GoFundMe Reviews

GoFundMe allows you to create personal fundraising pages for just about anything.

Have you had experience with GoFundMe? What do you think? Leave your comments below.

P.S. Please provide honest reviews and do not try to pump your own product / service. Reviews are analysed through various means including checking out the IP address, email address and more. This ensures only true opinions are being reflected! :)

 

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No Customer Service Available

Apr 20, 2015 by Debra Hodges

I have been trying to withdrawal my funds for over a week! There is no one to actually talk with and they send "canned" responses to emails. I am ready to call my Oregon State Attorney Generals office.

The website is difficult to use or edit! Love the idea but there is no real human to talk with and their 800 number goes in circles. Totally frustrated with their lack of customer service!


GFM is Legit. What is better?

Mar 29, 2015 by Ellen

I read the reviews and now in quandry. What is getter crowdfunding method for a personal project?
I understand about necessity of fees but am reticent to set a goal, and yet not receive what has been donated until stated goal is attained.


Too good to be true

Mar 13, 2015 by Andrew

As a cancer patient last year, my friends set up a GoFundMe account to help offset my medical expenses. Not only does GFM take 5% of overall funds raised they also submit your account to the IRS to be taxed as a business entity come tax time. So, say you raised $400k. Some lucky bastard is going to get a tax form saying you owe taxes on $400k. If you really want to help, give money directly, don't used GFM.


Mar 03, 2015 by airrion

I'm wondering if we raised $1,655 why gofundme is trying to pay us $900, that's more than 7.9% I've emailed 3x and no one has responded also I've called severs numbers and still no respond.


tim wood

Feb 27, 2015 by Sandy Wood

I have read the reviews, there is a a Memorial fund set up by missy wood. We are a family divided, I'm not happy with the contents of her campaign regarding me his wife. WITH THAT , they are working very hard to make there goals for a resting place for there dad and others. All the people that has made evey effort to make this happen are very hard working individual. I hope GOFUNDME , don't take advantage of their situation, and give them the money that has been donated to them . God is watching.


GO FUND & WE PAY did not release my funds

Feb 25, 2015 by Adriana Tamayo

I had requested $499 to be withdrawn from the Go Fund account so that I could pay for an archaeology field school in Italy. I learned 3 days later, as I waited for my funds in the bank, that WE PAY cancelled my deposit. I learned that GO FUND and WE PAY had put in the wrong account number. I have to wait another 4 to 7 days for the money to re-deposit. Due to that error, I was not able to make the deadline for the field school. Hence, I will not be going to Italy. GO FUND "Meaghan" Ms Customer Happiness stated it was my error. According to my bank it was not. If anyone is thinking of GO FUND, don't. Raise the funds on your own through other means. I was a cancer survivor and they destroyed my dream!


fraud

Feb 20, 2015 by Elena Naskova

Once my campaign was done they refused to release the funds, clamming that they're trying to protect the people who donated to my campaign from me, who may be a fraud. All this after they allowed donation to my campaign. So if I'm the fraud, why would they open it out for people to donate? So GoFundMe will get the money and hold on to it? Who is the fraud here?

I collected the money for charity, and once I closed the campaign and asked to withdraw the money, I went ahead and gave the money to charity thinking the withdrawal will come in a few days. I put a copy of the receipt from the charity on my campaign. And they still won't release the money, because I didn't prove that I'm not a fraud.

Absolute bull. Don't ever use them.


i cant get any customer service !

Feb 06, 2015 by charles clark

My dad said he put $100 in my account and its not there . Where is it ?! This is the crappiest site ever


Why shut down some but they won't stop Jahi McMath's

Dec 15, 2014 by Susan Woodrell

They shut down some, but they won't shut down Jahi McMath's?. I've read about some fund raisers being shut down. So why do they allow a fund raiser run by Natasha Winkfield?. She's been scamming people for money to care for her DEAD CHILD for a whole year now!. The dead do not come to life,not since the Lord Jesus. I've contacted GoFundMe repeatedly. They reply that they will check into it. They then reply again that the fund raiser is perfectly legit. Some branch of law enforcement should go ahead and arrest these people. I just don't understand how that family of money hungry ghouls has gotten away with this at all,never mind a whole damned year.
If it were possible I would have given it NO STARS!. That's the only reason I gave the GoFundMe site one star.


the site sucks

Nov 19, 2014 by Chasity Radcliff

This company, and their use of WePay is one of the worst experiences of my life. There is no real customer support and they will suspend your campaign with no REAL explanation of why. Their reliance on WePay (which i've since researched and now see all the bad reviews) is the biggest detriment. The only real customer service support is emails and chats. Just like every other "start-up" tech company ive taken a chance on, this company has policies that hide them from any real accountability on how they treat their customers. Go with a more established brand (Kickstarter) if possible.

I just felt very used, cheated, and disrespected after trying to use this company for my campaign. Don't believe the slick marketing campaigns!!! VERY BAD EXPERIENCE!


OUTRAGEOUS FEES

Aug 10, 2014 by L Devine

Unbelievable that GFM charges 5% of the total and then the "We Pay" service charges another 2.9% and $.30 per transaction! Ridiculous to charge nearly 8% for people trying to raise money that they need, or are trying to help others with.
Looking for another way to raise funds for a friend with cancer and his family - this is no good!


Better than old reviews say

Aug 04, 2014 by Ruadhán McElroy / OfThespiae

It's a lot better than a lot of the older reviews here may lead one to believe. I've done two fundraisers through GoFundMe, both personal (one still going, in order to raise money for moving, as I'm on disability allowance and it would take me years to save up, otherwise --or at least four months on the streets, neither of which is an acceptable option, right now), and I've had no problems, except their fees.

