How do I Withdraw Money?

You’ve made your fundraiser, shared it, and now you’re ready to withdraw the funds you've raised. We're here to help.

This article covers the following topics:

• Step 1. Start by selecting "Withdraw" on your fundraiser Dashboard.
• Step 2: Confirm your email
• Step 3: Verify your phone number
• Step 4: Select beneficiary
• Step 5: Adding your personal information
• Step 6: Adding your banking information
• Step 7: Documents needed for verification

Important Withdrawal Expectations

We know that when raising funds for certain causes, like funeral expenses or posting bail (for issues that don't violate our terms of service here), that funds are needed immediately. Please understand that the withdrawal process always takes a least a few days (please note the specific timelines below), so setting up withdrawals at the earliest possible time is essential. 

After you add your banking information and set up withdrawals, new donations that come into your fundraiser will go through a verification process, which can take 1-7 business days (weekends and holidays do not count as business days). 

Once they become available, all verified donations held within the GoFundMe will be automatically sent at the frequency that you choose: daily, weekly, or monthly (note, some accounts created on or after May 29th, 2020 may only have the daily setting), as long as the withdrawals have been set up and verified. As soon as funds are sent, they will arrive to your bank in 2-5 business days. Please read more information below regarding withdrawal verification requirements. 

Check out our helpful video and article below for an overview of how to withdraw your funds.

Please note, this video shows the withdrawals for a GoFundMe in the US. If your withdrawal setup looks slightly different, please continue reading for more information.

If the person withdrawing meets the requirements, please follow the steps below. 

Step 1. Start by selecting "Withdraw" on your fundraiser Dashboard. 

If you don't see the option to withdraw (shown below), you are likely a team member, or have a certified charity fundraiser, and are not in charge of the withdrawals.

Note: If you are on the app, the "Withdraw" button will be located here, instead:

Step 2: Confirm your email

If you haven’t done so by this point, you will need to confirm your email. Click here if you are not receiving the verification email.

Step 3: Verify your phone number

If your phone number hasn’t been verified from your device in the last 30 days, you’ll be prompted to add your number after selecting “Set up withdrawals”. This is an important security feature called Multi-Factor Authentication and it’s a way of protecting your information from being tampered with.

Enter the 5-digit code contained within the message, and not the 6-digit number (732873) the code is sent from.

Step 4: Select beneficiary

• Myself: choosing “Myself” means that you will be either withdrawing to your own personal bank account or to an organization's bank account that you manage money for (You must be a financial administrator for the organization to add the organization's banking information). Do not select "Myself" and then add another individual's personal banking information. 
• Someone else: Choosing "Someone else" means that you’re adding a beneficiary who will withdraw to their personal bank account or to the organization that they manage.
• Personal or Organization: “Personal” means that an individual will be withdrawing to their own bank account. “Organization” will set a company up to add their bank account. Learn more about organization withdrawals here.

If you’re not using Stripe or the PayPal Giving Fund, but you still don’t see an "Organization" option, please reach out to us if you need help withdrawing to an organization's bank.

Keep in mind, funds from charity fundraisers are sent directly to the charity via PayPal Giving Fund. With personal fundraisers, you are able to add your bank information directly, but you cannot send your funds directly to your PayPal.

If you chose “Someone else” to withdraw

You will then be directed to send an email invitation to the person managing withdrawals. If the invitation doesn’t send, try sending it to another email of theirs. It usually does the trick! If they don't have an email, we recommend setting them up with a Gmail so that they can withdraw.

• Make sure this person meets the requirements to withdraw from your fundraiser.
• Choose wisely. Only one person is allowed to withdraw per each fundraiser. Once funds go out, you cannot change the person who withdraws.

If you chose “Myself” you will verify your own personal information and connect your bank. Do not add someone else’s bank information to your own GoFundMe.

Step 5: Adding your personal information

This information is used by our payment processor during their verification process to ensure that funds are sent safely to the intended recipient.

This is an example of information needed for a US GoFundMe, so other countries will be slightly different.

Please keep the following in mind when entering your personal information:

1. Be sure to enter your name and physical address as it shows on your current government-issued ID.  Do not enter an abbreviated name or a nickname.
2. Our payment processor will need to verify a residential address, so please do not enter a PO box for your address.
3. Enter the correct 2 letter abbreviation for your state if you’re in the US (such as “WA” for Washington). 

If you receive an error message preventing you from progressing past this screen, it usually means that part of the address information was entered incorrectly. Please double check the postal code and state/province abbreviation.

Step 6: Adding your banking information

GoFundMe does not necessarily verify whether your banking information is correct before withdrawals are sent out, so it's up to you to ensure that there are absolutely no typos or incorrect information.

To ensure that you have the correct bank information, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Double check that you're using an ACH or EFT transfer number and that it goes with your correct bank
2. Make sure the name you entered when filling out the personal information matches the owner of the bank account. Do not fill out your own personal information and then someone else's banking information.
3. Verify the correct information with your bank before you begin withdrawals. This is always good to do before finalizing your withdrawals.

BIC numbers (For Australian customers)

A BIC (Bank Identifier Code) is the SWIFT Address assigned to a bank in order to send automated payments quickly and accurately. It uniquely identifies the name and country, (and sometimes the branch) of the bank involved. BICs are often called SWIFT Codes and can be either 8 or 11 characters long. You may be able to find this number on your bank statement, but if you are unable to, please call your bank and ask them to provide this for you.

Something went wrong error

If you receive an error that says "Something went wrong - Contact our team", please check the following:

• Do you have the correct routing number?  In the US, routing numbers are exactly 9 digits long and you will need to use the number for ACH (also known as EFT) transfers only. Contact your bank for the most accurate information.
• Are you entering the correct state or province code? It will need to be 2 letters long. For example, if you are in California, you will need to enter "CA". If you are in Alberta, you will need to enter "AB".
• Are you entering an address that starts with a letter? If so, you'll need to start the address with a number, then a letter. Do not enter a PO box when filling out your personal information.
• Are you entering your IBAN in the correct format? For European bank accounts with an IBAN, you will need to input your IBAN with capital letters and without spaces. 

Please keep in mind, our payment partner isn’t able to offer partial withdrawals, so each time a withdrawal initiates, it will always be for your full available balance. This is because they’re an online payment processor and aren’t allowed to act as a bank by holding your funds for long periods of time. Each time a withdrawal initiates, it'll always be for your full available balance.

Withdrawing will not affect your fundraiser at all. Your fundraiser's "Total Amount Raised" meter will stay the same and you can continue accepting donations for as long as you’d like.

Step 7: Documents Needed for Verification

If you set up withdrawals but haven't received the funds to your bank account 2-5 business days after you got an email notifying you that they've been sent, it's likely that our payment processor sent you an email requesting more information.

Please look through your email inbox for a message titled "Action required - upload documents." or "Action Required: Withdrawal setup failed" If you don't see that email, you can also click "Withdraw" within your GoFundMe dashboard to see if you're prompted to upload documents there. If you are, you'll be asked to verify your information and then upload documents directly through your GoFundMe account, as shown below: 

Read more about the documents needed for withdrawing here.