gofundme

How to delete your GoFundMe account

FinanceOwned by GoFundMe, Inc.Self-service onlineDifficulty: ModerateTime: 10 minutes to submit; 30-45 days for GoFundMe to processVerified July 2026

GoFundMe is the world's largest crowdfunding platform, used by tens of millions of people to raise and donate money for medical bills, funerals, disasters and personal emergencies. Because it moves real money for real crises, the data it holds is unusually sensitive: your identity and contact details, your full donation and withdrawal history, bank account and payment card details used for transfers and donations, fundraiser pages that may reveal health conditions or other personal circumstances about you or a beneficiary, and — where identity verification was required — a copy of your government-issued ID plus a facial scan, collected through a third-party verification vendor (GoFundMe names Alloy). Deleting a GoFundMe account is not a one-click button: the control inside your account settings only deactivates, and permanent erasure requires a privacy request that GoFundMe reviews over 30 to 45 days.

Delete your GoFundMe account, step by step

01Sign in to gofundme.com on a desktop browser
02If you ever raised money, withdraw your balance FIRST — open your fundraiser dashboard and make sure every transfer to your bank account has been initiated. GoFundMe states plainly that deletion is irreversible and that "any unclaimed funds may be lost"
03If you only want your account hidden rather than erased, use deactivation: log in, navigate to the menu in the top-right corner of your account, select "Account settings", scroll to the bottom and click "Deactivate account", then confirm with "Deactivate my account". Deactivation is reversible — deletion is not
04For permanent deletion, open GoFundMe's Privacy Request Center at https://preferences.gofundme.com — the support article's "submit a data request here" link deep-links to https://preferences.gofundme.com/form/deletion
05Select your country and, if you are in the US, your state from the location dropdown — the rights offered change by jurisdiction
06Choose the deletion request option on the form
07Enter your full name and the email address on your GoFundMe account, then submit. GoFundMe explicitly instructs: "Do not provide any additional personal data"
08Open the verification email from GoFundMe and click the confirmation link. If nothing arrives within 24 hours, check your spam folder, then follow up at [email protected]. The link can only be clicked once and expires automatically after seven (7) days — an unverified request is never processed
09Wait for processing. GoFundMe aims to respond to all Data Subject Requests within 30 to 45 days and notifies you by email with the outcome once it is processed
10Alternatives if the form fails: email [email protected] with your full name, the email on your account and a description of the request. To escalate a mishandled request, contact GoFundMe's Data Protection Officer at [email protected]. To appeal an account takedown, use https://support.gofundme.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=21188907818523

Open GoFundMe deletion page →

What actually happens when you delete

Gets removed

Your GoFundMe account and login — you will not be able to reactivate it, unlike a deactivated account
Your profile, including your public profile page
Fundraisers you created — permanently removed from the platform and no longer accessible
Your name on non-anonymous donations you made — those donations will no longer list you as the donor
Your personal data held in GoFundMe's internal systems and, per GoFundMe, in its third-party systems (marketing, analytics and advertising vendors it has pushed your data to)

Stays behind

Accounting and compliance data — GoFundMe retains "a minimum of accounting and compliance assurance data ... as necessary for tax and legal operational purposes"
Information GoFundMe is permitted or required to keep under applicable law, including for mandatory retention periods, fraud and security protection, and legal claims
Transaction records held independently by GoFundMe's payment processors — Stripe, Adyen, PayPal and Plaid (for ACH donations) — under their own privacy policies, which GoFundMe does not control
Identity-verification material: copies of your government-issued ID and any facial-recognition scan sit with GoFundMe's verification vendor (Alloy), not with GoFundMe — the privacy notice states GoFundMe "does not have access to or otherwise collect or maintain any biometric information", which also means its deletion does not reach that data
The donation amounts themselves on fundraisers you supported — the money and the fundraiser total stay, only your name is stripped
A record of the request itself, which GoFundMe keeps to demonstrate it complied with privacy law
Anything already outside GoFundMe: search-engine caches of your public fundraiser, Wayback Machine snapshots, news coverage, and screenshots or reshares by donors

Before you delete

The single biggest gotcha: the control in GoFundMe's own Account settings says "Deactivate account", not delete, and GoFundMe confirms deactivation leaves your information "still stored in GoFundMe's systems" and your non-anonymous donations still showing your name. Real deletion is a reviewed privacy request, not an instant action. Second gotcha: money. GoFundMe states deletion "is irreversible, and any unclaimed funds may be lost" and tells users to make sure transfers have initiated before submitting; organizers with a failed or unverified bank setup should resolve that first. Third: GoFundMe explicitly tells users NOT to submit a deletion request if what they actually want is to close a fundraiser, make it private, or change account details — those are separate flows and a deletion request will remove everything instead. Fourth: identity documents. If GoFundMe ever asked you to verify with a government ID, that scan and any facial-recognition result live with its verification vendor (Alloy), and the privacy notice states GoFundMe itself does not have access to or maintain biometric information — which also means its deletion does not clear it. Deleting does not opt you out of data "sales"/sharing for targeted advertising in the interim; that is a separate "Opt Out Request" option on the same form or an email to [email protected]. Escalations go to the Data Protection Officer at [email protected]; account-takedown appeals use a separate ticket form. GoFundMe Pro customers must use a separate organizational deletion process (targeted at 60 days), not this consumer form. Verification note: preferences.gofundme.com is a DataGrail-hosted single-page app that returns HTTP 200 for any path, so the /form/deletion URL was confirmed by extracting the link target from GoFundMe's own support article rather than by status code. The deactivation help article was last updated 30 April 2026; the privacy notice was last updated 15 June 2026.

