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GoFundMe

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LAST UPDATED: March 25th, 2024

GoFundMe, the world's largest crowdfunding platform, is committed to turning compassion into action by providing individuals, teams, organizations, and nonprofits with the means to raise money for the causes they care about.

The process of creating a GoFundMe campaign is quick and easy. Users must first create a GoFundMe account, through with they set a fundraiser goal, tell their story, and then share the campaign with friends via email, text, and/or social media. Once donations begin coming in, users can easily manage funds and withdraw them as needed.

Whatever your fundraising needs may be, GoFundMe is a great option. Continue reading for pros and cons, and GoFundMe reviews from real customers.

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The Good

  • Fund Type
  • Fees
  • Maximum Allowed Raise
  • Deadlines
  • GoFundMe Charity
  • Administrative Work Options
  • Receiving Funds

Fund Type

GoFundMe uses a 'Keep What You Raised' funding type. With GoFundMe, reaching your goal is not required. This works well because you keep each and every donation you receive, no matter if you are running a personal campaign or a campaign on behalf of a team or organization. Some other crowdfunding campaign platforms operate under an "all-or-nothing" model, meaning that if you don't reach your fundraising goal, you won't receive any money.

Fees

GoFundMe doesn't charge anything to create and share your online fundraising campaign, nor do they charge for using the platform. GoFundMe is almost entirely free except for the payment processing fee or transaction fee, which is approximately 3 percent and will be deducted from each donation. This fee helps GoFundMe remain as a safe place to donate.

There is no partial or non-completion fee in the case you do not complete your campaign. There are crowdfunding companies that do charge you a fee if you fail to meet your campaign goal, so this is definitely a perk of going with GoFundMe.

Maximum Allowed Raise

Many crowdfunding platforms using donation models for individuals have a maximum amount or limit to what funding amount you can raise. GoFundMe has no funding limit. This lets you raise as much as you want or need in one campaign.

Deadlines

With GoFundMe, there are no deadlines or time-limits. Your campaign will remain live until you choose to stop donations or remove the campaign altogether. In some cases, users have left their campaigns up indefinitely as a lasting memory of all the wonderful comments and support they received. This is a great policy for personal fundraisers. Sometimes people can't donate within 30 or 40 days (a typical deadline for many crowdfunding platforms), so having an indefinite deadline can work well.

GoFundMe Charity

Through GoFundMe Charity, charities across North America can support and amplify their causes, subscription-free. Designed specifically for nonprofit organizations, the platform provides access to a variety of resources, including donor analytics and event registration software and more. 

Administrative Work Options

GoFundMe offers users several automated features for administrative tasks, which are extremely helpful for individuals trying to run an effective campaign without past experience. Even if they have experience, admin tasks take a lot of time and can get confusing the larger the donator pool gets.

GoFundMe's automotive administrative task features include: Thank You Messages: You can thank donators individually by selecting a recent donation and clicking the 'Say Thanks' button. GoFundMe will let you personalize the message and send it directly to the donor's email address.

Update Feature: In doing so, you can choose to share the post with your current supporters and donors - you can even share the Update on Facebook to attract more support. Update messages can also include up to 3 photos or videos. GoFundMe's 'Update' feature is a great way to keep your campaign fresh and your donators up to date without having to do it manually, which would take a lot of time away from campaigning.

Quick Assistance: GoFundMe will generally respond to your emails within 30 minutes during the day with any questions you have about your campaign.

Receiving Funds

Typically on crowdfunding platforms you have to wait until the end of your campaign to begin collecting funds. With GoFundMe, you can request your money right away as the donations come in or you can choose to withdraw your balance directly to your bank account (campaigns in the US may also request a check). Withdrawals may be made daily, weekly, or monthly and will always process for the full available balance in the user's WePay account. Funds may be received via electronic bank transfer within 2-5 business days, or paper check within 7-10 business days. (Daily checks are not available, weekly or monthly only.) 

Although you can request a withdrawal at any time, the time it takes to receive funds is a bit long when compared to other crowdfunding sites that can sometimes do it in as soon as 24 hours.

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The Bad

  • Model Type
  • No PayPal

Model Type

GoFundMe operates as a Donation Model. Equity model campaigns are not offered through GoFundMe. A donation model is a good thing for personal fundraising, but GoFundMe recommends signing up with your Facebook account if you want to appear in GoFundMe's Public Search Directory. 

Although this is optional, it actually isn't if you want your campaign to be featured publicly on their website. Not everyone has a Facebook account or wants to open one, or perhaps they would prefer to keep their profile off a public platform like GoFundMe.

No PayPal

It's important to note that although PayPal Giving Fund is GoFundMe's payment processor for their charity campaigns, there is still no PayPal for personal fundraising.

