When disaster strikes, the initial flood of news coverage drives an outpouring of support — but after that, survivors often face long, difficult roads to recovery. GoFundMe wanted to help by creating a sustainable way to keep real people’s stories in front of the public long enough to make a lasting difference.
Our idea: pair skilled, purpose-driven creators with GoFundMe organizers impacted by crises to produce authentic, first-person storytelling that inspires tangible action. We aimed to:
For our pilot project, we partnered with Kalina Silverman of Make Big Talk, a creator known for intimate, human-centered interviews, to document survivors of crises who had turned to GoFundMe for help in the wake of the LA wildfires. Working alongside our Customer Success and Communications teams, we identified fundraisers with compelling but underseen stories, and connected them directly to Kalina who could capture and share their journeys with care.
We quickly learned this was more than a content series — it was a deliberate blend of impactful community and survivor trust, that gave audiences a reason not just to watch, but to help. And it revealed our ultimate goal: turn empathy into action, and storytelling into real recovery.
In the immediate days after the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, thousands of survivors turned to GoFundMe for help with fundraisers documenting their heartbreaking losses -- childhood homes, small businesses, art collections, schools. At this scale, it seemed all too easy to focus on the collective loss, which we feared could drown out the individual appeals. To counter that, we connected a trusted creator with GFM-supported survivors to capture their stories in the most authentic way we could, and get them help.
We partnered with Make Big Talk host Kalina Silverman, known for meaningful, first-person interviews, and matched her with several wildfire fundraisers. She met them where they were — at burned properties, in damaged neighborhoods — asking a simple but powerful question: “What did you lose?” The resulting videos were raw, emotional, and humanizing. They quickly spread across social channels, introducing her community to Walt, Willie, Dorothy, and so many more survivors, driving millions of views and helping raise more than $2 million in donations for their immediate recovery.
At the same time, we connected photographer Elias Weiss Friedman of The Dogist with nonprofits Pasadena Humane and Best Friends in LA, that were actively helping animals impacted by the fires. He not only helped raise awareness for their operations, but used the moment to start a fundraiser for the impacted organizations -- and raise over $200,000 in immediate assistance.
Seeing the success, we expanded the model to other crises:
Challenges included:
This unique approach — creator-led storytelling for crisis recovery — blended the immediacy of journalism, the fragility of disaster response, and the authenticity of impact creators to produce results far beyond awareness.
We set out to prove that creator-led storytelling could do more than generate likes — it could drive real recovery in times of crisis, and tune people back in to communities in need long after the network news vans have left town.
Across three major disasters, our model delivered:
Working with Make Big Talk, The Dogist, and Hunter Prosper, we reached new audiences who might not have engaged with traditional nonprofit appeals. By pairing creators with fundraisers, we generated content that was personal, shareable, and action-oriented — prompting audiences to click “donate” instead of simply “like.”
Our approach also strengthened relationships with nonprofit partners like Direct Relief, proving GoFundMe’s value as a bridge between grassroots fundraising and philanthropy.
We consider this a success not just because of the money raised, but because it showed us a replicable, scalable way to keep survivors’ needs in the public eye long after the news cycle ends through storytelling with a measurable outcome beyond engagement.
