Friends of the San Bruno Public Library discovered that GoFundMe created a donation page for it to “claim” without notifying its office. The site made 1.4 million such placeholder pages, which need to be manually unpublished if nonprofits wish to opt out.

Update: GoFundMe announced in a LinkedIn post it's updated its policy regarding Nonprofit Pages to opt-in rather than opt-out. The company says it will be removing any unclaimed or unverified pages.

Nonprofit Pages are now opt-in only: Moving forward, only nonprofits that opt-in to their Nonprofit  Page and complete the verification process will have a public Nonprofit  Page that is searchable on GoFundMe - making these Nonprofit Pages a  completely opt-in experience. Nonprofit Pages for organizations that  have not been claimed and verified will be removed. SEO will also be  turned off by default.

As KGO’s 7 On Your Side reports, Dave Dornlas, who’s treasurer of the Friends of the San Bruno Public Library and president of the San Bruno Amateur Radio Club, first became aware of the nonprofits’ phantom GoFundMe pages when a patron wanting to make a donation contacted him to make sure the page was legitimate.

Dornlas told 7 On Your Side he was nonplussed that GoFundMe neglected to get the nonprofit’s permission prior to creating the pages. He also said he had a challenging time getting in touch with the company, which only responded once 7 On Your Side got involved.

“The fact that they would just on their own build pages for nonprofits that they’ve never spoken to is a problem,” Dornlas told 7 on Your Side. “I’m a believer in opt-in, not opt-out.”

Per 7 on Your Side, GoFundMe mined the public IRS data of 1.4 million 501C-3 organizations, along with information collected from “trusted partners,” which it turned into charity pages. Krista Lamp, Senior Director of Non-Profit Communications at GoFundMe, told the outlet that when nonprofits claim the page, they gain “full visibility over donor data, donor stewardship branding, and how they choose to leverage their page.”

According to the company, per 7 on Your Side, “this allows individuals across GoFundMe’s 200 million-strong global community to easily discover and donate to nonprofit organizations, helping them support causes and charitable missions they care about, even if the organization hasn't actively created a GoFundMe campaign.”

Dornlas was also unhappy about the fact that GoFundMe includes a suggested tip for each donation, which is set at 16.5% but can be adjusted by the donor. Although 7 on Your Side says that the company also charges a 2.2% transaction fee for nonprofits (and 2.9% for individuals), plus $0.30 per donation on top of the suggested tip, that didn’t appear to be the case when SFist looked at one of GoFundMe’s charity pages.

7 on Your Side reports that nonprofits wishing to opt out of their GoFundMe pages can “unpublish” them through the site.

According to a 2019 TechCrunch article, GoFundMe announced it would be launching its Charity Pages in November of that year.

Image: GoFundMe

Numerous nonprofits are saying Oakland-based donation processing platform, Flipcause, mishandled their funds, costing them thousands of dollars. The company currently has 81 unresolved Better Business Bureau complaints.

In an exclusive report, KGO’s Dan Noyes spoke with various nonprofits across the country, which say that although Flipcause promises delivery of funds to clients’ accounts within 7 to 10 days, the company has significantly delayed its distributions — or failed to send them altogether — over the past year and a half. Clients’ ongoing attempts to recover their funds are usually met with no response.

According to a recent Reddit thread, "tens of thousands" of nonprofits have been impacted by Flipcause’s mishandling of their funds. Users whose nonprofits have been with Flipcause for a decade previously boasted about the company’s top-notch platform — until it began delaying distributions and removed its dedicated customer service phone line in favor of a chatbot.

Morgan Schauffler of Marin County’s Youth in Arts told KGO that Flipcause stopped paying them in March, and it currently owes the nonprofit $22,000, per KGO.

Julia Wyson of the Shakespeare Youth Festival in Los Angeles told KGO, "I have to tell my staff, I'm sorry, guys, you're gonna have to wait for your paycheck, because we're waiting for Flipcause to pay us our money."

Some have even considered closing their nonprofits due to the delayed or missing funds. Tammy Clark of Homeless Hands in Zanesville, Ohio told KGO that although she ended up receiving all of her funds, she still lost dozens of donors due to the delay.

McKenna Sellars of Montana Renewable Energy Association told the station, "We don't have a lot of staff. And so, trying to dedicate a person to go and manage what's going on with Flipcause on a daily basis is just taking away from the mission."

