Donations can be refunded for a variety of reasons, so we’ve compiled a list of the most common reasons here.
The campaign organiser decided to deactivate their campaign
The campaign organiser may have decided to deactivate their campaign and refund all of their donors. If you're a donor, it's best to get in touch with the campaign organiser for more information. We can assist you in contacting them if needed.
Our payment processor was unable to verify the donation
Our payment processor may proactively refund donations if they're unable to verify a donor’s identity. These security measures are designed to protect campaign organisers from fraudulent donations.
If you're a donor and would like to contribute again, we can contact our payment processor to verify your identity by reviewing your official photo ID or a link to a social media account, such as Facebook or LinkedIn. Please get in touch with us to get that process started.
The campaign organiser did not withdraw their funds within 90 days
Due to government regulations, our payment processor cannot hold funds for extended periods of time. Our team sends several reminders to the campaign organiser to assist them with the withdrawal process.
If a campaign organiser does not withdraw their funds within 90 days of their first donation, their donations will be automatically refunded in full to donors. Donors will receive the credit on the card that that they used to make the donation within 3–7 working days.
Note: If you are a long-time campaign organiser on GoFundMe and have a Stripe account specifically, donations are refunded within 21 days if you do not activate your account.
The donation was charged back
Donors have the right to initiate a chargeback to reverse a transaction or dispute their donation with their card issuer. This usually happens if the donor does not recognise the charge on their bank statement. This results in the card issuer drawing the funds from the campaign organiser’s payment account. If you are a campaign organiser, follow this link to learn more about addressing a chargeback.
If you’d like more information about an unexpected refund, please select the "Contact Us" button below for further assistance.