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GoFundMe officially canceled the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser on Friday, February 4, claiming that the fundraiser violated its terms of service that prohibits supporting causes involved in violence and harassment.
The crowdfunding platform reportedly seized nearly 10 million Canadian dollars that were funded by donors to support truckers protesting against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
The company said it will refund the donations to donors and distribute the remaining funds to “credible and established” charities approved by the convoy organizers.
The platform also claimed that the fundraiser was initially approved as it aimed to support peaceful protests, but the latest evidence from law enforcement agencies showed that it engaged in alleged activities that violated the company’s terms.
According to term number eight, the platform prohibits all content that reflects or promotes any kind of hate, violence, harassment, bullying, discrimination, terrorism, or intolerance towards any race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, orientation, gender, disabilities or diseases.
The American for-profit crowdfunding platform allows people to raise money for several causes, including tragic events and necessary life events. The company was reportedly created by Brad Damphousse and Andrew Ballester in 2008.
The company is currently owned by GoFundMe, Inc., with Tim Cadogan serving as its chief executive officer from March 2020.
Meet the executive team behind GoFundMe
GoFundMe defines itself as “the most trusted online fundraising platform for any need or dream.” The company was initially developed by Brad Damphousse and Andrew Ballester as “CreateAFund” in San Diego in 2008.
The platform was then developed into GoFundMe in 2010 before being sold to Accel Partners and Technology Crossover in 2015. It was later acquired by Crowd Rise in 2017, which continues to develop and run the company to this day.
Tim Cadogan was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the platform in March 2020. The very same year, Juan Benitez joined the platform to serve as its President. A year later, Musa Tariq was appointed as the Chief Marketing Officer in 2021.
Other members of the executive team include Vice President of Global People Operations Stephanie Cunningham, General Counsel Kim Wilford, Vice President of Customer Operations Morgan Wood and Vice President of Finance and Data Insights Paul Tkachuk.
Members of the Board of Directors also have Andy Ballester, Sharda Caro Del Castillo, Maria Eitel, John Locke, Woody Marshall, Jonathan Mildenhall, James Slavet and Scott Wagner in prominent roles.
A look into the GoFundMe x Freedom Convoy 2022 controversy
The Freedom Convoy 2022 started last month to protest against the COVID-19 vaccine mandates introduced by the Canadian government that requires people to get vaccinated before entering the country by land.
Several truck convoys converged on Ottawa and rallied at Parliament Hill to protest against the mandate and requested the “repeal of all public health measures.”
A GoFundMe fundraising campaign was launched on January 14, 2022, to support protestors. On February 4, the crowdfunding company released an official statement regarding the issue:
“GoFundMe supports peaceful protests and we believe that was the intention of the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser when it was first created. We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity.”
According to The Daily Mail, the company’s decision to cancel the fundraiser came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a military response to the Freedom Convoy protests was “not in the cards right now.”
Meanwhile, the House of Commons Public Safety and National Security Committee reportedly urged GoFundMe to explain its plan to ensure that the donations raised in the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser were not being used for causes that promote violence and hate.
The fundraiser was suspended from the platform on February 2 for an internal review by the company after it received over $10 million in donations.
The crowdfund previously provided $1 million to organizers after they reportedly detailed “a clear distribution plan” and confirmed that the money would be used to fund protestors “who traveled to Ottawa to participate in a peaceful protest.”
The company also mentioned that organizers claimed the funds would be used for essential requirements like fuel, food, and lodging during the protests. They also said that leftover donations would be gifted to “credible veterans organizations” chosen by the donors.
However, on Friday, the crowdfunding platform announced that they had officially decided to seize the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser due to a situation that allegedly evolved beyond peaceful protests:
“No further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers. We will work with organizers to send all remaining funds to credible and established charities chosen by the Freedom Convoy 2022 organizers and verified by GoFundMe.”
The platform also mentioned that donors can raise a request for refund until February 19, 2022. However, after receiving donor feedback about raising refunds, the company decided to simplify the process by automatically refunding all donations directly within 7-10 business days.
Following the suspension of the fundraiser, Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich revealed that they have now joined hands with online platform GiveSendGo to continue raising funds for the protesting truckers:
“GiveSendGo is going to enable us to get donations into the hands of truckers much, much quicker. If you can donate and help us keep these truckers going - we plan to be here for the long haul, as long as it takes to ensure that your rights and freedoms are restored.”
GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan is yet to acknowledge the situation and the platform’s decision at the time of writing.
