Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday has issued a formal demand to GoFundMe, a fundraising platform. The demand orders the platform to address allegations that it plagiarized GoFundMe donation pages for thousands of charities nationwide to boost its profits.
AG investigates GoFundMe donation pages
According to ABC27 News, Sunday announced that he sent a letter to the company. He expressed concerns over reports that GoFundMe created unauthorized donation pages for more than 1.4 million charitable organizations without their consent.
The Attorney General leads a coalition of state attorneys general in the action. The letter alleges that the donation pages contained inaccurate information about the charities and their solicitations constituted deceptive and misleading acts.
“GoFundMe provides families and communities with the ability to raise money in times of need, but these many unauthorized postings with solicitations confuse donors, while also harming the charities who did not give consent,” Sunday said.
He explained that these unauthorized pages can result in donations not reaching the donors’ intended recipients. He argued that full transparency is necessary on online platforms soliciting and advertising donations.
GoFundMe faces three specific demands
Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt joined in the criticism, emphasizing the trust donors place in charitable platforms.
He lamented that millions of Pennsylvanians donate their hard-earned money to charities across the Commonwealth and the country.
Schmidt stated that the letter demands accountability and transparency to guarantee that every donation reaches its intended charitable recipient. He added this is necessary to prevent corporations from putting profits ahead of charitable missions.
Additionally, the coalition’s letter makes three specific demands of the fundraising site. First, to provide proof that GoFundMe has removed all unauthorized donation web pages.
It also demands that the platform disclose all information that affects a person’s decision to donate. This includes details about who received donations in place of the charities GoFundMe allegedly plagiarized.
Lastly, it demands the platform to explain how GoFundMe ensured its donation web pages did not appear in internet search results above charities’ official websites or authorized fundraising campaigns.
Meanwhile, GoFundMe, which operates as a for-profit organization registered with the Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, released a statement in response to the allegations.
“GoFundMe is an online platform for people to fundraise and solicit donations, including for charities,” the statement read.
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