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COVID-19

GoFundMe CEO: “We’re not yet seeing much around recovery”

Kai Ryssdal and Alli Fam Apr 28, 2020
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Tim Cadogan started as CEO of GoFundMe less than two months ago. Andrew Toth/Getty Images for AWXI
COVID-19

GoFundMe CEO: “We’re not yet seeing much around recovery”

Kai Ryssdal and Alli Fam Apr 28, 2020
Tim Cadogan started as CEO of GoFundMe less than two months ago. Andrew Toth/Getty Images for AWXI
HTML EMBED:
COPY

GoFundMe is an online crowdfunding platform. The site often sees a spike in activity amid events like natural disasters and humanitarian crises as users rally to provide financial aid to the affected communities.

But coronavirus is a pandemic, and the platform is witnessing unprecedented use.

Tim Cadogan is the CEO of GoFundMe, a position he started less than two months ago. He spoke to Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal about the experience, saying he had just “a week to meet my new company” before everyone began to work from home.

Cadogan also talked to Ryssdal about trends he is seeing on the platform and what those trends say about where communities are on the road to recovery.

“The first wave of activity is around medical workers, PPE and equipment,” he explained. “That then is shifting to small businesses, businesses and their employees. And that then is shifting deeper into the areas like food security, rent relief, and then starting to touch on the more hidden factors like mental health.”

He noted that “we’re not yet seeing much around recovery, which is the typical pattern for a disaster. We’re still very much in the middle of it.”

Click the audio player above to hear the interview.

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