After the controversy surrounding GoFundMe’s decision to cancel the Freedom Convoy fundraiser, a new campaign was started on Christian crowdfunding website GiveSendGo, which had already raised more than $2 million within its first day.
GiveSendGo’s website has struggled to keep up with the donation demand, with users regularly reporting server errors. It took this reporter three attempts to view the website, which currently says the fundraisers have raised more than $4.4 million – or 27% of their $16 million goal.
The Washington Examiner reported that the convoy’s GiveSendGo campaign had raised $2.4 million by 9 a.m. Sunday morning, a day after it was started.
“We’ve decided to team up with an organization called GiveSendGo, which is going to enable us to get donations into the hands of truckers much much quicker,” Freedom Convoy 2022 organizer Tamara Lich said in a video posted to Rumble.
As The Daily Wire reported, GoFundMe released a statement on Friday announcing that it had shut down the Freedom Convoy page, claiming the page violated its terms of service:
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.
To ensure GoFundMe remains a trusted platform, we work with local authorities to ensure we have a detailed, factual understanding of events taking place on the ground. Following a review of relevant facts and multiple discussions with local law enforcement and city officials, this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform.
Organizers provided a clear distribution plan for the initial $1M that was released earlier this week and confirmed funds would be used only for participants who traveled to Ottawa to participate in a peaceful protest. Given how this situation has evolved, 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 verified by GoFundMe.
All donors may submit a request for a full refund until February 19th, 2022 using this dedicated refund form.
GoFundMe did not provide any of the “evidence” it claimed to have showing the Freedom Convoy was no longer peaceful, nor did it specify what charities could receive the money people donated for this specific cause.
After a backlash, GoFundMe released a new statement, saying the funds would be automatically returned:
To simplify the process for our users, we will be refunding all donations to the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser. This refund will happen automatically—you do not need to submit a request. Donors can expect to see refunds within 7-10 business days.
The update we issued earlier enabled all donors to get a refund and outlined a plan to distribute remaining funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers. However, due to donor feedback, we are simplifying the process and automatically refunding donations.