How to Withdraw Money

You’ve made your fundraiser, shared it, and now you’re ready to add a bank account to receive the funds you raised.

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

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

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

If you don't see the option to withdraw, you likely have a team member account and are not in charge of the withdrawals.

If you click "Withdraw" and you're taken to a page where you see an organization listed below the amount raised, it means that you have a charity fundraiser and that you will not need to withdraw from GoFundMe. Learn more about charity withdrawals here. 

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 haven't received 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 account 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

Once your phone number is verified, you’ll be given the following options to choose who will manage the funds:

• Myself: choosing “Myself” means that you will be either withdrawing to your own bank account or withdrawing 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 sending the funds to someone else’s bank account or you're sending funds to the person managing the money for an organization.
• 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 created a certified charity fundraiser, which is connected to the PayPal Giving Fund you may not need to withdraw. Read more about the certified charity fundraiser and the PayPal Giving fund enrollment process 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 adding organization information to your account.

Keep in mind, charity fundraisers are sent directly to the charity's PayPal Giving Fund account. With personal fundraisers you are able to add your bank account 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 account 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 add your bank account. Do not add someone else’s information to your own account.

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 account, so other countries will be slightly different.

It will be important to keep in mind the following when entering your personal information:

1. Be sure to enter your name and physical address as it shows on your current government-issued ID. 
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 account 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 someone else's banking information.
3. If all else fails, verify the correct information with your bank before you begin 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.

Something went wrong error

If you receive an error when filling out your information that says "Something went wrong - Contact our team" this could be due to a number of reasons. You'll want to 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.

Step 7: Documents Needed for Verification

If you set up withdrawals but haven't received the funds to your bank account in 2-5 business days after you got an email 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." If you don't see that email, you can also click "Withdraw" within your account to see if you're prompted to upload documents there.

This will not happen for every customer, but it's important to have on hand in case they need it.

Read more about the document verification requirement here. 

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 account 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 account will be automatically sent at the frequency that you choose: daily, weekly, or monthly (note, Canadian accounts created on or after May 29th, 2020 may only have the daily setting). As soon as funds are sent, they will arrive to your bank account in 2-5 business days.

No Partial Withdrawals 

Our payment partner isn’t able to offer partial withdrawals. 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.

Keep in mind, 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.