Attorney General Dave Sunday, along with 23 Attorneys General and charitable regulators, sent a letter to GoFundMe following reports that the company plagiarized donation web pages for charities nationwide without their prior knowledge or consent.
According to the letter, the coalition alleges that GoFundMe created unauthorized donation pages for more than 1.4 million charities. The pages reportedly contained inaccurate information about the charities, and solicitations included deceptive and misleading acts.
The coalition expressed concerns that unauthorized postings could confuse donors and harm charities that did not provide consent. They also stated that such pages could result in donations not reaching donors’ intended recipients.
The letter calls for immediate remedial measures and demands that GoFundMe provide proof within 14 days that all unauthorized donation web pages have been removed.
The coalition also requests that GoFundMe:
- Provide proof that all unauthorized donation web pages have been removed.
- Disclose all information that affects a person’s decision to donate, including who donations were made to in lieu of the charities whose pages were allegedly plagiarized.
- Explain how it ensured its donation web pages did not appear in internet search results above a charity’s official website or fundraising campaigns.
GoFundMe is a for-profit Delaware corporation headquartered in California and is registered with the Registry of Charities and Fundraisers as a charitable fundraising platform.
Consumers who believe they may have been misled by a GoFundMe charitable donation are encouraged to file a complaint with the Office of Attorney General online, by calling 1-800-441-2555, or by emailing scams@attorneygeneral.gov.
GoFundMe Statement
GoFundMe is committed to helping nonprofits reach new donors by making it easier for the millions of people on our platform to discover and support the causes they care about. Nonprofit Pages were created using publicly available information to help people support nonprofit organizations, with donations going to the intended nonprofit.
After hearing feedback from nonprofit leaders in October, we acted quickly to make Nonprofit Pages fully opt-in, removed and de-indexed unclaimed pages, and turned off search engine optimization by default. The immediate changes we made in October directly addressed the concerns outlined in the letter received today from the state Attorneys General, and reflect our continued commitment to transparency, accountability, and partnership with the nonprofit sector. We welcome the opportunity to share with the Attorneys General the concrete steps we have already implemented in response to the issues raised.
