How to Help: Winter Storm Relief

At GoFundMe, we are working around the clock to help ensure these impacted communities receive the support they need. We remain committed to distributing funds as quickly as possible, balancing speed with safety to ensure fundraisers are in compliance with relevant international laws, global regulations, and requirements dictated by our payment processors. To make it easier for people who want to help those affected, this page will continue to be updated with fundraisers as they are verified by our Trust & Safety team.

We have a team of experts working to review fundraisers related to this crisis and prevent misuse. During humanitarian disasters and other crises, our team proactively monitors and verifies fundraisers so the communities impacted can receive the quick and trusted support they need. For our team to verify a fundraiser, it must be clear who the organizer is, as well as the person, business, or charity they are raising funds for, the organizer’s relationship to the recipient of the funds, and how the funds will be used. To help keep the platform safe, donations are processed by our payment partners, held, and then released only to the person named as the recipient of the funds (the beneficiary). Before funds are transferred to the beneficiary, their personal information must be verified. If any questions arise, our processors will hold the funds until the recipient is verified. Donors are also protected by the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee. The first and only donor protection guarantee in the crowdfunding industry, the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee, guarantees donors a full refund in the rare case that something isn’t right.

Over the past 15 years and through hundreds of crises, GoFundMe has developed a robust process to prevent fraud, including image and video review to mitigate copycats and abusive behavior, a robust human review from our world-class Trust & Safety experts, and technical tools designed to catch misuse, including identity verification and machine learning to catch higher-risk donations. We report misuse and abuse to law enforcement. Additionally, we allow anyone to report a fundraiser for suspicious activity at any time, and our team will promptly review it. We want to hear from you. If you see something, please tell us. Here's how report a fundraiser.

It is always free to set up a fundraiser. If you raise funds, we collect standard transaction fees of 2.9% + $0.30 per donation, which helps us pay our payment processors and safely deliver funds. GoFundMe is primarily powered by voluntary tips and relies on these completely optional contributions to run our platform. Learn more about our pricing.

You can transfer the donations you've received from your GoFundMe account to your bank account in a few steps. First, decide whose bank will receive the funds. You can have the donations sent to your personal bank account or someone else can withdraw the funds. If you select someone else, the beneficiary will be the one who adds banking information. Next, add personal and bank information. Our payment partner will use the information you enter to verify who you are. Your information needs to match your government-issued photo ID exactly. In order to ensure that funds reach the right place we may ask for a copy of your bank statement, government-issued photo ID, or information on your relationship to the fundraiser. Once your details have been verified, funds will transfer from GoFundMe to the bank account on file.

As part of our review process to distribute the funds raised, we may need to gather additional documentation to verify your identity or the identity of the recipient, as well as plans to distribute funds. We know getting money to people as quickly as possible is important, however, this is necessary to meet payment processor requirements and help ensure the fundraiser is compliant with our Terms of Service. The information you share is only required for internal GoFundMe verification purposes and will be used in compliance with our Privacy Policy: https://www.gofundme.com/privacy

We are required to verify the identity of anyone raising the funds, the intended recipients, as well as the reason for raising funds to ensure it is in accordance with applicable laws. As part of this process, it may take some time while we work with you to complete required reviews. This time for review may increase during high-volume times. We appreciate your patience as we work as quickly as possible to support you and your fundraising efforts.

At GoFundMe, we pride ourselves on providing secure fundraising you can count on during times of crisis. If your fundraiser is under review, please respond to our outreach and work with our team to address the questions that prompted the review. We are a trusted leader in online fundraising and our global team of Trust & Safety specialists allows both our fundraisers and donors to be confident funds will get to the right place.

Our Trust & Safety team will communicate with you through the email address you used to set up your GoFundMe account and fundraiser. Please be sure to monitor the email address for any important updates or notifications from our team that impact your ability to continue fundraising. If you are not receiving notifications from our GoFundMe team, please check your spam mail folder.