A Redditor said in addition to still owing their nonprofit $180,000, Flipcause won’t let them transfer their recurring donors to a new platform, which is typically a complimentary service on other platforms. “We would be very happy to join a class action lawsuit!” they concluded.

Other Redditors said they received partial payments after constantly hounding the staff, including the company's sales team.

"I am going to quit over this issue. The way it is being handled is horrendous," a disgruntled salesperson at Flipcause told KGO. "Not even we as employees are getting any real answers or timelines on what the (expletive) is going on."  

"... I genuinely believe they mean no harm, but I can no longer sell this product in good faith," the employee continued.

The Better Business Bureau said it first became aware of Flipcause in 2015, but the majority of the complaints and reviews appear to be from the past year and a half. The page states that Flipcause has received 89 complaints in the past three years, 81 of which have gone unresolved.

Image: Donald Gruener/Getty Images

Celebrity Jeopardy winner W. Kamau Bell donated his $1 million winnings to DonorsChoose, funding over 200 projects at schools in Oakland and Mobile, Alabama.

Oakland-based stand-up comic and TV host W. Kamau Bell was the big winner on Celebrity Jeopardy! last Wednesday — with the final winning answer, “Bob Newhart,” securing the bag. The Chronicle reports that Bell donated his $1 million charity winnings to the nonprofit DonorsChoose, which funds public school classroom projects.

The donation will support over 200 projects in Oakland schools, including Castlemont High School, where Bell made his announcement on Thursday. His gift will also fund projects in Mobile, Alabama, where his father lives and was born and raised.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell)

Bell’s donation will help provide crucial resources like books, art supplies, and even a refrigerator for a farm-to-fork program. As public education faces ongoing financial struggles, especially in Oakland, Bell’s contribution is a timely effort to support teachers who often spend their own money on classroom needs.

Bell, who credits Oakland for shaping his life, emphasized the importance of giving back:

Most teachers spend money out of their own paycheck to support their students. And so this is a way to say we should stop doing that. Until our country understands that we need to fund public education better, this is one way to do it.

Previously: Margaret Cho Dominates Celebrity Jeopardy! and Advances To Semifinals Along With W. Kamau Bell

Image: W. Kamau Bell appears with Jennifer Hudson on The Jennifer Hudson Show. (Photo by Chris Haston/WBTV via Getty Images).

Even though Mayor Ed Lee's reelection bid is virtually unopposed, his campaign has been gathering cash hand over fist. One area from which he's getting big bucks is the tech sector (surprise!), just as he did during his initial run in 2011. Want to take a look at the numbers? Of course you do!

• 650: The number of business leaders that have contributed to Lee's campaign thus far
• $280,000: The amount of money those leaders have given to the once and future mayor
• 53%: The percent of those business leaders who actually live in SF
• 90: The number of tech company heads who have donated to Lee's campaign, "including the CEOs of Yelp, Dropbox, Twitter, Weebly, Pinterest, Eventbrite and Workday, and the president of Y Combinator"
• $100-500: The amount each have contributed (the cap on individual personal donations is $500)
• $11,700: The amount of money staffers at Salesforce.com have "pitched in"
• $5,100: The amount of money staffers at Pinterest gave to Lee
• $3,500: The amount of money SV Angel, the investment firm founded by Ron Conway, gave to Lee
• $151,000: The amount of money Conway gave Lee, through an independent expenditure committee, during Lee's run for mayor in 2011
• $100,000: The amount of money Napster-cofounder Sean Parker gave Lee, through an independent expenditure committee, during Lee's run for mayor in 2011
• Unknown: The amount of independent expenditure committee Lee will get this year, "possibly because Lee is running virtually uncontested and doesn’t need as much financial support"

Related: Ron Conway Donations In District 3 Fight Questioned
Ed Lee's Big Bucks Donations By The Numbers

All facts and figures: Lee’s re-election bid draws big bucks from tech leaders, August 13, 2015, SF Chronicle

Campaign finance rules limit the amount of money any one donor can give a candidate for San Francisco office. But those rules don't limit something called "behested payments," in which pols ask for, and receive, massive amounts of dough for specific projects. As the Chron notes, some see these types of donations as "a smart way to get money out of the wealthy for the public good during the economic boom and resulting affordability crisis," while others "say behested payments are a way to skirt campaign finance rules and often come with strings attached." Whatever the case, Mayor Ed Lee has sure gotten a lot of them! Let's take a look at some of the numbers.