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The Bottom Line

It's no surprise that GoFundMe is one of the world's most popular crowdfunding sites. The company is highly successful. Customer Happiness representatives deliver answers to questions in a timely manner, (often within 30 minutes or less of submission), there's plenty of flexibility with funding options, and there are no limits on how much you can raise and no time restraints. GoFundMe is also the cheapest crowdfunding platform out there. A downside is that equity model campaigns are not offered and PayPal cannot be used for personal fundraising, but all in all, users can expect a convenient, simple experience when funding.

Based on customer reviews, the majority of which are positive, we would recommend GoFundMe for your fundraising needs. Satisfied customers most often remark on how easy it is to use GoFundMe, including setting up a campaign and managing funds. In addition, they note how GoFundMe is a trustworthy company and they feel comfortable donating through the platform. Of the negative reviews, customers most often detail withdrawal difficulties and unexplained account issues.

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Star Rating

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4.3

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462 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

65%

4 grade

13%

3 grade

3%

2 grade

2%

1 grade

18%

Sentiment Criteria

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Adria Moskowitz Kirkland, WA

GoFundMe asked me to submit a review. Negative: When I first tried to set up my account, it claimed my userid already existed. I did not set up a password. It would not let me set up a password. I clicked the link to send me an email to re-set my password. This never arrived. I checked my spam filter. Nothing. Positive: I emailed customer support and told them the re-set password email never arrived. A customer service representative emailed me the re-set password link. Though she did say "the emails probably got stuck in your spam filter." {... so kind of negative cuz I'm not an idiot ...) Go Fund Me is running on completely average!!

5 years ago

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Reply from GoFundMe

We appreciate the feedback, Adria! We're always looking to improve our automated emails, and with your help, we can make the GoFundMe experience better for all!

Jun. 14th, 2018

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Meredith Leah Lincoln Virginia Beach, VA

I have been using GoFundMe to raise money for my medical fund and have had no problems... they do take about 10% of everything you collect but I knew that up front. It does take a few days to get the money transferred from GoFundMe to your actual bank account but I knew that up front, too. I find it pretty easy to use and share and I have no real complaints.

7 years ago

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C. McDaniel Atlanta, GA

Good and bad things to say, one is this does great things for people who really need it, but also it's easy for some to run a scam to get money , make sure you know it's legitimate, not from this company, from people raising money, unfortunately some people are such crooks and makes the whole concept untrustworthy and it shouldn't be

1 year ago

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Amanda George IL

Great tool for someone who needs it but unfortunately they do not remove fraud accounts or fake accounts with false information.

8 months ago

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milton

I can give 3 stars my campaign did not really work due to debit cards not working to make a donation how ever am pleased with the support in general am sure next time I will be very pleased with the donations

5 years ago

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Breanna Jones Herriman, UT

A good way to donate money to someone or a cause. Wish I didn't have to pay a fee to do so. I have seen a lot of people benefit from donations raised.

6 years ago

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Reply from GoFundMe

Thank you for this honest feedback, Breanna.

Since you wrote this review, we've recently updated our fees to remove the 5% platform fee from all US, Canadian, and UK personal fundraising campaigns. There is still a payment processing fee that varies by country, but for the vast majority of GoFundMe users the fees are significantly lower. Instead of the 5% mandatory fee, donors are now asked to make an optional tip to support GoFundMe.

Mar. 6th, 2018

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M Zamora Austin, TX

To many Fees when someone actually needs help you want the funds to go to them not a company

8 months ago

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Joe Mathias

Fees are really higher than advertised. When you get your money about 10% is actually taken out. It would be nice if they meant what they said.

7 years ago

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Trent Provo, UT

Seems like a good site. My only complaint is that I keep getting emails for funds that I am not interested in.

5 years ago

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Reply from GoFundMe

We're so appreciative of your feedback, Trent! We're happy to make sure you're only getting the most essential emails, so if you're still receiving emails you don't want, please contact our Customer Happiness Team. They'll be here to help, 24/7!

Jun. 14th, 2018

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vicki southall Grants Pass, OR

It’s difficukt to get real time answers about donations and eta of funds

6 years ago

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Shanna South Jordan, UT

I like the idea o a go fund me but I don't like that they take a percentage of the donations.

5 years ago

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Reply from GoFundMe

We appreciate your feedback, Shanna! Our free fundraising platform ensures that more of each donation goes to the campaign organizer or beneficiary, and our 2.9% + $0.30 per donation payment processing fees are an industry standard that help facilitate the safe transfer of funds. We're proud to be the safest place to give online, and we're also appreciative of the optional tip that our donors are able to give to GoFundMe. Their tips help power our service. Please do let our team know if we can help with anything else during your GoFundMe journey!

Oct. 18th, 2018

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AlisaD Salt Lake City, UT

Easy to use. Can find a GoFund me for anything.

2 years ago