GoFundMe

GoFundMe is a technology platform, not an asset manager. The company does not invest principal capital; it earns revenue through transaction fees and voluntary donor tips. Strategic decisions, including the 2022 acquisition of Classy (now GoFundMe Pro), are made by CEO Tim Cadogan and his executive team, with board oversight from investors at Accel, Greylock, and TCV.

The company charges a standard 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction on most campaigns, along with optional tips from donors. It also generates revenue through GoFundMe Pro, a subscription software platform for nonprofits built on the Classy acquisition. The firm reports that $50 million is raised on the platform each week, and its total facilitated giving since 2010 exceeds $40 billion.

Neither. GoFundMe is a for-profit crowdfunding company headquartered in San Diego. It is venture-backed — with investors including Accel, Greylock, and TCV — and has a board structured to support a potential public offering, but it deploys no balance-sheet capital into campaigns, acting instead as a payment and discovery layer for individual and nonprofit fundraisers.

GoFundMe.org is an independent 501(c)(3) charity and the company's strategic nonprofit partner. Its board is chaired by GoFundMe's Chief Marketing Officer, Margaret Richardson. The structure separates the company's commercial activities from direct charitable giving. Separately, the GoFundMe Giving Fund operates as a donor-advised fund sponsor, broadening tax-advantaged giving options for platform users.

GoFundMe acquired Classy in 2022 to add a dedicated nonprofit fundraising software layer to its consumer platform. Rebranded as GoFundMe Pro, the unit sells subscription tools to charities that want donor management, branded campaigns, and data analytics, while giving those organizations access to GoFundMe’s 190-million-user donor network. The deal moved GoFundMe from pure peer-to-peer fundraising into enterprise SaaS for major nonprofits.

GoFundMe prohibits campaigns related to gambling, weapons, controlled substances, and adult content. Its Trust & Safety team, led by Chief Legal Officer Kim Wilford, enforces terms of service that also restrict hate speech and politically designated entities. The company publicly emphasizes refund protections through its GoFundMe Giving Guarantee for campaigns found to be fraudulent.

GoFundMe does not co-invest, as it is not a fund or a family office. The company participates in the giving economy through fee-based technology services. Its competitive moat rests on scale — 190 million users, $40 billion in facilitated giving — and on the trust infrastructure built by a leadership team whose senior ranks include former legal and policy chiefs from Airbnb, Apple, Twitter, and the U.S. Department of Justice.