Yelp, GoFundMe partner to accept donations for businesses affected by coronavirus

By MixDex Article may include affiliate links

Fundraising site GoFundMe and local business site Yelp are partnering to add “donate” buttons to select listings of small and medium sized businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic closures.

The move comes after Yelp announced a $25 million relief package for businesses that include waived advertising fees, free access to premium features, extended free access to its reservation and waitlist feature and more support efforts.

With the GoFundMe partnership, Yelp will let businesses sign up to add a button to their page that will let the public make donations via the GoFundMe platform.

To be eligible, businesses must be U.S. based and have five or less locations and be “locally owned” (according to Yelp’s definition).

Businesses must also have claimed their profiles and fall into the categories of restaurants, food, nightlife, beauty, spas or salons, or active, though the site says it’s making some exceptions.

Businesses must also demonstrate they have been directly affected by a government mandate related to the coronavirus outbreak and intend to use the funds to help care for employees or staff or use the funds for ongoing business expenses.

Meanwhile, Yelp and GoFundMe will also match $1 million donations with a $500 match for the first 2,000 businesses that claim their fundraising page and raise $500.