Bipartisan Group of State Attorneys General and State Charity Regulators Send Letter to GoFundMe: Implications for Charities and Companies On March 3, 2026, a coalition of state attorneys general and charity regulators sent a formal letter to GoFundMe, raising concerns about the platform’s practice of creating donation pages for over 1.4 million charities without prior consent. The letter highlighted several issues, including the display of inaccurate charity information, failure to disclose the use of donor-advised fund structures, misleading claims of charity affiliation, and the inclusion of a default “tip” that benefited GoFundMe rather than the charities. The states warned that these actions could violate state charitable laws and consumer protection statutes, citing problems such as lack of required consent, deceptive practices, and insufficient disclosures. The letter demanded that GoFundMe take immediate steps to address these concerns. Specifically, the states required the platform to prove that all unauthorized donation pages had been removed, confirm that prior consent is now mandatory for charity fundraising pages, and demonstrate that takedown procedures are fully implemented. Additionally, GoFundMe was asked to explain how its search engine optimization practices have been adjusted to prevent charities’ official fundraising channels from being overshadowed by unauthorized pages. The states also called for a comprehensive review of GoFundMe’s policies, including whether to redirect “tips” collected by the platform to the charities themselves. GoFundMe was given 14 days from the date of the letter to respond, with a warning that further investigative requests from interested states were expected.#gofundme #state_attorneys_general #charity_regulators #donation_pages #charitable_laws
