‘Freedom Convoy’ turn to Christian crowdfunding site after GoFundMe pulls out

Protests by truckers and their supporters against Covid-19 vaccine mandates are continuing in Ottawa, Canada. — © AFP

The “Freedom Convoy” has found a new website where it can raise money after GoFundMe gave it the boot. The convoy organizers have turned their fundraising efforts to GiveSendGo.

GiveSendGo’s website describes itself as the “#1 Free Christian Crowdfunding Site” and “a place to work together with the body of Christ around the world to make a difference.”

As of Tuesday, the protesters had raised over $6.3 million of the requested donations amounting to $16 million, sparking debate over how online platforms moderate campaigns.

“To our fellow Canadians, the time for political overreach is over,” the group said on GiveSendGo. “Our current government is implementing rules and mandates that are destroying the foundation of our businesses, industries, and livelihoods.”

“We are taking our fight to the doorsteps of our Federal Government and demanding that they cease all mandates against its people,” the group added, according to Business Insider.

On Saturday, GoFundMe stated that the “previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation” and revoked more than $8 million protesting truckers had raised on the crowdfunding platform

GoFundMe said the group had violated its terms of service, and that the platform automatically refunded those who had donated to the cause, say The Guardian.

In response, the protestors migrated their fundraising to GiveSendGo, a self-proclaimed Christian crowdfunding site that in the past has hosted fundraisers for far-right groups including members of the Proud Boys and participants in the 6 January Capitol riots.

These fund-raising sites, like GiveSendGo and GoFundMe, have become a lucrative way to make money, especially for anti-vaxxers, in part because of lax standards and moderation blind spots, and in part by operating in gray areas, according to Slate.

GiveSendGo is a Christian crowdfunding platform that launched in 2015 as a site that was mainly intended to raise money for missionary trips and children needing medical treatment. And the site does indeed, host many legitimate donation requests.

However, by 2017, the site was casting itself as a safe haven for people who weren’t welcome on its much larger competitor, GoFundMe. It has become a haven for far-right fringe groups

“Gofundme has taken a stance against Christians and has been taking down campaigns that they did not agree with,” a GiveSendGo blog post from around that time read. 

That being said, GiveSendGo is the perfect platform because they now position themselves as a free-speech alternative, and are more than happy to take rejects from other platforms.