A Friend Shared a Fundraiser: Check It Before Giving Tuesday
A crowdfunding appeal in your feed may be real or copied. How to check the organizer, photos and payout before Giving Tuesday, and what a guarantee covers.
A friend shares a fundraiser for a family you have never met. The story is moving, the goal is nearly met, and Giving Tuesday is on December 1. You can give and still spend five minutes finding out who will get the money.
A share is not a reference. The person who passed it along may know the family well, or may have seen it in their own feed an hour ago. The Federal Trade Commission’s page on donating through crowdfunding warns that “scammers often use stolen photos and copy and paste other people’s stories,” and says the safest gifts go to campaigns “organized by people you know and trust.”
Sort the appeal first
Different kinds of appeal call for different checks, so start by deciding which one you are looking at.
| The appeal | What decides it | If you can’t confirm it |
|---|---|---|
| Someone you know personally asks you directly | Confirm through a call or text on the number you already have, in case their account was taken over | Wait until you reach them |
| A friend shares a stranger’s campaign | Ask the friend how they know the organizer | Treat it as a stranger’s campaign |
| A stranger’s campaign about a family or medical crisis | Outside confirmation of the people and the relationship between organizer and beneficiary | Give to an established group doing the same work |
| A fundraiser “for” a named charity | Whether the charity knows about it and how the money reaches it | Donate on the charity’s own site |
| A product or invention campaign | Prototype, schedule and refund terms; you are funding production, not buying a finished item | Skip it |
Five minutes on a stranger’s campaign
- Message the person who shared it. The FTC specifically advises contacting a friend directly before donating to a request they posted. Ask one question: “Do you know them, or did you just see it?”
- Search the photo. Run a reverse image search on the main picture. The FTC names reused photos and names that don’t match as warning signs.
- Search the names with the word “scam” or “complaint.” Look for the organizer as well as the beneficiary, and look for an older copy of the same story under a different name.
- Find who receives the money. A clear page says how the organizer is connected to the beneficiary and how the funds will reach them. If the organizer is a stranger to the beneficiary and doesn’t explain why, ask through the platform’s contact button.
- Check the platform’s rules. The FTC suggests looking for plain answers on where money goes, what fees apply, how long transfers take and whether your details are shared. If those are hard to find, use the charity’s own site.
What a platform guarantee does and doesn’t do
Readers often assume a big platform makes any campaign safe. GoFundMe’s Giving Guarantee is useful, but it has conditions worth knowing before you rely on it:
What it says
“Donations of any amount are covered for one full year after you donate,” against misuse measured by the purpose stated in the fundraiser.
Who decides
GoFundMe investigates and decides “in its sole and absolute discretion.” Its decision is final.
What you need
A claim inside the year, and continued control of the original payment method so a refund can land there.
Other platforms have their own terms, and some have none. Read the policy of the site you are actually using. Keep the donation confirmation email until the year is up.
Where personal fundraisers and charities differ
A campaign for an individual isn’t a charity, even when the cause is charitable. The FTC is direct on the tax side: “Donations to individuals are not tax deductible.” In a December 2024 alert it added that a “give before December 31st” pitch only works if the group appears in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool. So a year-end nudge on a personal page gives you no tax reason to hurry.
If you would prefer an organization, the FTC recommends confirming registration with your state’s charity regulator, findable at nasconet.org, and donating by credit card or check. Our pieces on verifying a charity after a disaster and handling pledge calls cover those situations.
Three cases and what we would do
A coworker’s sister has cancer, and the coworker posted the link. Ask the coworker in person. You have a real relationship with someone who has a real relationship with the family. Give if you want to.
A viral post about a local fire links to a page set up by “a neighbor.” Fast, emotional campaigns attract copies. Look for local news naming the family and a link from an official source such as the fire department or a school. If there are several pages for one family, wait a day and see whether the family or a local outlet names one.
A post from a friend’s account says they’re stranded and links a fundraiser or a payment handle. Treat it as a possible account takeover. Call them on the number you already have. Comments and direct messages on the same account prove nothing.
If something turns out to be wrong
The FTC’s order is the platform first, then ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the attorney general of the state where the organizer lives. On GoFundMe, use the claim option in the Giving Guarantee within the year. If you paid by credit card, ask the issuer about a dispute. Giving to a false story says nothing about you; the story was built to be believed. Filing the report helps the platform remove the page before the next donor arrives.
Medical campaigns carry one more caution: the FTC warns that some promoted treatments are unproven and could cause serious harm. Paying for someone’s treatment doesn’t make that treatment safe, so a campaign promising a cure deserves a harder look at the claim as well as the organizer.
Appeals that arrive on paper have their own check; our QR check for mailers and flyers covers appeals that come on paper.