GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan on the platform’s health, political and AI impact

Tim Cadogan took the helm of GoFundMe in March 2020 as the pandemic and political unrest drove a surge in personal and small-business fundraisers, turning the platform into a cultural backbone. Since then, unaided awareness has climbed to roughly 70% and more than a third of U.S. adults have used the service, with similar growth in Europe, Australia and Canada. The company’s business model relies on a 2.9% plus 30-cent transaction fee and voluntary donor tips, which fund an 850-person operation that includes product, design, data science and trust-and-safety teams.

A new AI-powered Smart Fundraising Coach assists creators with titles, goals and outreach, aiming to double the help generated this year. GoFundMe also offers a Pro product for nonprofits such as World Central Kitchen and the Mayo Clinic, while maintaining a strict terms-of-service list that bans fundraisers for illegal activities or violent-crime defenses. Cadogan emphasizes that the firm’s single purpose is to enable people to help each other, even as it works with payment processors like Adyen, Stripe and PayPal Giving Fund to keep funds secure.