Caring Causes: GoFundMe Kid Heroes

GoFundMe recently announced a holiday initiative to celebrate “kid heroes” who are making a difference in their communities and turning compassion into action. The GoFundMe Kid Heroes program will showcase these kids and their families in a central hub where people can read inspiring stories, support amazing causes, and watch films of some of the young heroes. In addition, the hub will feature advice, ideas, and tips for parents to help their kids turn compassion into action. GoFundMe will be supporting the next generation of changemakers by making a $100,000 donation to support kid heroes on Giving Tuesday.

“In a year of a lot of tough news, we can get inspiration from the children and their families who are leading the way and working to make the world a better place,” said Rob Solomon, CEO of GoFundMe. “We hope these stories and resources bring families and communities together for positive change.”

The GoFundMe Kid Heroes content hub features campaigns from over 100 kid heroes, offering people the opportunity to be inspired by and give support to campaigns. The page spotlights kids from all over helping their communities in different ways, from Khloe, a 9 year old whose first GoFundMe was to create care packages for the homeless, to Walt, age 7, who created a campaign to give pajamas to foster kids. 

Beyond the amazing stories, the GoFundMe Kid Heroes content hub includes:

Parents’ Guide on Raising Compassionate Kids: GoFundMe worked with experts in the field to provide the latest research. The guide includes:

• Expert insights on children and compassion, along with conversation starters, from Dr. James Doty, Director and Founder of The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, and Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery, at Stanford University
• Tips for teaching kids about empathy from Common Sense Media, the leading independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology
• Online and offline activities to do with your kids around giving back and helping others
• Letter from father and GoFundMe CEO Rob Solomon about raising compassionate kids
• Advice from parents who have started campaigns with their kids

GoFundMe Studios Films: GoFundMe Studios will release a short feature film going behind the scenes of five Kid Heroes, talking to the kids, the parents and showcasing them in action. GoFundMe Studios will be also releasing more videos of Kid Heroes throughout the holiday season to build awareness around their causes. 

Tax-Deductible Fund for Kid Heroes: In addition to being able to support to individual Kid Hero campaigns, people will also have the opportunity to make a tax-deductible donation towards campaigns for Kid Heroes by making a contribution to the Direct Impact Fund. 

GoFundMe Giving Tuesday Donation: GoFundMe also announced that the company will be donating more than $100,000 to Kid Heroes on Giving Tuesday, as part of the company’s Gives Back program. On Giving Tuesday, the site’s employees will surprise over 100 campaigns with $1,000 each to support these families as they pay it forward. 

Read more about these kid heroes and support their causes at gofundme.com/kids. If you know of a kid hero on GoFundMe who should be considered for the Kid Heroes content hub, you can email kids@gofundme.com.

About GoFundMeLaunched in 2010, GoFundMe is the world’s largest social fundraising platform, with over $4 billion raised so far. With a community of more than 40 million donors, GoFundMe is changing the way the world gives. Find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

About GoFundMe’s Gives Back ProgramStarted by GoFundMe’s founders, the Gives Back program puts GoFundMe’s core values of spreading empathy and doing the right thing into practice. Once a month, every full-time employee nominates a GoFundMe campaign that touches their heart, and if selected, a donation of $1,000 is made to that campaign. This program allows employees to see first-hand the direct and powerful impact of their work.

About the Direct Impact Fund
The Direct Impact Fund is an independent, registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that selects campaigns for the GoFundMe community to support. When a donor supports the Direct Impact Fund via www.gofundme.com/kids, the funds will be distributed to verified campaigns created by Kid Heroes.