An impressive number of fundraising campaigns to halt the pandemic were launched in Italy

One Italian out of 10 in the first week of the crisis visited at least one fundraising campaign hosted on GoFundMe. On the platform, between March and the end of May, over 800 thousand donors have given over $20.6 million (€17 million), with an average donation of about $25.5 (€21). In the same period, over 30 thousand people from abroad have donated over $2.4 million (€2 million) to Italian Covid19 campaigns: there are more than 50 countries from which these donors come. “That in our opinion is the phase in which all the fundraising related to Covid-19 for hospitals and associations were born. From May onwards there is a crisis that then affected all sectors and the campaigns were born mainly to support culture, nonprofit organizations, individual citizens in need,” said Luca Salici, communication manager of GoFundMe.

Read more about the crowdfunding campaigns aimed at helping hospitals in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and read the latest economic news with the Born2Invest mobile app.

GoFundMe has donated $312,000 (€265,000) to 9 Italian hospitals at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus

“During the emergency phase, hundreds of campaigns to fight Covid-19 were created on the platform: as always, we scrupulously examined every single fundraiser, collaborating with hospitals, associations and foundations. We maintain full control of all funds and – after careful validation of data, official documents and banking information – we allocate them to the beneficiary indicated in the fundraising. We have a 24/7 Trust&Safety team, which means that every single fundraising campaign to combat Covid-19 has been verified and validated. Through the use of specialized fraud detection (or money laundering, phishing, cardtesting, plagiarism) tools and technologies, our team is able to detect most potentially suspicious campaigns. Approximately one third of our employees are dedicated to verifying all campaigns and transactions. Withdrawals are paused until investigations are completed to ensure that the person withdrawing the funds is the correct person and designated as the beneficiary. It’s important to know that misuse cases account for less than 0.01% of all campaigns on GoFundMe. We ensure high security standards and offer a full guarantee to donors that the funds go to the right place, or else we will issue a full refund,” Salici pointed out. GoFundMe, according to the GivesBack philosophy, has donated $312,000 (€265,000) to 9 Italian hospitals at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus.

The beneficiaries of the most successful campaigns? The San Raffaele Hospital in Milan with $5.45 million (€4.49 million) (it is the campaign of Fedez and Chiara Ferragni); Cesvi.org for Hospital of Bergamo that has collected $1.8 million (€1.5 million); the Cotugno Hospital in Naples with $1.13 million (€934,000); the Careggi Foundation and Santa Maria Nuova Foundation Onlus with $1.06 million (€872,000) and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation that has collected $891,000 (€734,303).

For Funding is Intesa Sanpaolo’s crowdfunding platform that allows people – individuals and legal entities – to donate and lend money directly, without the use of intermediaries, to selected non-profit projects. In 2019, the terzovalore.com platform also joined For Funding, which added to “traditional” donations the possibility for anyone to make community loans $145,000 (€120,000) of community loans in 2020). In 2020 For Funding recorded over $11.5 million  (€9.5 million in donations, of which more than $6.4 million (€5.3 million) for the Coronavirus emergency. Of the 56 published projects, 22 were related to the Coronavirus emergency. “In three years of activity forfunding.it has recorded 59 thousand donations for more than 200 initiatives, confirming the Bank’s vocation to unite donors and non-profit organizations to support important social solidarity projects,” said Andrea Lecce, Head of Sales & Marketing Private and Retail Companies Intesa Sanpaolo. 

On Rete del Dono, which saw its annual fundraising close to $5.2 million (€4.3 million), as much as $2.67 million (€2.2 million) went to projects directly related to the emergency, with an average donation that rose from $80 (€66) to $87 (€72)and an excellent response even among young people 18-24 years old and among the over-65s (11% of donors, the same as the under-24s and 3 percentage points higher than last year). “2020 has been an intense but positive year, a real “roller coaster”, at times full of unexpected events but also of interesting opportunities for growth and development. Digital has come out on top, broadening horizons and opening up new paths. Even the most reticent have approached digital to donate and make their own contribution. Barriers” linked to age and financial availability have been broken down. The surge of solidarity has also meant an increase in the average donation, which in 2020 exceeded $85 (€70).

__

(Featured image by Alexandra_Koch via Pixabay)

DISCLAIMER: This article was written by a third party contributor and does not reflect the opinion of Born2Invest, its management, staff or its associates. Please review our disclaimer for more information.

This article may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “become,” “plan,” “will,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks as well as uncertainties, including those discussed in the following cautionary statements and elsewhere in this article and on this site. Although the Company may believe that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, the actual results that the Company may achieve may differ materially from any forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of the management of the Company only as of the date hereof. Additionally, please make sure to read these important disclosures.

First published in VITA, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

Although we made reasonable efforts to provide accurate translations, some parts may be incorrect. Born2Invest assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions or ambiguities in the translations provided on this website. Any person or entity relying on translated content does so at their own risk. Born2Invest is not responsible for losses caused by such reliance on the accuracy or reliability of translated information. If you wish to report an error or inaccuracy in the translation, we encourage you to contact us.