Donations can be refunded for a variety of reasons, so we’ve compiled the most common reasons below. If you are a GoFundMe organiser and want to know why your donations were refunded, read this article to learn more about Important Verification and Withdrawal Deadlines.
The GoFundMe organiser decided to deactivate their fundraiser
The GoFundMe organiser may have decided to deactivate their fundraiser and refund all of their donors. If you are a donor, it would be best to get in touch with the GoFundMe 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 GoFundMe 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 here to get that process started.
The GoFundMe organiser did not verify their account or withdraw their funds within the deadlines
Due to government regulations, our payment processor cannot hold funds for extended periods of time. Our team sends several reminders to the GoFundMe organiser to assist them with the withdrawal process.
If a GoFundMe organiser does not verify their account email within 30 days, or enter withdrawal information and provide any required verification documentation within 90 days of receiving their first donation, their donations will be automatically refunded in full back to donors. Donors will receive the credit on the card that was used to make the donation within 3-10 working days.
If you are a long-time GoFundMe organiser on GoFundMe and have a Stripe account outside of Canada specifically, donations are refunded before 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 pulling the funds from the GoFundMe organiser’s payment account. If you are a GoFundMe organiser, read this article to learn more about addressing a chargeback.
The donation was made by the GoFundMe organiser
Our payment partners for personal GoFundMe fundraisers don't allow GoFundMe organisers to donate to their own fundraisers, even if the donation was given to you by someone else by cash or cheque.
This can be seen as a cash advance in the banking world and these donations will need to be refunded.