• $1.2 million: The total amount of behested payments Gavin Newsom asked for — and got — during his 5.5 years as mayor
• $10 million: The total amount of behested payments Lee has asked for — and gotten — so far during his tenure as mayor
• $6.8 million: The amount of money Lee asked for, and got, from Google in June 2014 to cover free Muni low-income kids
• $580,000: The total amount of money Lee raised for a June 19 party to celebrate City Hall's centennial
• $430,000: The portion of that party fund that came from donors including AT&T, Genentech and CH2M Hill
• $150,000: The portion of that party fund that came from PG&E
• $10,000: The amount of money Lee asked for, and got from Coca-Cola to fund a city jobs program for youth at the same time the pop company was fighting City Hall over a proposed sugary drinks tax

Related: Another Multi-Million Dollar City Hall Renovation For SF: Half Taxpayer Bucks, Half Donor Dough

All facts and figures: Mayor Ed Lee has knack for raking in big-bucks donations, May 16, 2015

When blazes erupt in the Mission or that Castro, ones that displace residents, the community jumps at the chance to support the fire victims with fundraisers at local hipster bars. And we love that about you, San Francisco. But not much needed caterwauling has been heard over the family who lost a 10-year-old daughter during a fire earlier this month on Treasure Island. Until now. We reached out to Supervisor Jane Kim who told us that, indeed, there are some great fundraising efforts underway.

First, Catholics Charities have a site set up for donations. If you would like to dive into your purse to help the family as well as the 22 other people displaced by the fire, please click here. Do it.

Also, this Fundly page was created to help out the displaced residents. As of this morning, they have only a little over $2,100. It really should be higher, you guys. Go here to donate, please.

And finally, a concert at El Rio is in the pipeline to help out the family and residents. The "Treasure Island Fire Survivor Benefit" happens on Sunday, March 10th featuring Apogee Sound System, the Rabbles, and Anaconda (AKA Glendon Hyde). Ticket (which, of course, go to Treasure Island fire victims), are sliding scale from $7-$25.

Until then, go here and here and give. At the very least, spread the word via your favorite social media outlet. It's the least you can do. But please do more if you can. Thanks.

Former Mayor Gavin Newsom and still reigning Mayor Willie Brown announced a glorious new light project that's set to make everything better. Why? Because tiny LED lights make everything better. Inspired by the bridge's 75th anniversary, according to SF Appeal, artist Ben Davis Leo Villareal will create a wondrous lighting spectacular of lights, "which will not be visible to drivers on the bridge but can be seen from a distance" and "will be mounted on the vertical cables of the western span and will operate for about seven hours per night."

"This is the kind of thing we need to do to remind people what a special place this is," Newsom said. "I think this thing is going to blow people away." (He's right.) Also, you guys, it's going to take around $2.5 million more for completion. Which is mere pennies, really, if you consider the city is rife with uninspired street art, DIY nonsense, and Diego Riveraesque murals that make our eyelids droop and then fall into a coma and then die.

If you would like to donate to the "The Bay Lights" project, and why shouldn't you?, payments can be sent via www.causes.com/thebaylights.

[SF Appeal]

"San Francisco Twins," the Brown sisters, are experiencing their first separation in decades, after Vivian, who suffers from symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, was recently hospitalized after a fall inside the Nob Hill apartment she shares with her 85-year-old sister. As Jay Barmann noted yesterday, "Marian can only afford to visit her sister twice a week now because the cab ride is a $30 round trip. Former mayor Willie Brown has vowed to help the twins out, and he's encouraging people to make donations to the San Francisco Emergency Fund at Jewish Family and Children's Services."

In addition to the JCSF, someone also set up a Go Fund Me account for the twins. The goal is to raise $50,000 for the iconic duo. So far they're at $200. You can donate here.

We here at SFist, of course, wish both sisters the best during what must be a terrible time. Very sad.

Kiona from San Francisco is a bright little nine-year old who is battling leukemia. She really wants to travel to Hawaii with her family to swim with dolphins. Who wouldn't? But Kiona deserves this trip.... certainly more than you do, if we may be so bold. However, for her wish to be fulfilled, she needs help. This is where you come in: The Make-A-Wish Bay Area chapter is asking for locals to donate airline miles to help children, like Kiona, for their "Take My Seat" airline miles donation campaign.

