Tag: GoFundMe

Posted on

Orlando Shooting: Victims’ Fundraising Campaign Passes $3 Million Mark

Latest update from Equality Florida, who set up the campaign to help victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting, and their families:

We are beyond moved by the support from all corners of the world and all walks of life. From average Americans, large corporations, celebrities, musicians, artists, and political figures, over 65,000 donations have been made towards Equality Florida’s Pulse Victim Fund, totaling to $2.8 million dollars. We do not know the total costs for the victims of this horrific hate crime, therefore are working to raise as much as possible and disperse the funds as fast as possible.

We would like to inform all supporters that Go Fund Me has contributed $100,000 towards this campaign, essentially waiving their transaction fee and ensuring the every single penny donated will go towards supporting the victims and their families. We are so grateful for all of the support the Go Fund Me team has provided.

If you would like to donate any amount, large or small. click here.

Posted on

GoFundMe Officially Clarifies Terms Of Use – No Fundraising For Violations Of The Law

When it was announced last week that the Oregon bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa was looking at fines of $135K for breaking public accommodation laws in regard to refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, anti-gay activists took to GoFundMe to collect money from strangers to pay the fine.

In a matter of hours, $114K was raised. But then GoFundMe pulled the campaign saying the site could not be used to support those charged with breaking the law.

Today, the crowd-sourcing site officially clarifies their terms of use:

Today we’re updating our terms to help address some confusion around how GoFundMe goes about reviewing campaigns and deciding what will be permitted on our platform.

Specifically, we would like to clarify that GoFundMe relies on information from law enforcement and government agencies to help determine what actions our team will take regarding questionable campaigns. We would also like to acknowledge that while we cannot conduct in-depth investigations on every campaign that is created, we do reserve the right to act on pertinent information as it becomes available to us.

GoFundMe will not allow campaigns that benefit individuals or groups facing formal charges or claims of serious violations of the law. The amended term can be found under the ‘What’s Not Allowed’ section of our terms, as well as below:

Campaigns in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts

We are also informing users that GoFundMe reserves the right to share the content from a deleted campaign with law enforcement, donors or stated beneficiaries who wish to file a police report about any misuse of fundraising proceeds. The added language can be found below:

By using GoFundMe, Users are representing and warranting that all donations received are being given and being used solely for the purpose(s) stated within the content of the User’s campaign. We reserve the right to provide information relating to your campaign with donors and beneficiaries of your campaign, and with law enforcement or to assist in any investigation.

Bolding is mine.

GoFundMe did announce last week that although the Sweet Cakes campaign came down, the donated funds up to that point would still go to the anti-gay bakers.

Posted on

Washington Florist Set To Receive Over $150K After Violating State Law

The Washington state florist who was found guilty of breaking state public accommodations laws stands to receive over $150,000 in donations from a GoFundMe campaign set up for her.

Barronelle Stutzman, a Christian florist, refused to sell flowers for a same-sex wedding. This constituted a violation of state law because sexual orientation is included in the state’s public accommodation laws.

The Washington State Attorney General and the same-sex couple sued Barronelle.

The court found her liable for violating the Washington Law Against Discrimination and ruled that both the state and the couple may collect damages and attorneys’ fees from Barronelle’s business and personal assets.

A friend then set up a crowd-sourcing campaign alleging Stutzman could “lose her business, her home, and her savings.”

In reality, she was fined a whopping $1,000.

The “friend” writes on the GoFundMe page:

The funds will be held until the legal challenge has been resolved and the full extent of the need is assessed. Funds may be used to help cover any outstanding legal fees and costs imposed from the opposition. Funds may also be used to help replace the assets taken as a result of the legal challenges brought against Barronelle. The total cost to Barronelle is unknown because the legal challenges are ongoing. In the event the funds provided by donors exceed Barronelle’s needs, the funds will be used to cover those same expenses for others who defend their constitutional right to live consistently with their faith.