GoFundMe Created 1.4 Million Donation Pages for Nonprofits Without Their Consent

San Francisco's local newscast ABC7 runs a consumer advocacy segment called '7 on Your Side'. They received a disturbing call for help from Dave Dornlas, treasurer of a nonprofit supporting a local library:

GoFundMe has taken upon itself to create 'nonprofit pages' for 1.4 million 501C-3 organizations using public IRS data along with information from trusted partners like the PayPal Giving Fund. 'The fact that they would just on their own build pages for nonprofits that they've never spoken to is a problem,' [Dornlas] said. 'I'm a believer in opt-in, not opt-out....' Dornlas says he struggled to find anyone to contact from GoFundMe about this...

Dave's other frustration is tied to the company's optional tipping feature on the platform. 'GoFundMe also solicits a tip of 14.5%. In other words, 'We're doing this and we're great people. Give us 14.5% to do this' — which doesn't have to happen,' Dornlas said. 'That's what bothers me.' When 7 On Your Side checked, the optional tip was actually set for 16.5%. The consumer is required to move the bar to adjust accordingly... The tip would be in addition to the 2.2% transaction fee GoFundMe charges nonprofits, plus $0.30 per donation. That fee goes up to 2.9% for individual fundraisers.
Now both GoFundMe pages of Dornlas's nonprofits have been removed from the site. Any organization can do so, by clicking 'unpublish' on the platform.
But GoFundMe's move drew strong criticism from the Center for Nonprofit Excellence (a Kentucky-based membership organization with over 500 members). GoFundMe's move, they say, creates 'confusion for donors and supporters who are unsure of the legitimacy of the fundraising pages. In some cases, GoFundMe included incorrect information, outdated logos, and other inaccuracies that compromise and misrepresent nonprofits' brand, mission, strategy, and message.'
And GoFundMe's processing fees and tips 'ultimately result in fewer resources for nonprofits than if donors contributed directly through the organization.' But there's more...

GoFundMe has initiated SEO optimization as the default for the donation pages to improve their visibility when individuals search forinformation about nonprofits online. This could result in GoFundMe'spages ranking higher than the nonprofit's own website, pulling away potential donors and supporters...

Without adequate safeguards in place, nonprofits report serious issues, ranging from unauthorized individuals claiming donations and the inability to remove pages without first agreeing to GoFundMe's terms and conditions or sharing sensitive banking information.

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence has now joined with the National Council of Nonprofits — America's largest network of nonprofits, with over 25,000 members — to officially urge GoFundMe to immediately rectify the situation.

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader Arrogant-Bastard for sharing the article.

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