YouCaring was a crowdfunding website for personal, medical, and charitable causes. The company was a
Certified B corporation based in San Francisco, California. YouCaring did not take a percentage of funds raised on its site, or charge those raising funds a fee (any fees associated with third-party credit card processors such as
PayPal
PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers, and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper ...
are paid by donors). The company relied on voluntary donations from donors to fund operations.
YouCaring was acquired by
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...
in 2018.
History
YouCaring was founded in 2011 by Brock Ketcher, Naomi Ketcher, and Luke Miner. After returning from two years of international mission trips, the three friends wanted to continue to give back.
They created a free crowdfunding website so people could raise money to overcome hardship.
To date, YouCaring has raised over $800 million from more than 8 million donors.
In March 2017, YouCaring acquired GiveForward.
In May 2016, YouCaring became a
Certified B Corporation.
Each year, YouCaring releases internal fundraising data to show which cities in America are (by their own estimation) the most compassionate.
Business model
YouCaring users create crowdfunding campaigns to raise money for personal, medical, and charitable causes. Nearly 50% of the money raised on YouCaring is for medical expenses.
Users write an explanation of their needs, set the amount they need to raise, upload supporting photos and video, and share their fundraisers through social channels and email. Donations can be made using credit card processors PayPal, WePay, or Stripe. YouCaring trademarked the name Compassionate Crowdfunding to describe its service. YouCaring doesn't charge a fee to those raising funds, but a third-party credit card processing fee exists. Operating costs (including salaries for YouCaring employees) are funded by voluntary donations.
Fee structure
YouCaring does not charge the fundraiser a fee, but YouCaring does ask that the donor provide a "Tip" to YouCaring.
The credit card processing fee for each donation is 2.9% plus $0.30 per donation, which is paid by the donor.
All
crowdfunding platforms
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
charge money either through the tipping fee structure that YouCaring charges or through a straight percentage which the fundraiser pays on the total amount raised.
Controversy
Many journalists have pointed to crowdfunding for medical expenses as evidence for the failings of for-profit healthcare in the US and elsewhere.
Some of that criticism has also been extended to crowdfunding sites.
Notable fundraisers
*Help Save Matthew! – Aidez-nous à sauver Matthew!. Matthew Schreindorfer was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia shortly after his wedding. Matthew and his wife Katie raised $700k so Matthew could participate in a clinical trial.
*The Ridley Sandler Memorial Foundation, Inc. After their daughter's death, Riley's parents started the Riley's Way Foundation to help her joyful spirit and compassionate nature live on. Their community raised $560,000 to honor Riley and help children facing major obstacles reach their full potential.
*Fire Relief, Recovery, and Resiliency Fund for Oakland Fire. Following the tragic Oakland Ghost Ship fire that took 36 lives in December 2016, the Oakland, CA nonprofit Gray Area Foundation for the Arts started a fundraiser for a relief fund. The foundation raised $924,820 to support the more than 300 people affected by the tragedy.
*Oakland Fire Relief. The Oakland A's baseball team started a relief fund on YouCaring in response to the Oakland Ghost Ship fire. Together with local sports teams the Golden State Warriors and Oakland Raiders, the A's donated a total of $150,000. Sutter Health also pledged $75,000. The fundraiser raised a total of $555,747.
*Heat for the Sisters. When a 150-year-old convent needed major heating repairs, its nuns turned to crowdfunding. More than 1,500 donors helped raise $160,686 to buy four new boilers, repair the chapel, and fix a leak into their Records and Archive Rooms.
*Restore WA Soldiers Home Cemetery – Orting. A patriotic family decided to help restore the Washington State Soldiers Home Cemetery in Orting. The family raised $254,109 on YouCaring and rallied volunteers to complete the project.
* Help We Are Messengers replace their vehicle. The band We Are Messengers were in a serious car accident that destroyed their vehicle and tour equipment. Band members used crowdfunding to purchase a new tour van and necessary music equipment, raising a total of $77,542.
* Girls who survived Portland's MAX Attack. Three strangers stepped in to defend two young girls from racial slurs on the Portland, OR MAX train. Sadly, two men were killed and the other was wounded for standing up to hate speech. A crowdfunding campaign was created to help the girls heal from this trauma. The surviving defender posted a Facebook Live video that went viral, urging people to support the young girls through the YouCaring fundraiser, which raised $148,675 for basic necessities and mental health services.
