As Hurricane Sally makes landfall, our team is also making preparations and working with state and local officials to ensure that GoFundMe recipients will get the help they need. Our giving community always steps up in times of need, and these preparations are to ensure their generosity is protected.

GoFundMe’s Trust & Safety Team briefed officials in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida on the steps we take to protect donors and recipients, and we explained our guarantee that all of the funds raised on GoFundMe go to the right place. GoFundMe will continue to brief state officials in potentially impacted states in the coming days.

One of the main points we discussed is the fact that GoFundMe has the ability to transfer funds directly to those in need. When a fundraiser is created to help another person or family, the funds are collected, held, and then transferred directly to the beneficiary of the GoFundMe rather than to the organizer. That’s just one of the many ways we secure the platform and make sure the money quickly gets to the right party.

Our team will provide around-the-clock support. We are hoping for the best, planning for the worst, and we will stay in close touch with all organizers and beneficiaries to ensure the resources get to people in need as soon as possible.

Below you will find additional information on the GoFundMe Guarantee and all of our measures to secure the platform.

How funds are released
It’s helpful to know how a donation ends up getting to a beneficiary (the person or group a fundraiser is intended to benefit). As stated above, funds are collected by our payment processors, held, and then released only to the person named as the beneficiary. If any questions arise, our team will hold the funds unless the beneficiary is verified to our satisfaction. This layer of protection ensures that funds go only into the right hands.

We are here to help
There are two crucial features users can find on each and every GoFundMe: a contact button for the organizer (the person who started the fundraiser), and a ‘Report Fundraiser’ button. If you have any questions about the fundraiser, you can easily reach the organizer and ask them directly. In addition, clicking the ‘Report Fundraiser’ will result in one of our specialists investigating the fundraiser. If you can’t find the fundraiser you want to report, then you can send us a message here, and please provide as much information as you can about the fundraiser. We take these reports very seriously and will take immediate action if anything is wrong.

When all is said and done, what matters to us most is that you are protected and those who need help get the help they deserve. If you have a question, please let us know.

We hope this sheds light on our safety and security measures. For additional information, please visit our Safety hub at https://www.gofundme.com/c/safety. All donors are protected by a refund policy. For more information about the GoFundMe Guarantee, visit https://www.gofundme.com/c/safety/gofundme-guarantee.