Client Alert: With Giving Tuesday Approaching, What Nonprofits Need to Know About GoFundMe’s Creation Of Over A Million Unauthorized Nonprofit Donation Pages
Date: November 4, 2025
By:
Heidi K. Abegg
- Understand the issues created by third party fundraising such as GoFundMe.
- Decide whether to permit fundraising by third parties.
- Conduct due diligence, including reviewing terms and limitations of third-party fundraising – not all fundraising is created equal!
With Giving Tuesday quickly approaching on December 2, 2025, nonprofits are alarmed to discover that GoFundMe, an online for-profit fundraising platform, had created donation pages for approximately 1.4 million nonprofit organizations without consent or even their knowledge. This is yet another reminder that nonprofits need to remain vigilant and in control over their fundraising messaging, campaigns, and data to prevent donor confusion and distrust, conflicting messaging, and a siphoning of donations from official marketing campaigns.
What Happened?
At some point this year, GoFundMe used publicly available information from the Internal Revenue Service, Candid, and PayPal Giving Fund to generate donation pages on the GoFundMe platform. Adding to the confusion, these GoFundMe donation pages are different than a permission-based fundraising page a nonprofit may have on Classy (which is owned by GoFundMe) or on GoFundMe PRO. Nonprofits that have a Classy fundraising page may also have a competing GoFundMe fundraising page.
What’s the Big Deal? Aren’t Additional Fundraising Pages Good For Nonprofits?
Apart from the potential for competing fundraising pages within the GoFundMe family, the unauthorized donation pages raise a laundry list of concerns. First, because GoFundMe created the pages without nonprofits’ input, some of the pages contain incorrect information. Initially, the donation pages also included trademarks such as logos, and other information about the nonprofit’s mission, some of which was inaccurate or no longer in use.
Second, GoFundMe displaced nonprofits’ internet search results by using search engine optimization (SEO) on its donation pages. SEO improves a website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results pages, which usually results in more traffic to the SEO website. For many nonprofits, the unclaimed GoFundMe donation page ranked higher in search results than the nonprofit’s own website.
Third, if a donor chose the higher ranked GoFundMe page, and made a donation there, the donor may have paid higher fees as well as a “tip” to GoFundMe. GoFundMe’s platform had a default “tip” of between 15 and 17 percent that went to GoFundMe unless the donor manually reduced it. Further, the GoFundMe platform has a default recurring gift fee (most nonprofits do not themselves charge a recurring gift fee) that donors may miss. These extra fees and tips result in more revenue for GoFundMe and less revenue that is passed on to the nonprofit.
Fourth, even if a nonprofit claims its GoFundMe page, it might not receive donations, at least as to funds received prior to claiming its page. Donations to support charities on the GoFundMe pages are processed through PayPal Giving Fund, a §501(c)(3) organization. If PayPal Giving Fund cannot transmit the donation to the nonprofit because, for example, the charity has not claimed its GoFundMe page or it fails to meet PayPal Giving Fund’s “due diligence standards for receipt of a grant of donated funds at any time,” PayPal Giving Fund may reassign the funds to another charity. GoFundMe indicates that if a nonprofit has not claimed its donation page, the nonprofit’s donors will receive their tax-deductible receipt from PayPal Giving Fund, which will not include the nonprofit’s branding. According to PayPal Giving Fund’s Donation Delivery Policy, PayPal Giving Fund will invite unenrolled charities to participate and will only grant funds to an unenrolled charity when it is able to confirm that the charity complies with the requirements of its Nonprofit Certification Policy, it has verified the charity’s identification, and conducted due diligence into the charity, and its officers and directors confirm that “it does not promote hate, violence, or racial intolerance, and does not engage in money laundering or other illegal activities.” PayPal Giving Fund makes it clear that the listing of a charity in its directory is not a guarantee that the charity will ultimately receive funds from PayPal Giving Fund's fundraising programs, but that it will seek to consult the donor and may fund an alternative charity. And in at least one state, online fundraising platforms are not permitted to send funds to charities that are not in good standing within that state (e.g., registered to solicit in that state). Charities may not even end up receiving funds despite the donation page.
Fifth, as a result of the unauthorized fundraising pages, nonprofits may lose control of their donor relationships and miss out on receiving information directly from donors who gave through the GoFundMe donation page. A nonprofit may have difficulty building a relationship with a donor when a fundraising platform stands in the middle, controlling the flow of information. Additionally, fundraising on the unauthorized pages may impact donors’ trust in the nonprofit. The GoFundMe platform does not allow for refunds from the nonprofit nor for the donor to cover transaction fees to allow nonprofits to receive more of the contribution. A donor that later discovers they contributed to the wrong charity, that their contribution was given to an alternative charity, or realize they inadvertently paid the 16% tip, may mistakenly hold the nonprofit responsible, thereby impacting the nonprofit’s reputation.
Next Steps and Due Diligence
As a result of a groundswell of opposition from the nonprofit sector, GoFundMe agreed to make its nonprofit pages opt-in only and turn off the default SEO. Unverified pages will be removed from the search page on GoFundMe, although the nonprofit will still remain within GoFundMe’s directory.
Nonprofits can see if they have an unauthorized GoFundMe webpage here. If there is a page and the nonprofit wants to claim it, it first has to create an account using a work email, verify identity by providing an individual’s full name and home address, role at the nonprofit, and accept the terms of service. If there is trouble verifying the individual’s connection to the nonprofit, GoFundMe Pro will require the individual to upload identification documents such as a paystub or ID. Understandably, some nonprofit organizations do not want to provide personal identifying information simply to claim a nonprofit’s page and gain access to donor details.
If a nonprofit chooses to verify its donation page, it should be done after internal communication and consensus. The person who claims the nonprofit’s page within GoFundMe Pro becomes the admin of the nonprofit’s page and replaces any admin connected previously, and will be the only user able to log in to GoFundMe and change the settings of the page, according to GoFundMe’s updated guidance on November 3, 2025. Nonprofits choosing to verify and keep their donation pages should also be aware of the limitations within GoFundMe, including, for example, that donors receive a confirmation from GoFundMe and a tax-deductible receipt from GoFundMe Pro, which contains the nonprofit’s branding and logo, but which is not customizable. When evaluating GoFundMe or any online fundraising platform, nonprofits should carefully review the control and customizable settings, fees, and refund policies.
A nonprofit can also review state filings when conducting due diligence on an online fundraising platform. Online fundraising platforms like GoFundMe are required to register and file reports in a number of states. For example, California requires platforms to publicly disclose fundraising activities, including a listing of charities, total number of donors and amount of donations, amount of fees deducted from donations, and the total amount sent to the charity. Nonprofits wanting to review GoFundMe’s California report will have to wait a little longer. On October 14, 2025, the Attorney General of California sent GoFundMe a letter stating that, to maintain its status as a charitable fundraising platform, it needs to submit an amended filing to provide for complete information for its Annual Fundraising Report for 2024 by the first week of January 2026. Funds raised by GoFundMe and other online fundraising platforms in 2025 will be reported in July 2026.
Finally, this is also a good time to evaluate messaging and fundraising strategies to ensure the team is using consistent on-brand messaging and maximizing the nonprofit’s own website SEO.
The Associations, Nonprofits and Political Organizations practice group at Whiteford has extensive experience and expertise in advising clients on all aspects of fundraising. Please contact Heidi Abegg or another member of the practice group if you have any questions or concerns regarding your fundraising compliance obligations.
The information contained here is not intended to provide legal advice or opinion and should not be acted upon without consulting an attorney. Counsel should not be selected based on advertising materials, and we recommend that you conduct further investigation when seeking legal representation.