Attorney General Charity Clark announced on Mar. 3 that she, along with 21 other attorneys general and charitable regulators, sent a letter to GoFundMe demanding proof that the company has removed all unauthorized donation web pages using charities’ information without their consent.
The action follows reports that GoFundMe created plagiarized fundraising pages for over 1.4 million charities nationwide, allegedly without the prior knowledge or approval of those organizations. The coalition expressed serious concerns about potential violations of state charitable solicitation and consumer protection laws.
GoFundMe is a for-profit Delaware corporation based in California and registered as a charitable fundraising platform. According to the letter, the company published donation pages containing inaccurate information about charities, which led to solicitations that were described as deceptive and misleading acts.
In their communication, the attorneys general called for immediate remedial measures from GoFundMe. These include providing proof within 14 days that all unauthorized donation web pages have been taken down.
Clark was joined by officials from California, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin in sending this letter. A copy of the correspondence is available on the Vermont Attorney General’s website.
The coalition’s actions highlight growing scrutiny over online fundraising platforms’ practices regarding transparency and accuracy when soliciting donations on behalf of nonprofit organizations.
