GoFundMe Nonprofit Pages Response

By Amanda L. Cole

Amid growing regulatory scrutiny of third-party fundraising platforms, GoFundMe has publicly responded to an inquiry from multiple state attorneys general about its nonprofit donation pages.

The response offers the most detailed explanation to date of how GoFundMe views its role in facilitating charitable donations — and where it disagrees with regulators’ concerns.

In the response dated March 13, the company addressed concerns about how it originally created and managed nonprofit pages using publicly available data. The company pointed to changes it made in October 2025 — including shifting nonprofit pages to an opt-in model and blocking search engines from indexing those that are authorized — as evidence that it has already addressed many of the concerns that regulators raised.

“By way of background, unclaimed nonprofit pages were initially introduced as part of a good-faith effort to support charities’ fundraising by facilitating access to GoFundMe’s tools and donor community,” Kim Wilford, chief legal officer at GoFundMe, said in the letter. “GoFundMe has since modified this approach, and nonprofit pages are now created only with a charity’s affirmative opt-in.

GoFundMe also pointed to legal support for its approach, citing California Assembly Bill 488 (AB 488), also referred to as the Charitable Solicitation Registration Act, which Wilford said “permits charitable fundraising platforms to facilitate donations to nonprofits without affirmative opt-in, subject to appropriate safeguards.”

“One of the purposes of AB 488, of course, was to create legal guidance for online platforms to facilitate fundraising for public charities,” she said.

That was one example in which the company said it disagrees with some of the regulators’ concerns.

“While we respectfully disagree with certain legal and factual characterizations in the letter, we remain fully committed to transparency, donor protection, and compliance with applicable charitable solicitation and consumer protection laws,” Wilford said.

The response also addressed three key areas regulators raised.

1. Donor Trust Disclosures

GoFundMe said it provides disclosures outlining the legal recipient of each donation; the role of any donor-advised fund sponsor; and any fees, tips, or other amounts added to or deducted from contributions.

2. Affiliation Disclosure

GoFundMe does not represent itself as the intended charity or imply it is acting on behalf of a nonprofit, Wilford said.

“Nonetheless, we remain committed to continually enhancing transparency and minimizing the risk of donor confusion,” she said. “We will continue to review our specific product, pages, and related language to ensure they do not imply an inappropriate status, role, or affiliation for GoFundMe, and will make appropriate modifications as warranted.”

3. Platform Tipping

The company also addressed its optional tips. Regulators are questioning whether these tips should be redirected to nonprofits rather than retained by the platform.

GoFundMe said the tipping model is clearly disclosed as supporting the platform rather than the nonprofits.

“GoFundMe has made it a priority to effectively communicate to our customers about the optional tipping approach,” Wilford said. “This includes a clear disclosure that tips are paid to GoFundMe, not to the charity, and that they help support the platform so that we can avoid charging a platform fee for fundraising campaigns.”

In closing, Wilford added that GoFundMe is open to continued discussions with regulators.

“We appreciate the states’ role in protecting charitable assets and promoting donor trust,” she said. “GoFundMe is committed to supporting these shared objectives and to working constructively with the states to best serve the nonprofit community.”