Nonprofits hurt by GoFundMe scheme can join class action lawsuit * Oregon ArtsWatch

"As reported by Oregon ArtsWatch on Oct. 23, GoFundMe established fundraising pages without consent or prior notice for 1.4 million nonprofit organizations across the United States and attempted to monetize them for its own financial profits earlier in the month. Among the nonprofit Oregon arts organizations impacted by the scheme were the Portland Art Museum, Portland Center Stage, and Oregon ArtsWatch itself."

"The unauthorized pages looked like authorized pages and included such detailed information for the organizations as mission statements, employer identification numbers, logos, and more. Instead of directing all donated funds to the organizations, however, the GoFundMe-established fundraising pages were set up to charge a 2.2% transaction fee and an additional 30-cent per-donation charge that went to GoFundMe."

"In addition, GoFundMe also included a 14% to 16.5% "tip" that would be paid by the donors, but that amount would go to GoFundMe and not the nonprofit organizations. There are some indications that GoFundMe used its search engine optimization (SEO) assets to prioritize its fundraising pages over the official ones of the organizations."

GoFundMe created unauthorized fundraising pages for roughly 1.4 million U.S. nonprofit organizations without consent or prior notice and attempted to monetize those pages. The pages replicated organizational details including mission statements, employer identification numbers, and logos, but routed donations through fees: a 2.2% transaction charge plus $0.30 per donation, and a 14–16.5% donor “tip” that went to GoFundMe. Evidence suggests GoFundMe may have used search optimization to prioritize its pages over official organization pages. The actions provoked widespread nonprofit outcry and led to a class-action lawsuit on behalf of affected organizations.

Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News