GoFundMe Creates Placeholder Pages for 1.4 Million Nonprofits, Many Without Their Knowledge

"Krista Lamp, Senior director of Non-Profit Communications at GoFundMe, told the outlet that when nonprofits claim the page, they gain full visibility over donor data, donor stewardship branding, and how they choose to leverage their page. According to the company, per 7 on Your Side, "this allows individuals across GoFundMe's 200 million-strong global community to easily discover and donate to nonprofit organizations, helping them support causes and charitable missions they care about, even if the organization hasn't actively created a GoFundMe campaign.""

"Dornlas told 7 On Your Side he was nonplussed that GoFundMe neglected to get the nonprofit's permission prior to creating the page. He also said he had a challenging time getting in touch with the company, which only responded once the news outlet got involved. "The fact that they would just on their own build pages for nonprofits that they've never spoken to is a problem," he said. "I'm a believer in opt-in, not opt-out.""

"Friends of the San Bruno Public Library discovered that GoFundMe created a donation page for it to claim without notifying the nonprofit. The site made 1.4 million such placeholder pages, which need to be manually unpublished by each charity. Dornlas was also unhappy about the fact that GoFundMe includes a suggested tip for each donation, which is set at 16.5% but can be adjusted by the donor. Although 7 on Your Side says that the company also charges a 2.2% transaction fee, plus $0.3"

Friends of the San Bruno Public Library found a GoFundMe donation page created for the nonprofit without notification or permission. GoFundMe generated 1.4 million placeholder charity pages using public IRS data and information from trusted partners, and each organization must manually claim or unpublish its page. The company says claiming grants nonprofits full visibility over donor data, stewardship, branding, and page control. Some nonprofits experienced difficulty contacting the company and said the firm only engaged after external attention. GoFundMe applies a suggested tip default of 16.5% and charges a 2.2% transaction fee plus $0.30 per donation.

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