GoFundMe: How to Immediately Help Those Impacted by Hurricane Florence

Press Release

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Hurricane Florence is making its way toward the Southeastern United States, and those in its path are making preparations for potentially catastrophic rain. In anticipation of this historic storm, GoFundMe has created a centralized hub for all GoFundMe campaigns created to help those impacted by Florence. To view the GoFundMe campaigns, click here.

This centralized hub allows anyone to donate to an existing GoFundMe or start a campaign and raise money for an individual or a charity. Additionally, if a donor would like to make a tax-deductible donation towards GoFundMe campaigns for those impacted by Hurricane Florence, they can make a contribution to the Direct Impact Fund. The Direct Impact Fund is an independent, registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that selects campaigns for the GoFundMe community to support. When a donor supports the Direct Impact Fund via https://www.gofundme.com/cause/hurricane-florence the donations will be distributed to verified campaigns created to help people directly affected by Hurricane Florence.

The GoFundMe team has been working with state and local officials in preparation for Hurricane Florence. GoFundMe’s trust and safety team briefed officials in North Carolina and South Carolina on the steps we take to protect donors and recipients, and we explained our guarantee that all funds raised on GoFundMe will get to the right place.

How campaign funds are released

It’s helpful to know how a donation ends up getting to a beneficiary (the person or group a campaign is intended to benefit). Funds are collected by our payment processors, held, and then released only to the person named as the beneficiary. If a campaign organizer has a direct, personal connection to the beneficiary, then in some instances the campaign organizer may withdraw the funds to provide directly to the beneficiary. If any questions arise, our team will hold the funds unless the beneficiary is verified to our satisfaction. This layer of protection ensures that funds go only into the right hands.

We are here to help

There are two crucial features users can find on each and every GoFundMe: a contact button for the campaign organizer (the person who started the campaign), and a ‘Report Campaign’ button. If you have any questions about the campaign, you can easily reach the organizer and ask them directly. In addition, clicking the ‘Report Campaign’ will result in one of our specialists investigating the campaign. If you can’t find the campaign you want to report, then you can send us a message here, and please provide as much information as you can about the campaign. We take these reports very seriously, and we will take immediate action if anything is wrong.

About GoFundMe

Launched in 2010, GoFundMe is the world’s largest social fundraising platform, with over $5 billion raised so far. With a community of more than 50 million donors, GoFundMe is changing the way the world gives. Find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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