What is happening with GoFundMe Charity? And what do I do about it?

Get out now. Now.

1. Pull all of your data from GoFundMe Charity (Here are their instructions.)
2. Sign up for Funraise Free.
3. Redirect any fundraising campaigns to your Funraise account.

We'll work out the rest later. Hit us up at hello@funraise.org and we'll have a real person reach out to help get you sorted.

Wait, what? Is GoFundMe closing?

No, GoFundMe is not closing. GoFundMe Charity, the arm of GoFundMe that your nonprofit probably has an account with, is closing. (We know, we know. It stinks.)

GoFundMe Charity is closing down very soon. Here's their timeline:

• March 31, 2021 - Last day that GoFundMe Charity supports third-party integrations.
• June 30, 2021 - Last day to create a new campaign on GoFundMe Charity.
• September 30, 2021 - Last day to accept donations online via GoFundMe Charity campaigns and donate buttons. Last day for recurring donations to process.
• December 31, 2021 - Final day GoFundMe Charity will be available.
  

So, what if you're reading this article after March 31, 2021 but before December 31, 2021? Download all your GoFundMe Charity donor and fundraiser data and get yourself a more secure, more advanced—still free—fundraising platform. Our suggestion: Funraise Free.

A big ol' question: Will my GoFundMe Charity campaigns transfer to GoFundMe?

A big ol' Nope.

GoFundMe invites you to recreate your campaigns on GoFundMe.com, but why put all that effort into recreating your campaigns on a fundraising platform that wasn't built for and doesn't cater to nonprofits ...when you can build them faster, better, and more easily using Funraise Free?

Seriously, it just burns our fakin' bacon to know that the 50,000+ nonprofits that have relied on crowdfunding through GoFundMe Charity now have to figure out something else. The only good thing to come out of it is that you'll get the opportunity to jump feet first into a nonprofit fundraising platform built for nonprofits, by nonprofits.

So, why move to Funraise?

If you've got to start over, make the most of it. Get started with a free, all-in-one, user-friendly nonprofit fundraising platform and upgrade as you grow.

Raise more money, tame donor management, and customize online donation collection:

• Add donation buttons to your website
• Customize your donation forms to reflect your brand and needs
• Automate donation receipts
• Manage donors and donations
• Grow your recurring donor program
• Export reports
• Rely on PCI-compliant, industry-leading security
• Take advantage of comprehensive, easy-to-use integrations with Salesforce, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and more

What's going to happen to my recurring donors?

Welp, recurring donations through GoFundMe Charity are being cut off on Sept 30, 2021. So... they're just gonna go *poof*.

And with recurring donors being the backbone of donor-based charitable funding, their cancellation is a tough pill to swallow. ...which is why we're gonna say it again: download your data from GoFundMe Charity and get it into Funraise.

Yeah, it's a PITA, but setting up a Funraise Free account takes 10 minutes. And losing those recurring donors is more than just losing some supporters or a little bit of revenue; for nonprofits that have been hard-hit by the pandemic, this could be the end of the road. Make sure you're supported by Funraise when GoFundMe Charity unceremoniously cancels your recurring donations.

Download your data from GoFundMe Charity

In your account, click the “Reports” tab, then hover over your report and look for three vertical dots on the right side of your screen. Click those three dots and select "Download Data" from the dropdown options. Here are more visual and comprehensive data downloading instructions if you have trouble getting your data.  

This stinks. We feel how awful this is for nonprofits that rely on GoFundMe Charity. And as always, Funraise has your back—come on over.