The Kiss kiss bank bank crowdfunding house, in 2016. (archives) -

BERTRAND GUAY / AFP

Donations on crowdfunding platforms more than doubled last year, boosted according to a study by an unprecedented movement of solidarity, particularly towards health professionals in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Donations peaked at 218.5 million euros in 2020 on digital platforms against around 80 million a year earlier, according to the 2020 crowdfunding barometer in France published on Wednesday by Financement Participatif France (FPF) and the Mazars cabinet.

These crowdfunding platforms, including Kiss Kiss Bank Bank, or Ulule, are used to finance projects through donations from Internet users or paid loans.

The volume of donations devoted to the “Health, scientific research” category rose from 2.7 million euros in 2019 (all participatory funding combined) to 15 million euros last year.

That of donations in the “Humanitarian and Solidarity” category, from 11.8 to 51.8 million euros.

"The ecosystem has shown itself to be robust and agile"

"There is an obvious topical effect", underlines Bertrand Desportes, partner at Mazars, the year 2020 having been very marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and shortages of medical equipment in the first part of the year.

The collection campaigns went to support "hospitals, emergency services, medical staff", underlines Bertrand Desportes, and were used to "finance for example the acquisition of respirators and masks", during the first wave in spring 2020 .

Among the examples cited in the study, an operation to deliver 12,000 meals to frontline caregivers, which, along with several other projects, raised 1.6 million euros, and the delivery to Corsica of medical equipment, including respirators, which raised more than 100,000 euros on the local participatory platform Move.

Also linked to the pandemic, donations to the “Live entertainment” and “Audiovisual - music” sectors were “fueled by solidarity” while they were subject to compulsory closures.

Overall, "the ecosystem has shown itself to be robust and agile" and "has weathered the crisis brilliantly", welcomes Bertrand Desportes.

The entire crowdfunding industry, including grants, business loans and investments, broke the billion-euro year-on-year mark for the first time, up 62% year-on-year.

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