To raise money for someone else, you will need to first make sure that your beneficiary is qualified to withdraw funds in the country and the currency that you signed up with.
Beneficiary Requirements to Withdraw
To withdraw, they will need to be at least 18 years of age, located in the supported country that you're creating your fundraiser in, and capable of providing the following:
- A bank account in that same country
- A bank statement or voided check to verify their bank account
- A physical address in that same country
- A phone number in that same country
- A Tax ID in that same country (or driver's license or passport number in Australia)
- A government-issued ID for that same country
This means, for example, if you created your fundraiser in the US and are raising funds in the US dollar, you cannot add a Canadian beneficiary. They will not be able to withdraw if you do this.
How to invite someone to withdraw
Important to Remember: If you add a beneficiary, but have already set up and verified withdrawals on a previous fundraiser, funds may continue to be sent out to your bank account until your beneficiary has set up their own withdrawals and is fully verified. If you think this might occur on your account, get in touch with us here.
Once your beneficiary has fully verified their withdrawals, then funds will automatically send out to their bank account. If funds are sent out to your account before your beneficiary is verified, you will need to send those funds to them outside of GoFundMe.
Once you have considered the above, you can follow these steps to add a beneficiary:
- Sign in to your GoFundMe account
- Select the “Withdraw” button
- Select the “Set up withdrawals” button
- Select “Someone else”
- Enter your beneficiary's name and email
- Click or tap the “Invite beneficiary” button
If you have already withdrawn some of the funds, this option will not appear. Please contact our team to find out how to best handle your situation if you need to change where the funds are going after withdrawals have started.
Once they accept the invitation, they'll have sole access to withdraw donations. A separate beneficiary account will be created for them that's connected to your fundraiser that you created for them. They can sign into this separate account and withdraw via bank transfer.
Your GoFundMe page will also reflect that you are raising funds on behalf of your beneficiary once the invite has been accepted.
Please note, our payment processors are unable to send funds directly to a third party agency, such as a funeral home or bail bonds service, so please do not attempt to add them as your beneficiary. In these cases, it's best to personally withdraw the funds, and get them to the third party outside of GoFundMe.
Customers who set up a Stripe account in select European countries will not be able to send a beneficiary invitation through their account using the steps listed above. Instead, you can add your beneficiary’s bank information in your own account. This will only work for Stripe accounts. If you have a Stripe account in Canada, then you can follow steps 1-4 above to add a beneficiary to your campaign.
Troubleshooting and FAQs
For a full summary, and a helpful video on how to withdraw, please click here.
If you see a screen similar to the one shown below, it means you are the GoFundMe Organizer and the beneficiary invitation has been sent. You can check the status of the beneficiary's withdrawals and see when they have withdrawn.
If you're trying to send a beneficiary invite, but keep encountering an error, here are a few reasons why:
- The email you are trying to send the invite to is already associated with another GoFundMe account set up with a different payment partner. In this case, you can try sending the invite to an alternate email
- Your device, browser, or internet connection isn’t able to process the invite. We always suggest sending beneficiary invitations from a desktop computer over good internet connection. If you still encounter trouble, try a few different browsers, such as Chrome, Safari, or Firefox
- If you are a team member, and not a GoFundMe organizer, you will not be able to send a beneficiary invite. Only the GoFundMe organizer has access to this option
I was able to send the invitation, but now my beneficiary can’t accept via the beneficiary email. What can I do?
- If the beneficiary already has a GoFundMe account, they can sign in and accept the invitation through their GoFundMe account. If they don’t have an account, they can sign up with the beneficiary email address, and then they can log in to accept the invitation through their account.
I want to add a different beneficiary, why can’t I just change it back?
- When you add a beneficiary, you are giving them control of funds for your GoFundMe account. In order to revert control of funds back to your account or to a new beneficiary account, we require permission from the current beneficiary.
I’m trying to help my beneficiary set up withdrawals, why can’t I see the screen to input their information?
- When you add a beneficiary, control of funds is moved to their account. In order to protect their privacy, you will no longer be able to see the specifics of their withdrawal process. In order for them to set up withdrawals, they must sign into their GoFundMe account, which was created when they accepted the invitation.
I’ve already withdrawn funds, but I want the rest of the money to go to a different place, how do I do this?
- Once personal and banking information has been entered on a GoFundMe account, you will no longer be able to add a beneficiary. If you do want to change where funds will go, please get in touch with us here.