- A GoFundMe campaign for 81-year-old Donald Johnson and his wife Josephine was removed after the platform said its Trust & Safety team found factual misrepresentations involving the fundraiser’s organizer.
A viral GoFundMe campaign created to help an elderly Texas man pay for his wife's cancer treatment has been deactivated after the platform discovered that the person presented as the fundraiser's organizer was actually the man's daughter.
The campaign for Donald Johnson, 81, of The Colony, Texas, had attracted hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors before GoFundMe removed it. Coverage from NewsNation and other outlets initially reported that the fundraiser had approached $745,000, although earlier reports and the fundraiser's archived page show lower totals at different points before its removal.
GoFundMe said its Trust & Safety team identified “factual misrepresentations” and determined that the campaign violated its Terms of Service. The platform said the fundraiser was removed and that donors were refunded.
Who Is Donald Johnson?
Johnson became the subject of the fundraiser after a local resident, Erin Howell, encountered him delivering lost luggage to homes in the Dallas-area community.
According to the original GoFundMe campaign, Howell said she saw Johnson struggling while carrying heavy luggage up a steep staircase. She later learned that he had been working as an independent contractor delivering misplaced airline luggage.
The fundraiser said Johnson had taken the job to help cover expenses associated with his wife Josephine's cancer treatment. The couple had reportedly been married for 57 years.
The campaign sought to raise enough money for Johnson to stop working and spend more time with his wife while helping cover medical treatment, prescriptions and living expenses. Before it was removed, thousands of people had donated to the campaign.
The fundraiser became widely shared online, bringing substantial attention to the couple's circumstances.
Johnson and his wife also spoke publicly about the campaign before it was taken down. According to reporting cited by The Independent, Johnson said the donations could allow him to stop working, while Josephine expressed gratitude for the support.
The medical circumstances described in the fundraiser have not been identified by GoFundMe as false. The dispute that led to the removal centered on the representation of the fundraiser's organizer.
Why Did GoFundMe Remove the Fundraiser?
The central issue was the identity presented to donors.
The fundraiser was initially presented as being organized by Howell, who described herself as a local resident or neighbor who had encountered Johnson. GoFundMe later determined that the organizer was actually Johnson's daughter.
According to NewsNation's reporting, GoFundMe investigated after receiving a tip on Sept. 25 questioning the organizer's identity. During the review, the company reportedly discovered that the woman operating the campaign was Johnson's daughter.
NewsNation also reported that Johnson's daughter acknowledged creating the “Erin” identity. She reportedly said she believed the story would resonate more strongly with donors if it appeared to come from an unrelated person rather than a family member asking directly for financial assistance.
She maintained that the other details concerning her parents' situation were accurate. GoFundMe, however, said the identity issue constituted a factual misrepresentation that violated its Terms of Service.
GoFundMe's own Trust & Safety policies explain that the company reviews reports using automated systems and human reviewers and can suspend or remove fundraisers when it determines that its rules have been violated. The company also says its Giving Guarantee provides donor protection, including refunds when a fundraiser does not meet its standards.
In this case, GoFundMe said all donors would be refunded.
The platform has not publicly alleged that the Johnson family's medical circumstances were fabricated. Its stated reason for removing the campaign was the misrepresentation surrounding the organizer's identity.
The available reporting supports GoFundMe's position that the organizer's identity was misrepresented, while Johnson's daughter reportedly said the underlying story about her parents was genuine.
The fundraiser's removal therefore does not, based on the available reporting, establish that the family's medical expenses or Josephine Johnson's illness were fabricated.
For donors, the immediate outcome is that contributions to the removed campaign are being returned. GoFundMe's stated rationale is that donors should be able to know who is organizing a fundraiser and who is connected to the beneficiary before contributing.