Trust and Safety

To protect our community, our global Trust & Safety team works around the clock to review fundraisers, prevent misuse, and prioritize the integrity of our platform. Our industry experience and expertise allow us to deliver help at scale, distribute funds quickly and securely, and  comply with global laws and regulations. 

Every donor is protected by the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee, which guarantees a full refund in the rare case something isn’t right, for a full year after donating. You can find more details here.

To learn more about the steps we take to ensure our community’s safety, click here.

Fundraiser Review Processes  

Community Reporting:

Every fundraiser on GoFundMe has a “report fundraiser” button where anyone can alert our Trust & Safety team to concerns about misuse or a violation of our Terms of Service.  Donors can also use the “report fundraiser” button to request a refund, and beneficiaries can use the function to report a fundraiser from which they are owed funds. Additional information is available here. 

Our Trust & Safety team reviews and assesses all reports promptly. We may request further information and evidence to complete a review.

Content Moderation Reviews:

We use internal and external systems to flag fundraisers, which include a combination of machine learning and human review to surface potential content violations as they relate to media and text. Our systems are designed to detect illegal, inappropriate, harmful, violent, hateful, or explicit content that violates our Terms of Service. Once surfaced for review, analysts will check flagged content against our Terms of Service and applicable content requirements. Depending on the outcome, analysts may ban or disable the account, suspend or terminate the fundraiser, remove the offending user content, pause donations, place a hold on transfers, report to law enforcement authorities, or otherwise take appropriate legal action.

Transfer holds

GoFundMe may place a hold on a fundraiser, temporarily restricting the ability to transfer funds until further information is obtained. While we may pause outgoing transfers, we do our best to allow donations during our review. 

When transfers are paused, GoFundMe will contact the appropriate user to gather information to assist with our investigation. These outreaches typically concern the following:

• We require additional information to confirm whether your fundraiser complies with our Terms of Service;
• A fundraiser or organizer has violated our Terms of Service;
• The funds available should be provided directly to a person other than the organizer, such as a beneficiary or person entitled by law to act on behalf of an organizer;
• Concerning or fraudulent donation activity; or 
• Actions required to comply with a court order, subpoena, writ, injunction, or as otherwise required under applicable laws, regulations, or legal order.

For additional information about GoFundMe’s information request process and transfer holds, click here.

Audit and Assessment

GoFundMe regularly conducts internal and external voluntary reviews of all our policies and procedures. These are conducted to help ensure ongoing compliance with both regulatory and contractual obligations in addition to making sure we are acting in the best interest of our community.

Routine assessments are used to identify gaps, proactively address issues, and refine our processes. Through these reviews, we continuously evaluate how well we are protecting customers and help to ensure that everyone in our community is treated fairly.