Crowdfunding Amid a Medical Crisis: It's About Money -- and More

Kay "Kiki" Flammang has a rare form of leukemia. Her ability to act like any other 4-year-old has changed dramatically since her diagnosis last year. Though her health is suffering and chemotherapy is hard on her body, her spirits remain positive. Kiki's parents and thousands of people like them -- young and old -- are finding support through crowdfunding websites, and that support isn't only financial.

Stretched thin because of job demands and time spent at the hospital, Kiki's parents Sky Khan and Ben Flammang found their biggest pain point wasn't necessarily the medical bills; it was not having help to care for their other two children, 7-year-old Nash and 3-year-old Sander. Yet medical crowdfunding has helped meet the family's needs outside of bills and has been a source of encouraging words during a painful time.

Crowdfunding websites such as GoFundMe and GiveForward have helped families raise hundreds of millions of dollars, and for a majority of these sites, medical campaigns are the most common type of crowdfunding. Although some campaigns, like Kiki's, are raising money for the more ancillary effects of a medical crisis, others intend to help cover mounting medical bills and even the most basic expenses, like groceries.

"At first I kind of felt like I was begging for money," says Kathy Schmidt of Grand Island, Nebraska. A friend started a GoFundMe campaign on behalf of Schmidt and her 56-year-old husband, Kirk, a former Marine and contract driver who found himself in intensive care after an infection in his leg quickly spread throughout his body. The couple initially thought Kirk had the flu. But what turned out to be an infection progressed over a long weekend, and sepsis began attacking his kidneys and lungs.

Kirk, like Kiki and many other medical crowdfunders, has health insurance. But insurance doesn't cover everything, and high deductibles, coinsurance and out-of-network costs can quickly pile up.

"Two days after he was admitted, I started getting medical bills," says Kathy, who manages a candy store and has worked very little since Kirk fell ill. Her husband doesn't receive sick pay and has been out of work for more than 20 days so far, with many more sick days likely. "For several days, [the bills] were my main concern -- after Kirk, of course. I was sick about the expenses."

It's only been a few weeks since Kirk's campaign started. So far, it's raised over $250 of the $5,555 target. He's been moved to a rehabilitation unit, where Kathy expects him to stay for at least another few weeks. But even after that, she doesn't know when he'll be able to work.

The Explosion of Medical Crowdfunding

"Medical crowdfunding will become the single biggest vertical in crowdfunding over the next five years," predicted Ethan Austin, co-founder of GiveForward, at a New York University talk last year. For his company, which has seen more than $160 million donated since it started in 2008, medical campaigns account for about 70 percent of all activity.

Other crowdfunding sites are seeing a similarly high proportion of medical campaigns compared with other types. GoFundMe representative Kelsea Little wrote in an email that the site's "Medical, Illness & Healing" category is among its largest, and although there were just 8,239 such medical campaigns in 2011 (GoFundMe's first year), they grew to 602,000 in 2014 and accounted for more than $196 million in funds raised during that four-year period.

Three things are driving the increase in medical crowdfunding, according to Austin: huge consumer demand, an expensive health care system and the power of these campaigns to change lives.

This life-altering ability goes beyond helping people pay for crucial medical treatments; it speaks to their emotional well-being, too. Sky, Kiki's mother, says the comments on their campaign have been touching and monumental since the page was started earlier this year.

"They keep us going," she says of the now 300-plus comments on Kiki's fundraising page. "We read them to her in the hospital, and I think it makes her feel supported and loved, and more brave. It's a huge thing for us."

Friends and Family Lead the Charge

In a phone interview, GiveForward's Austin said that although early adopters of crowdfunding were young and tech-savvy, medical crowdfunders often represented a different demographic, one just becoming aware of the platforms. Some, like Kathy and Kirk Schmidt, didn't even know what GoFundMe and sites like it were until a friend told them. And friends, it seems, are the main motivators behind the campaigns.

"On GiveForward, 70 percent of campaigns are people raising money for friends and family," says Austin, adding that those campaigns are more successful than ones where you raise money for yourself. "It's a lot easier to be a cheerleader for someone else than for yourself."

For Kiki's parents, it was a parenting group they were part of that stepped up, beginning with meals and baby-sitting vouchers and then setting up the GiveForward page that has thus far raised over $51,000, enough for the family to hire someone to live in their home and help care for their house and boys.

What Makes a Medical Campaign Successful

For people with mounting medical debt and the crushing stress that accompanies a medical crisis, setting up and maintaining a crowdfunding page may just be "one more thing" on the never-ending list of responsibilities. But when friends or family step in to set up a campaign, they can provide some relief in the form of financial and emotional support.

Little, the spokeswoman for GoFundMe, says the more effort that goes into running a campaign, the more potential it has to pay off. She offers these pointers: Use a bright campaign photo, draft a clear and concise campaign description and connect the campaign to social media accounts -- then share frequently with friends and family.

For GiveForward campaigns, Austin says users should take advantage of the free personal fundraising coach they offer. He adds that a good number of his staff have a background in social work and the desire to "empower compassion," meaning they are well-suited for helping those who don't know crowdfunding techniques and are simultaneously under significant stress.

There are numerous crowdfunding platforms out there, and whichever you use, being active and motivated are key to raising funds and support. Such avenues weren't available 10 or even five years ago, but the popularity of these sites suggests they won't be going anywhere anytime soon.