$500 Million for 1 Million Free Nights a Year: Airbnb to Give $0.10 From Every Stay to Airbnb.org, Expanding to Medical Travelers and Abuse Survivors
Airbnb announced on October 28 a permanent funding model for its independent nonprofit Airbnb.org: the company will contribute $0.10 from its revenue on every stay, providing $500 million over the next five years and putting the nonprofit on a path to provide 1 million nights of free emergency housing per year by 2030. 'Now, every time someone books a home on Airbnb, they'll help someone else find a place to stay when they need it most. That's Airbnb at its best,' said Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb.
The contributions are funded by Airbnb and do not increase what guests pay or reduce what hosts earn; stays cancelled before check-in and bookings of experiences or services are excluded. Airbnb covers Airbnb.org's operating costs, so 100% of public donations fund emergency housing, and the company makes no money from the emergency stays.
Airbnb.org traces its roots to 2012, when a New York host opened her home after Hurricane Sandy; in 2020 the community effort became an independent nonprofit. It has since provided more than 1.6 million nights of emergency housing worldwide, and this year alone it has responded to more than 200 disasters, compared with 8 in all of 2023.
The new funding will expand Airbnb.org beyond disaster response into three new areas: families travelling for medical care in more than 20 countries, survivors of domestic violence and exploitation who have left unsafe situations, and U.S. military veterans facing serious illness or intensive treatment. Airbnb.org works with local nonprofit and government partners to identify people who need a stay, and hosts are notified when a reservation is for an emergency stay.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于旧金山的 Airbnb 总部中庭。Steve Jurvetson 摄，CC BY，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Inside Airbnb's headquarters in San Francisco. Photo by Steve Jurvetson, CC BY, via Wikimedia Commons.
