Studies show that cancer is one of the leading diseases among all medical crowdfunding campaigns, with GoFundMe being the most popular platform for peer-to-peer medical donations. A new study by researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) has found that a growing number of cancer survivors are using GoFundMe crowdfunding campaigns to help cover medical and living expenses, but only about one-ninth reach their financial goals. The findings underscore the unmet financial needs among cancer survivors in the United States and the fragility of safety nets in the country, according to the study authors. The report by Zheng et al was published in the JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
Study Methodology
The researchers used a large natural language processing model to review over 78,000 cancer-related crowdfunding campaigns between January 1, 2021, and February 28, 2023, with ≥ 90 days of follow-up for peer-to-peer donation records through May 31, 2023. Descriptive statistics of financial assistance amounts requested and received, as well as proportions of financial assistance received relative to those requested, were calculated.
Separate bivariate and multivariate generalized linear regressions were conducted to examine associations between campaign-level characteristics and amounts of financial assistance received and requested, and whether the fundraising goal was achieved.
Results
In total, 78,338 cancer-related crowdfunding campaigns with 4.45 million donation records were identified. Nationally, the researchers found that $506 million was raised ($233.7 million annually), accounting for 34.5% of the total financial assistance requested ($1.47 billion). A total of 4.45 million donation records were retrieved. After adjusting for population size, $109,191 per 100,000 people was raised annually.
In addition, 75,813 (96.8%) campaigns listed fundraising goals (median requested = $10,000; interquartile range [IQR] = $5,000–$25,000), and 77,989 (99.6%) received donations (median raised = $4,000; IQR = $1,835–$8,485). Only 11.5% of campaigns reached their fundraising goals during the 90-day follow-up period. Campaigns with fundraiser stories describing beneficiaries who were younger, male, married, living with dependent children, working or attending school, or diagnosed with metastatic disease were more successful in raising more money and achieving their fundraising goals.
“Cancer-related GoFundMe crowdfunding campaigns raised $506 million in the United States from January 2021 to May 2023, representing roughly one-third of the total financial assistance requested and only a fraction of patients’ total out-of-pocket costs. The widespread use of crowdfunding for medical care and basic needs, along with the high prevalence of unmet fundraising goals, underscores the financial precarity of cancer survivors and the fragility of safety nets in the United States,” concluded the study authors.
“Although cancer-related GoFundMe campaigns raised millions of dollars, it is less than 5% of estimated patient out-of-pocket costs annually,” said lead study author Zhiyuan Zheng, PhD, Senior Principal Scientist, Health Services Research at the ACS. “Utilizing the private market may help some patients, but public health policies are needed to make health care affordable for all patients with cancer.”
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit jnccn.org.
