Crowdfunding policies need your support now! An innovative bill (AB 2208) in the California legislature needs nonprofit support: we ask you to add your support to this letter for online fundraising. Click here to sign on by Friday, August 14 at noon.

(An online fundraising platform is a service – such as PayPal, GoFundMe, or NetworkforGood – that collects donations for nonprofits.)

While online fundraising platforms have facilitated millions of dollars in donations, in recent years, we've also heard countless complaints and concerns from nonprofits about online fundraising platforms, including:

• Late payments – donations taking weeks and even months to get to the nonprofit
• Fees that are unreasonably high
• Fees without transparency to the donor and/or the nonprofit (How much of each donation goes to the nonprofit and how much goes to the platform?)
• Individuals -- some well-meaning --  using the nonprofit's name to raise money without the nonprofit's knowledge, and those funds never getting to the nonprofit
• Inability of a donor to find out if their donation ever got to the nonprofit (and inability of the nonprofit to confirm a donation, or thank the donor because they didn’t get individual information)

CalNonprofits has worked with bill author Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin and bill sponsor Attorney General Xavier Becerra to help craft Assembly Bill 2208, which establishes basic guidelines and standards for the fast-growing charitable fundraising platform industry.

Online fundraising platforms affect nearly every nonprofit and nearly everyone who has ever clicked a Donate button. Sensible regulations like this may look technical, but it is crucial to maintaining donor confidence that their donations will get to the intended nonprofit in a reasonable amount of time.

With your help, CalNonprofits established Principles for Responsible Crowdfunding. These principles have gotten national attention in crowdfunding regulation. AB 2208 is a crucial step forward in ensuring that online fundraising practices align with these principles and that these platforms do their job right.

Questions? Don't hesitate to contact Public Policy Director Lucy Salcido Carter.