Download your data from GoFundMe first

Most platforms only honor a data-export request while the account is still active. Do this before you delete.

01Go to GoFundMe's Privacy Request Center at https://preferences.gofundme.com
02Select your location from the dropdown menu — access and portability rights depend on your jurisdiction, and the form shows which are available to you
03Choose the access / portability request option and submit your full name and account email. Do not provide any additional personal data
04Click the verification link in the email GoFundMe sends. It can only be clicked once and expires automatically after seven (7) days — this is why an old link shows a 404 error. If it expires, submit a new Access request
05GoFundMe aims to respond within 30 to 45 days and notifies you by email
06Download the result promptly — GoFundMe states Access request result links can only be used once
07Simpler alternative for most needs: sign in and review your profile, transaction history and contact preferences directly in your account

GoFundMe data export page →

Want to take a break instead? Deactivate

Deactivation hides your profile without permanently destroying it. Logging back in restores everything.

01Log in to your account on gofundme.com
02Navigate to the menu in the top-right corner of your account
03Select "Account settings"
04Scroll to the bottom and click "Deactivate account"
05Confirm by selecting "Deactivate my account"
06To come back later, visit the GoFundMe Help Center and select "Contact us" — a member of the Support Team will reactivate your account. Deactivation is reversible at any time

GoFundMe deactivation page →

legal_escalation

If deletion fails — or you live in the EU, UK, or California

You have a legal right to request erasure of your personal data under GDPR (EU/UK) and CCPA (California). Use these official channels if the self-service flow doesn't work.

GoFundMe deletion FAQs

Is there a 'Delete account' button in GoFundMe settings?

No. The only control inside Account settings is "Deactivate account", and deactivation is not deletion — GoFundMe's own help article states that after deactivating, "Your information will still be stored in GoFundMe's systems." Permanent erasure only happens through the Privacy Request Center form at preferences.gofundme.com or by emailing [email protected]. Anyone describing a red 'Delete account' link in your dropdown menu is describing a flow GoFundMe does not have.

What's the difference between deactivating and deleting my GoFundMe account?

GoFundMe spells both out. If you deactivate: you won't be able to log in, your fundraisers will no longer be visible, no one can see your profile, your non-anonymous donations will still list your name as the donor, and your information stays stored in GoFundMe's systems. If you delete: you won't be able to reactivate, your account, profile, fundraisers and select data are permanently removed, your non-anonymous donations no longer list your name, and your personal data is deleted from GoFundMe's internal and third-party systems. Reactivation after deactivating is done by visiting the Help Center and selecting "Contact us" — a Support Team member restores the account.

Will I lose money if I delete my GoFundMe account?

Yes, potentially. GoFundMe warns that deletion "is irreversible, and any unclaimed funds may be lost", and instructs you to make sure transfers for any remaining funds have initiated before submitting a deletion request. Check your fundraiser dashboard and confirm every withdrawal has actually been initiated to your bank account — not merely scheduled or pending setup. If a transfer is failing or your bank details are unverified, fix that first; there is no route to recover funds from a deleted account.

How long does GoFundMe take to delete my data?

GoFundMe says that in accordance with applicable law it aims to respond to all Data Subject Requests within 30 to 45 days, and will keep you updated on any delays and their reasons. You must click the verification link it emails you first — that link can only be clicked once and expires automatically after seven (7) days, so an unverified request will never be processed. If no verification email arrives within 24 hours, check spam and then follow up at [email protected]. Once processed, GoFundMe notifies you by email with the outcome.

Can I cancel a GoFundMe deletion request after submitting it?

Only before it is processed. GoFundMe says you may withdraw a request by contacting [email protected] if your request has not yet been processed. Once it has been processed, the deletion is permanent and irreversible. If you are not certain, deactivate instead — deactivation is reversible at any time and buys you time to decide.

Does deleting my account remove my name from donations I made?

Yes, on GoFundMe's own display: after deletion your non-anonymous donations will no longer list your name as the donor. The donation and its amount stay on the fundraiser, so the organizer's total is unaffected. This is one of the few things deletion does that deactivation does not — GoFundMe confirms a deactivated account's non-anonymous donations will still list your name.

What does GoFundMe keep after deletion, and can I stop it?

No, you can't override it. GoFundMe keeps a minimum of accounting and compliance assurance data for tax and legal operational purposes, plus whatever applicable law permits or requires it to retain. Separately, its payment processors (Stripe, Adyen, PayPal, Plaid) and its identity-verification vendor (Alloy) hold their own copies of transaction and ID data under their own policies — GoFundMe's deletion does not reach those. If you also want to opt out of data "sales"/sharing for targeted advertising, that is a separate step: use the "Opt Out Request" option on the same Privacy Request Center form, or email [email protected].

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