What to know about being added as a beneficiary

Being added as a beneficiary means that someone is raising money on your behalf and they want to make sure that you receive funds directly in your own bank account. The organiser of a fundraiser can invite a beneficiary during the bank transfer process. We know you might have a lot on your plate right now, so we want to make this process as simple as possible.

Please consider the information below when deciding whether or not to accept a beneficiary invitation.

• Secure transfer of funds
• Your name will appear on the fundraiser 
• Responsible for setting up bank transfers
• Sending thank-you notes and posting updates
• Changing a beneficiary

Secure transfer of funds 

If someone has raised funds for you, it’s always best for you to be added as the beneficiary so you can transfer them directly to your bank. We want to make sure you have the funds available to use as quickly as possible, and by doing this, you’ll have control over the frequency you receive money and will easily be able to keep track of what has been sent.

Your name will appear on the fundraiser page 

The fundraiser page will show your name as the recipient of funds ("Organiser Name is organising this fundraiser on behalf of Beneficiary Name."), and we can't modify that wording. We promote complete transparency on GoFundMe, but if this is an issue for privacy or safety reasons, we understand you might not want your full name to appear publicly.
In those cases, you can make your GoFundMe account name a nickname or alias. However, please make sure that you use your full, legal name when setting up transfers. (This information will not appear publicly.)
If you’re in a situation when you’re receiving funds but they aren’t actually being used by you, we’d recommend making that clear in the fundraiser story or by posting an update.

You’ll be responsible for setting up bank transfers to your own bank account 

Once you’ve accepted the beneficiary invitation through your email and created your GoFundMe account, you’ll be able to add your bank account details. You can read more about the process of setting up bank transfers in this article.
As the beneficiary, you’ll need to meet all of the requirements, including:

• Have a bank account in the supported country the fundraiser was started in
• be 18 years of age or older
• have some form of tax ID number in the supported country that the fundraiser was started in
• be able to set up the transfers through your own GoFundMe account

If you’ve already set up bank transfers but are having trouble receiving funds, please read more here.

You can send thank you notes and post updates on the fundraiser 

The beneficiary can send thank you notes to donors and post updates on the fundraiser page, but won’t be able to edit the actual content of the fundraiser (such as the story or main image). Thank you notes and updates are a great way for you to keep donors involved and to share any information about what the fundraiser has meant to you. You can have a look at these articles to learn more about sending thank you notes and posting updates.

You can change who receives the money if you’re no longer able to 

If you’ve already accepted your beneficiary invitation but don't want to transfer the funds anymore, please fill in this form so our team can help you and your organiser make this change. You can also read this article for more information about that process.