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 physical address in that same country
- A phone number in that same country
- A Tax ID in that same country (or driver's license number in Australia)
- A government-issued ID for that same country
This means 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
1. Sign in to your GoFundMe account
2. Select the “Withdraw” button
3. Select the “Set up withdrawals” button
4. Select “Someone else”
5. Enter your beneficiary's name and email
6. Click or tap the “Invite beneficiary” button
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.
If you have already withdrawn some of the funds, this option will not appear.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.
Customers who set up a Stripe account, in select European countries, upon fundraiser creation cannot set up a beneficiary invitation. Instead, you can add your beneficiary’s bank information in your own account. This will only work for Stripe accounts.
Troubleshooting
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.