Miles donated will help provide Bay Area "Wish" children with the opportunity to take a vacation from their severe illnesses and travel to their most-wanted destination. According to Make-A-Wishj, "the average number of miles needed for one domestic round-trip ticket is 50,000, but your readers can donate as few as 1,000 miles online. More than 70 percent of all wishes involve air travel for the child, as well as their family."

Your donated miles will also go to help these Bay Area kids:

- Analiese from Gilroy (age 4) is fighting kidney cancer and wishes to go to Disney World with her family.
- Oliver from Albany (age 4) wishes to go to Sea World with his family for a vacation from his leukemia.
- Nathan from Santa Rosa (age 5) wishes to conduct his own Thomas the Train experience to escape his cancer treatments for a few days.
- James from Salinas (age 11) is fighting brain cancer and wishes to travel to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.

Please, please, please donate here.

The San Francisco Food Bank has been bringing daily healthy morning snacks to hungry students at schools throughout San Francisco for the past three years, largely in part thanks to the generosity of the local community. Federal Express is currently matching donations to the program through Friday, April 13th (up to $30,000), so now's a great time to donate to the food bank if you've been meaning to do so.

The Morning Snack Program launched in collaboration with The Food Pantry in three schools in January of 2009 and has grown to accommodate 32 public schools and day care centers where over 50% of the students qualify to receive free or reduced-price meals.

The program provides snacks such as fresh oranges, bananas, apples, whole grain products, low-fat, nutrient-dense granola bars, nut butters, low-fat cheese, and milk five days a week to hungry students, and teachers have seen successful results. The Food Bank describes the experience of teacher Chris Telles from Daniel Webster Elementary School in Potrero Hill:

Prior to the Morning Snack Program, Mr. Chris’ students had difficulty in the hours before lunchtime. “It was hard for them to concentrate. They would keep asking, ‘Mr. Chris, when are we going to eat lunch?’ I don’t get those questions anymore.”

The Human Rights Campaign released financial documents today from the National Organization for Marriage (AKA NOM, the organization partially responsible for Proposition 8, California's same-sex marriage ban) that show a staggering $10,000 donation from Governor Mitt Romney's PAC prior the November election in 2008. While Romney's views on civil rights and gay marriage are not terribly surprising (as you can have surmise, the GOP presidential hopeful is staunchly against two dudes getting married), how he went about making the donation should give voters pause for concern.

Huffington Post has more:

... [W]hen Romney eventually made his donation, he did so quietly, and through an unusual channel. Records filed by Romney's Free and Strong America PAC with the Federal Election Commission did not include details of that $10,000 donation. Nor did NOM's public 990 form. In fact, record of the payment was only uncovered Friday when the pro-gay rights Human Rights Campaign was sent a private IRS filing from NOM via a whistleblower.

The HRC shared the filing with Huffington Post, which you can view here.

Speaking of anti-gay efforts, HRC revealed that NOM has a new and frightening "divisive strategy," one that will pit one group against another. According to HRC's Fred Sainz, "HRC is calling on Mitt Romney to disavow the racially divisive tactics of the National Organization for Marriage, which HRC this week revealed to be engaging in a plan to 'drive a wedge between gays and blacks' and manipulate the Latino community."

In related gay marriage news, NOM wants you to "dump Starbucks" due to the coffee company's progressive stance on gay marriage. So, feel free to buy a round of Strawberry Frappuccinos for the entire office. Bugs be damned!

While the exact number remains unknown, loads of people lost their homes and belongs after today's five-alarm fire in the city's Western Addition. A ruined holiday season is the least of their worries. But you can help. The Red Cross will have a tent area at 1455 Golden Gate (at Pierce) tonight and tomorrow taking donations of clothes, blankets, good tidings, etc. monetary donations only. You can go to the downtown San Francisco Red Cross at 85 2nd Street (at Mission).

We'll update with more donation information as it comes in to us. And, please, is you can spare it, give a little. Or a lot. Thank you.

Read more about today's five-alarm fire that destroyed three buildings.

Update: Red Cross accepts monetary donations only at their downtown office. You cannot donate at the offsite location. Please be advised. Sorry for the confusion. That said, if someone knows of a place or organization accepting items for fire victims, do let us know. Thanks.

Update II: The (awesome) Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are running a blanket/dollar/clothing donation center at The Edge Bar (4149 18th Street) in the Castro on Saturday from 3-7 p.m.