The top fundraising campaign on crowdfunding platform GoFundMe in 2024 reflects what has been a major pain point for millions of Americans: inflation. 

The company’s annual donation report shows that the number of fundraisers launched this year for people raising money to cover the cost of rent, food and other basic living expenses quadrupled compared to 2023. The proliferation of such campaigns reflects “the way people have been struggling with prices that have risen over the past few years,” GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan told CBS MoneyWatch.

Indeed, the platform often mirrors societal needs, filling in the gaps where public programs have failed to cover Americans’ essential costs. 

Other popular GoFundMe campaigns this year point to something that many consumers may not have needed so much as desperately wanted. For example, Taylor Swift fans flocked to the platform, with thousands of “Swifties” raising and donating money to help buy tickets to the singer’s Eras Tour shows, and in one case even funding a wedding so that a fan could avoid having to sell a guitar signed by Swift.

The fastest growing category of fundraisers this year were tied to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, with a number of athletes launching campaigns to help defray travel and training expenses, or to fly their families overseas to see them compete. 

Vermont was ranked the most generous state in the U.S., and Norway the most charitable country by donors per capita, according to GoFundMe. “Vermont is famously community-oriented, it’s a small state and a tight-knit state,” Cadogan said.

Police are giving an update Tuesday on the school shooting at a private Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, that left a teenage student and a teacher dead.

Five students and one teacher were also wounded in the shooting Monday at Abundant Life Christian School, police said. The injuries ranged from minor to life-threatening.

The student and the teacher who were killed have not been identified publicly, and will not be until their families are notified, police said. The shooter, who police identified as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, was found dead.

“Our community is really reeling from what happened last night and we’re really trying to put the pieces together to bring some answers to our community,” Madison Chief of Police Shon F. Barnes said Tuesday on “CBS Mornings.”

Rupnow, who went by Samantha, was a student at the school, Barnes said Monday. She appears to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Barnes said, and was pronounced dead while being taken to an area hospital. Police did not fire their weapons, police said. A motive is not yet known. Police are investigating how Rupnow obtained a gun, Barnes said, and Rupnow’s family is cooperating with the investigation.

 How to watch the Wisconsin school shooting update

• What: Police give an update on the school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School.
• Date: Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 
• Time: 1:15 p.m. local time; 2:15 p.m. ET
• Location: Madison, Wisconsin
• Online stream: Live on CBS News in the player above or on your mobile or streaming device.

Note: Streaming plans are subject to change.