Setting up the WePay direct deposits is a bit of a pain, but if you do it properly, you have the option to get payments from donors daily, weekly, or monthly. If you set up for personal use funding (rather than for a project, like how Kickstarter expects people to do, or IndieGoGo, which really wants people to collect for projects) there seems to be no applicable time limit on collection (I've never had to enter in a "need funds by..." date).

My only real issue is that their fees are higher than most other crowdfunding sites I've used. If you factor that into the amount you're trying to raise, it shouldn't be a BIG problem, but it's not really a non-issue, either, especially if you're disabled and on a fixed income and already feeling awkward about asking people for money you *need*, and when you're breaking down the costs on your GFM page, you get to "GoFundMe fees and miscellaneous expenses", and you realise that you've just admitted to asking for more money than you actually need, cos you can't afford the crowdfunding fees.

It's not as bad as the older reviews on here say, and I've never had a problem receiving a payment from them, but if it wasn't for the fact that it really seems to be the best option for people who need donated money for personal emergencies, rather than people who are raising money for charities or creative projects, I might turn eslewhere.


Too many scams

Jul 04, 2014 by Jayne Nelson

Go fund me was a good idea in the beginning but expensive. Now it's like craigslist, mostly scams. Sad but hopefully someone will come up with a new platform that actually does some checking on the stories.


No problems, great site!

Jun 07, 2014 by Lucy

I would have rated 4 stars, but I feel compelled to balance out the people who misused, misunderstood and were completely mistaken.

To the person who asked donors for a second payment in check form, you should be ashamed.

For everyone complaining about fees:
1. Be grateful for what people earned and donated to your cause.
2. If this site didn't exist you would have gotten nothing, and it is on the back of that 5% that the bills are paid there.
3. WePay is a separate company, which means there is a cost for the website as well, whether you use it or not.
4. Anyone with "suspicious activity," get your story straight before posting online and before complaining especially. A person donating to her husbands fund is suspicious to me already.


great site easy way to raise money

Apr 18, 2014 by travus

i would give 5 stars if there was other ways to share i just don't use twitter very often and i use Facebook very rarely. aside from that i think its cool that sites like this exist.

http://www.gofundme.com/dads-pain


Sep 16, 2013 by Shelli Stockton

Great idea but horrible site! Besides the fees, if you don't reach your goal, you don't get the money. We set it up for my brother's unexpected death for funeral costs and the goal was set at $5,500 we raised $1,595 and couldn't get any of it and having to ask donors 2 weeks later to send you a check is so embarrassing!


not so great

Aug 14, 2013 by lux omor

It's really helpful but the fees are way too much. I suggest you use another site. So far I've raised 720 but if I withdraw now I'll only get 657. Terrible almost 50 bucks in fees.


DO NOT USE THIS SITE

Mar 26, 2013 by lisa dolsey

We thought it was legit but when my husband tried to collect his funds (after numerous calls) they claimed there was "suspicious activity" on the account. When he asked what kind of activity (especially since they had told him a check was mailed "no problem") (and that he worked with everyone who donated) they would not disclose what the "activity" was.

He was put on hold 5 times in 1 hour and hung up on without any interaction. I donated to his charity, paid my credit card bill and have not received the refund they claimed they sent to all the donors.

My husband was given the runaround for 2 months before the "suspicious activity" was reported to him and no supervisor or higher up will take his call to explain what is going on with the account.

I highly DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS WAY OF FUNDRAISING. I am calling our local tv troubleshooter to ask for help.


Too Expensive and Very Sneaky

Feb 05, 2013 by grace

I have been researching crowdfunding recently for one of my start-up clients. When my step-son passed at 34, I thought it would be a great way to socially access my network and my network's connections and put together some much needed cash for my daughter-in-law.

I made the mistake of choosing a site quickly - and not reading the fine print.

I, just like the reviewer below, was in shock when almost 10% of the raised funds were all that were transferred. $2500 raised and they kept nearly $250.
This might be tolerable if it was CLEAR up front, and if I could make the minimum investment high enough to stomach the minimum per transaction fee. For $10 investments - darn near 1/2 went to the site.
Oh, and the reason I chose this site was the 'facebook integration' which SORT OF works. I had about a 50% success rate with my posts, and manually posted to my wall daily.

Bad form GoFundMe... clearly GoFundMe means THEM and not the cause for which we raise money.

Ok to solve this, I suggest:
Fixing the facebook link
Add other relevant features
Drastically reduce your %% in the case of memorial funds and raising money for operations... 5% is a no brainer (if it is the total fee) Consider it your community service.


Mildly Helpful but Expensive and Sneaky

Jan 19, 2013 by Al

Like other people said - the site only advertises the 5% fee (a little hefty already, but I decided it was worth it), but there's also a 2.9%+$0.30 fee charged by their payment processor that you don't even hear about until your fundraiser is nearly completely set up. And even then they don't make it clear that this additional fee is on top of the 5%. I suspected (hoped!) that it was included in the 5%... alas it isn't.

Really sneaky and deceptive, left a bad taste in my mouth.

Don't be fooled, the total fee per transaction is not 5%, it's 7.9%+$0.30. If you're looking for a $5 donation from each person, you're really only keeping $4.30 (86% of the donation).


Crowdfunding Websites , USA 1.7 5.0 109 109 GoFundMe will seize the funds from causes that they don't agree with. Find another option.
RECOMMENDED CROWDFUNDING WEBSITES:

GoGetFunding is our recommended website for personal / cause fundraising.

Kickstarter is recommended for creative all-or-nothing campaigns.

Crowdfunder.com is the place to go for equity crowdfunding.