Yelp Teams Up With GoFundMe To Help Independent Businesses Fundraise & Receive Donations

Source: Yelp

Yelp has announced a new partnership with GoFundMe to help independent businesses start fundraisers and to be able to accept donations through their Yelp pages. 

As explained by Yelp:

“Together, Yelp and GoFundMe are making it easy for people to donate directly to the businesses they love, and support their communities, during this challenging time.”

GoFundMe fundraisers will automatically appear via a Donate Now button on Yelp pages for businesses in the restaurant, nightlife, beauty, and fitness and active life space. 

In addition to the new button, the Yelp Foundation and GoFundMe have pledged to match up to $1 million in donations with a $500 matching grant to eligible businesses that raise at least $500 via their GoFundMe. More companies are expected to contribute to the matching fund over the next week.

The Donate Now button will start to appear over the next few days for businesses who have claimed their Yelp pages and have five or fewer locations.

Insights & Analysis:

It’s no secret that independent businesses are being hit hard as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic so enabling businesses to fundraise and receive donations on the platform is a no-brainer. With a Donate Now button, people can easily support their favorite independent businesses within just a few clicks.

Many businesses were already taking to GoFundMe to launch fundraising campaigns, making the partnership and integration a natural one that will give businesses increased discovery from Yelp’s traffic and ultimately give businesses who are facing hard times, the opportunity to raise funds in an effort to keep their businesses afloat.

Platforms like Instagram and Facebook already have in-app donations features, but with the impact of COVID-19, platforms such as Spotify that previously didn’t have donation features, are starting to roll them out.

I’d expect this to be the case going forward as platforms across all verticals try to utilize their resources, tools, and influence to help combat the pandemic and help those out who are in need.

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