Trust & Safety

Before any money moves, the organizer confirms their legal name, date of birth, home address, and the last four digits of their Social Security number against public records. We also verify the bank account receiving the funds belongs to that same person.

When a fundraiser names a beneficiary who is not the organizer — a sister, a spouse, a school — we contact the beneficiary directly and ask them to confirm in writing before the first withdrawal is released.

Every fundraiser is reviewed by a specialist within 24 hours of publishing, and again whenever it passes $10,000 raised.

If you donate to a fundraiser on GiveTogether and the money does not reach the person it was raised for, we refund your donation in full, up to $25,000 per donation.

There is nothing to sign up for and no fee. The guarantee applies automatically to every donation made through our checkout.

To make a claim, email help@givetogether.org within one year of your donation with the fundraiser name and the date you gave. Most claims are decided within 14 days.

You can request a refund of any donation for any reason within 30 days, as long as the organizer has not yet withdrawn the funds. Those refunds are processed automatically and return to your card in 5–10 business days.

After 30 days, or after a withdrawal, refunds are reviewed case by case under the Giving Guarantee.

Tips to GiveTogether are refundable at any time, no questions asked.

Organizers can set up withdrawals as soon as the first donation arrives, and the first transfer is released two business days later. That window is when our review happens.

Transfers go by ACH to a US bank account in the verified organizer's or beneficiary's name. Money typically lands 2–5 business days after it is requested.

We never hold funds beyond that window unless a fundraiser is under active review, and we tell the organizer and every donor when that happens.

Card details are entered directly into our PCI-DSS Level 1 payment processor and never touch GiveTogether's own servers.

All traffic is encrypted with TLS 1.3, and stored payment tokens are encrypted at rest with AES-256.

We monitor every donation for fraud patterns and will reverse a suspicious donation before it reaches an organizer.