Gov. Affairs | Issue 28.1 | April 23, 2026
An Update on Lawsuits Regarding Unauthorized Fundraising Pages by Fintech Companies
By Laura Moody, CMO + Founding Partner
The landscape of digital philanthropy is currently facing a significant legal and ethical reckoning as state regulators and nonprofit advocates challenge the long-standing practices of major crowdfunding platforms. At the center of the controversy is a multistate effort led by twenty-three Attorneys General and Secretaries of State who recently confronted GoFundMe over the creation of more than one million unauthorized donation pages. These pages, generated without the prior knowledge or consent of the organizations they claimed to support, have sparked a broader conversation about donor trust and the right of nonprofits to control their own digital identity.
The momentum for regulatory action accelerated in March 2026, when Alaska Attorney General Stephen Cox filed a landmark lawsuit against a group of six major platforms, including: GoFundMe, PayPal, Charity Navigator, Pledge.to, JustGiving, and Network for Good. The suit alleges that these platforms violated state laws by raising money in the name of charities without first obtaining permission. The core of the legal argument is that charitable giving relies on transparency and accountability. When a platform creates a placeholder for a nonprofit without an established partnership, it risks misrouting funds and misleading donors about the immediacy and directness of their contributions.
Sector leaders, including the National Council of Nonprofits and the Foraker Group, have emphasized that the impact of these unauthorized pages goes beyond simple administrative oversight. For many organizations, these pages featured outdated branding and inaccurate mission statements scraped from across the web, creating a false impression of affiliation. This unauthorized use of content not only confused donors but also placed an undue burden on nonprofits to monitor and claim funds that were often being held in third-party intermediary accounts or donor-advised funds.
In the weeks following the initial legal filings, new details have emerged regarding the operational mechanics of these platforms. State investigations utilized test donations to reveal that several platforms funneled money into intermediary accounts without notifying the intended recipients. In many instances, the funds were only released if a charity proactively stepped forward to claim them. While GoFundMe has since issued an apology and transitioned to an opt-in model, removing unclaimed pages and blocking them from search engine results, other defendants in the Alaska suit were found to have unauthorized pages live well into the spring of 2026.
As of late April 2026, the focus of the litigation has shifted toward seeking significant civil penalties, which could range from $1,000 to $25,000 per violation. Beyond the financial implications, nonprofit associations are using the current legal pressure to advocate for a new national transparency standard. The goal is to ensure that affirmative consent becomes the universal requirement for any commercial platform using IRS data to generate fundraising interfaces. By shifting the industry toward an opt-in model, advocates hope to ensure that nonprofits always retain the power to decide when and how they engage with third-party partners, thereby preserving the public trust that serves as the foundation for the entire charitable sector.
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Steps to Take to Protect Your Organization:
To protect organizational integrity and ensure donor funds are handled correctly, nonprofits can take several proactive steps to identify and manage unauthorized profiles on crowdfunding and fintech platforms. Since many platforms generate these pages automatically using IRS data, it is a bit like a digital game of whack-a-mole. To keep your organization’s digital footprint clean, start with a manual sweep of the most common culprits.
The most effective first step is to perform targeted searches on major crowdfunding sites, including GoFundMe, Charity Navigator, JustGiving, Pledge.to, and Network for Good. Use your legal name and Employer Identification Number (EIN) to see what pops up.
It is also helpful to run a search in an incognito or private browser window using your nonprofit’s name plus keywords like "donate" or "fundraiser." This helps you see what a potential donor might stumble upon without your own browsing history influencing the results. Don't forget to check the Fundraisers section on Facebook and Instagram, as these often pull from third-party databases.
Much of this automated profiling starts at the source, specifically with data aggregators. Most fintech platforms rely on the PayPal Giving Fund (PPGF), Candid (GuideStar), or Charity Navigator’s own database. By proactively claiming and updating your profiles on these three gatekeeper sites, you can control the branding and mission statements that other platforms scrape. In the case of Charity Navigator, you can use their nonprofit portal to manage your Giving Basket settings or even opt-out of third-party solicitations entirely.
If you find an unauthorized page, document it immediately. Take screenshots that include the URL and show any outdated logos or misleading mission statements. Note whether the platform is asking for tips or processing fees that do not go to your organization. Once documented, reach out to the platform’s legal or nonprofit support team—for example, legal@gofundme.com—and clearly state that your organization has not provided consent for the solicitation. If they are slow to act, you can file a formal complaint with your state’s Attorney General, specifically citing the recent legal actions taken against unauthorized nonprofit pages.
Moving forward, a quarterly digital audit is the best defense. Designating a team member to spend thirty minutes every few months searching for your organization’s EIN on new fintech apps can help you catch placeholder pages before they confuse your donors or lead to delayed funds. Staying ahead of the curve ensures that your donors' intent is honored and that your nonprofit remains the sole voice in its fundraising efforts.