* Help Kati defeat Ehlers-Danlos medical expenses! Kati McFarland is a college student who suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia, Gastroparesis, and Mast Cell Activation Disorder. She is raising funds to help pay for her extensive medical expenses. McFarland confronted Arkansas senator
Tom Cotton
Thomas Bryant Cotton (born May 13, 1977) is an American politician, attorney, and former military officer serving as the junior United States senator for Arkansas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the U.S. House of R ...
about the need for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) at a town hall meeting; her story was picked up on CNN and other news sources.
* #LiveLikeSusie Memorial Fund for Lung Cancer Research. Adam Klein, winner of reality show
Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, created a fundraiser on YouCaring for lung cancer research to honor his late mother.
*Musical group
Doomtree
Doomtree is an American hip hop collective and record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The collective has seven members: Dessa, Cecil Otter, P.O.S, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak. The collective is known for incorporating a ...
created a YouCaring campaign for rapper
P.O.S to help cover the secondary costs associated with a kidney transplant.
*
Dickon Edwards
Dickon Edwards (born Richard Dickon Edwards; 3 September 1971), also known as Dickon Angel, is a London-based indie pop musician and diarist. He was a founding member of the bands Orlando and Fosca, and briefly played guitar in the band Spearmi ...
, former lead singer of
Fosca and guitarist/lyricist for
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
used the site to help raise money for funeral costs for his brother Tom, guitarist for
Adam Ant
Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...
.
*Science fiction author
Jay Lake
Joseph Edward "Jay" Lake, Jr. (June 6, 1964 – June 1, 2014) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. In 2003 he was a quarterly first-place winner in the Writers of the Future contest. In 2004 he won the John W. Campbell Award for B ...
used the website to pay for
whole genome sequencing
Whole genome sequencing (WGS), also known as full genome sequencing, complete genome sequencing, or entire genome sequencing, is the process of determining the entirety, or nearly the entirety, of the DNA sequence of an organism's genome at a s ...
, towards the "small possibility that the results of such a test...may suggest a treatment path"
for his
colon cancer
Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...
, which since 2008 has "progressed from a single tumor to
metastatic disease affecting the lung and liver, recurring after multiple surgeries and chemotherapy courses."
After his successful campaign, Lake publicly criticized
PayPal
PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers, and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper ...
for the terms and processes the company uses when it thinks there's a fraud risk.
His experience was cited in news coverage over PayPal's public promise to introduce "aggressive changes" to its
frozen funds policy.
*Houston Flood Relief Fund.
Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest t ...
severely damaged many homes and personal belongings, and caused large amounts of damage to Texas and Louisiana. This fundraiser is for all of the victims of this storm. As of September 1, 2017, the goal has been raised multiple times after surpassing each prior one, and is currently at $20,000,000. Many celebrities and organizations have partaken in this campaign, such as
Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals
* A male duck
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name
* Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* ...
,
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...
and
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
, and the
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...
.
*YoXMéxico.
2017 Central Mexico earthquake struck at 13:14 CDT (18:14 UTC) on 19 September 2017 with a magnitude estimated to be Mw 7.1 and strong shaking for about 20 seconds. This fundraiser is for all of the victims of this earthquake and was initiated by Mexican soccer players
Javier Hernández
Javier Hernández Balcázar (; born 1 June 1988), commonly known by the nickname Chicharito (, Mexican Spanish: ''little pea''), is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. He is known ...
and
Miguel Layún
Miguel Arturo Layún Prado (born 25 June 1988) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Liga MX club América.
Layún began his career in 2006 with Veracruz, and in 2009 signed for Italian club Atalanta, becoming the ...
.
*A number of publications have implored donations to YouCaring to celebrate
Giving Tuesday
GivingTuesday, often stylized as #GivingTuesday for the purposes of hashtag activism, is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It is touted as a "global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transf ...
.
*Las Vegas-based artist Jska Priebe created a YouCaring page for her brother Michael Charter who was diagnosed with end-stage
liver disease
Liver disease, or hepatic disease, is any of many diseases of the liver. If long-lasting it is termed chronic liver disease. Although the diseases differ in detail, liver diseases often have features in common.
Signs and symptoms
Some of the sig ...
.
References
{{Crowdfunding platforms
Crowdfunding platforms of the United States
Internet properties established in 2011
American companies established in 2011
2011 establishments in California
Companies based in San Francisco
Healthcare in the United States
Benefit corporations
2018 mergers and acquisitions