Top 2017 GoFundMe campaigns illustrate state’s generosity
“Coming from a nonprofit, there are all sorts of regulations we have to meet. so people do need to be aware of fraud potential.” — NATHAN TIPTON, DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR WITH MEMPHISBASED MERITAN, A SUPPORT AGENCY FOR ALL AGES
When Paul Garner received severe burns while trying unsuccessfully to prevent a man from setting himself afire outside a Midtown Memphis bar in May, a couple hundred donors contributed more than $8,600 for medical expenses.
In Nashville, more than 13,000 people blew up a $40,000 goal by contributing a whopping $425,000 for Christian music artist Nathan Johnson and his newborn daughter, Eilee Kate, when Johnson’s wife, Megan Johnson, died hours after giving birth in June.
And a March campaign by Adam McElhaney of Chattanooga, seeking to raise funds to buy the internet search history of congressmen, garnered more than $200,000 — well beyond the $10,000 goal.
The stories illustrate how Tennesseans showed their generosity — or, as in the Chattanooga case, their activism — in 2017 through GoFundMe campaigns, the method of choice in today’s online world for helping one’s fellow man or making a point. The global reach of GoFundMe and other online fundraising sites offers, in exchange for a fee, a broad platform to raise money for virtually any cause under the sun.
GoFundMe, which charges a flat 5 percent fee on donations, has issued its 2017 Year In Giving annual report, identifying the top Tennessee campaigns of the year. Tennesseans, or those initiating campaigns on behalf of Tennesseans, started 24,000
fundraising efforts through the site in 2017. Roughly 282,000 people in the state donated to at least one campaign, according to the report.
Fundraising professionals said online crowdfunding is a useful way to help worthy causes. At the same time, they caution it can be especially easy in the online world to fall prey to scams, and a little healthy skepticism is therefore always useful before contributing.
“Coming from a nonprofit, there are all sorts of regulations we have to meet,” said Nathan Tipton, development coordinator with Memphis-based Meritan, a support agency for all ages. “So people do need to be aware of fraud potential.”
Still, Tipton said online crowdfunding is a great idea even if it has eaten into the pool of available contributions that go to traditional fundraising outlets.
“It’s easier for people to just go online and say, ‘OK, I have this need and I need a thousand bucks,’” he said. “It plays more on the emotions, but that’s fine.”
Many of this year’s GoFundMe campaigns, such as the one for Garner in Memphis, were considerably smaller in scope than the top campaigns. All, however, showed the power of an online platform for raising funds in a short time.
The Nashville campaign on behalf of Johnson and his daughter, dubbed the Team Johnson campaign, ranked as the state’s top campaign of the year. A total of 8,987 people contributed $425,556 in five months.
“Let’s raise enough money for Nathan to get off the road for at least six months,” Josh Wilson, a friend of Nathan Johnson and a fellow Christian artist, said on GoFundMe when starting the campaign in June. “Let’s cover his bills and meals so he doesn’t have to think about any of that. Let’s sleep over at his house and feed sweet Eilee so Nate can rest.”
After the initial $40,000 goal for Johnson was surpassed, the goal was raised repeatedly until it hit $400,000, only to be exceeded by the current $425,556. The campaign is still accepting donations.
“He wept when he heard,” Wilson told The Tennessean in June about Johnson’s reaction to the fundraising effort.
In Memphis, Garner received second- and third-degree burns on his legs after Jared McLemore set himself on fire outside Murphy’s, a Midtown bar on Madison, in May.
Garner’s brother quickly sprang into action by setting up a GoFundMe page to help Garner, a well-known local political activist, with medical expenses. To date, $8,625 has been raised in the campaign, which is still open.
The top GoFundMe campaigns in Tennessee behind Johnson:
› Country artist Chris Young of Nashville started a Hurricane Harvey fundraising campaign in August. To date, 3,726 people have contributed $386,420 of a $500,000 goal.
› McElhaney, of Chattanooga, launched his drive in March to raise $10,000 to buy the internet search histories of members of Congress who voted for a bill allowing such information to be sold to marketing firms, law enforcement and other entities. “Let’s turn the tables,” McElhaney said on GoFundMe. “Let’s buy THEIR history and make it available.” People responded — $208,742 was raised in the campaign, which is now closed.
› David Wesley Bangean of Gallatin started a campaign in August on behalf of his cousin, who was paralyzed from the neck down while playing volleyball. To date, $104,405 of a $150,000 goal to cover medical expenses has been raised.
The top campaign nationally? By far, it has been the Las Vegas Victims’ Fund. Started by Clark County, Nev., County Commissioner Chairman Steve Sisolak, the fund to date has raised $11.7 million for the survivors and victims of the Oct. 1 mass shooting of concertgoers. The fund is still accepting donations.