GoFundMe: Hervey Bay the Aussie town that donated most money in 2021

It’s been revealed which Australian town has been the most generous with its money and donated to necessary causes in 2021.

GoFundMe’s annual Year in Giving report shows a Queensland town is most generous based on donations per capita.

Hervey Bay, the coastal city in the state’s south, topped the list and Mackay came in second.

Three towns from NSW, two from Western Australia, two from Victoria and one from Tasmania also made the top 10.

More than 1.25 million donations were received by the crowd-funding page this year.

Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour said he was “thrilled” Hervey Bay was the most generous town of the year and enormously proud of local residents.

“Hervey Bay has long been renowned as an attractive and affordable tourist destination, but this news highlights we are also a kind and caring community,” he said.

“The magnitude of this achievement cannot be underestimated, particularly when you consider Fraser Coast residents have among the lowest average weekly household incomes in the country. So while we earn less, we give more.”

GoFundMe Australia regional manager Nicola Britton said the generosity of millions of people this year showed the “true Aussie spirit” of helping those in need despite the economic uncertainty from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The top two most generous towns are also some of the hardest-hit areas in terms of revenue loss from tourism,” she said.

“The fact that these communities were still able to answer calls for help from others is nothing short of inspiring.”

Australian as a whole supported many international humanitarian causes, donating to places like Afghanistan, India, Indonesia and Greece, with the largest fundraiser on the platform being Medical Oxygen For All. It raised more than $1.7m.

The page was established to help deliver oxygen units to remote Indian districts that ran out of medical grade oxygen cylinders, canisters, concentrators and generators to care for their sick and Covid-19 infected patients.

Top 10 most generous towns of the year:

1. Hervey Bay, Qld
2. Mackay, Qld
3. Wagga Wagga, NSW
4. Coffs Harbour, NSW
5. Mandurah, WA
6. Ballarat, Victoria
7. Launceston, Tasmania
8. Albury-Wodonga, NSW
9. Bunbury, WA
10. Bendigo, Victoria

Top 10 biggest fundraisers on GoFundMe AU in 2021:

1. Medical Oxygen for All, $1.7m

2. Save Asian Boss, $783,000

3. Help Oscar beat Neuroblastoma, $583,000

4. Emergency Family support for Bipin, $485,000

5. Greece 2021 Fire Appeal, $419,000

6. Support for family who lost 4 kids in a house fire, $404,000

7. Help Kelly’s Children, $374,000

8. Support Elise and Dylan Squaillari, $328,000

9. Far West NSW Fresh Fruit & Veggie Covid-19, $300,000

10. A Ray of Hope for Trisha (Curing AGU), $264,000