added to this 3%. Also note that in several campaigns, generous donors have taken care of these transaction costs. In our analysis, we use a 3% transaction cost data for simplicity).
Our purpose here isn’t to highlight the transaction costs of these fundraisers and discourage people from making donations. As the funds raised increase, so do the transaction costs. Accounting for all costs gives us a better picture of the net donations used for relief and rehabilitation.
1) GoFundMe
There are 1,334 total campaigns for Nepal Earthquake relief and rehabilitation on GoFundMe and 72,234 people have made donations worth $ 5, 715,981. Some notable campaigns are listed below:
Over $10 million has been raised by more than 1,667 campaigns between the three largest crowdfunding sites – GoFundMe, Crowdrise and Indiegogo. In what follows we present the facts about these campaigns and the funds they collected.
Let’s clear one myth first before we begin.
Myth : These websites have waived all costs involved with donations and 100% of what you donate is received by the campaign starter.
Truth: Most websites operate on a 5% fee deducted from each donation received. These fees have been waived by websites for Nepal earthquake relief fundraisers. Separately, their payment partners charge a small processing fee of about 3%, which is deducted from each donation. This fee still applies to all donations. (Note that credit card fees may be added to this 3%. Also note that in several campaigns, generous donors have taken care of these transaction costs. In our analysis, we use a 3% transaction cost data for simplicity).
Our purpose here isn’t to highlight the transaction costs of these fundraisers and discourage people from making donations. As the funds raised increase, so do the transaction costs. Accounting for all costs gives us a better picture of the net donations used for relief and rehabilitation.
1) GoFundMe
There are 1,334 total campaigns for Nepal Earthquake relief and rehabilitation on GoFundMe and 72,234 people have made donations worth $ 5, 715,981. Some notable campaigns are listed below:
(This list doesn't necessarily include the campaigns that have raised the most money. Among all the active campaigns, we have listed a few that are doing an exceptional job raising funds for relief and rehabilitation.The same applies to other lists below.)
2) Indiegogo
There are 181 total campaigns for Nepal Earthquake relief and rehabilitation on Indiegogo and 22,000 people have made donations worth $ 2,017,600. Some notable campaigns are listed below:
2) Indiegogo
There are 181 total campaigns for Nepal Earthquake relief and rehabilitation on Indiegogo and 22,000 people have made donations worth $ 2,017,600. Some notable campaigns are listed below:
3) Crowdrise
There are 152 total campaigns for Nepal Earthquake relief and rehabilitation on Crowdrise that have collected donations worth $2,536,586. Some notable campaigns are listed below:
After factoring in the transaction costs, the total money raised from these three websites is $ 10,270,167. Please refer to the end of the article for an infograph with further details.
The long-term economic impacts of this tragedy is expected to be massive - USGS estimates that there's a 34 percent change that the total losses could exceed $10 billion, the rough equivalent of half the country's gross domestic product.
For now, Nepal's well-wishers around the world are helping to offset some of those staggering losses through donations on crowfunding sites, and sending money home for relief and rebuilding.
The long-term economic impacts of this tragedy is expected to be massive - USGS estimates that there's a 34 percent change that the total losses could exceed $10 billion, the rough equivalent of half the country's gross domestic product.
For now, Nepal's well-wishers around the world are helping to offset some of those staggering losses through donations on crowfunding sites, and sending money home for relief and rebuilding.