After GoFundMe refunded donations to a 'Fund The Wall' campaign, people sent the organizer over $7 million to build the wall privately
- At least $7 million in donations will be sent to Brian Kolfage's new non-profit organization that aims to privately build the border wall between the US and Mexico.
- This comes after GoFundMe announced last week that all donations made to the Build the Wall fundraiser will be refunded.
- Last week, GoFundMe said all $20 million raised by the viral We the People Build the Wall fundraiser would be refunded because the campaign didn't reach its goal of $1 billion, which Kolfage had promised all would be sent to the government so that it could pay for the border wall.
- Kolfage's new organization, "We Build the Wall" is a 501(c)(4) non-profit and counts Kris Kobach, Erik Prince and David Clarke among its advisors.
After GoFundMe announced that it would be refunding the $20 million raised by a campaign that aimed to send money to the fed earl government to build a border wall between the US and Mexico, Brian Kolfage, the campaign's organizer, sprung into action.
He started asking donors to forward their refunds to his new 501(c)(4) non-profit, "We Build the Wall, Inc.," so that he and a group of advisors could privately build sections of the wall. Kolfage made this request through tweets, Facebook posts, even on the GoFundMe campaign's page.
The outreach, it seems, has worked. At least $7 million in refunds are being sent to Kolfage's new non-profit from donors who hope that, one way or another, he can build the wall.
According to CBS News, Kolfage and a source close to the campaign said $7 million have already been redirected to "We Build the Wall, Inc." Kolfage told CBS News that more than 120,000 donors chose to do this, a number GoFundMe did not confirm. After initially offering the $7 million figure Tuesday morning, Kolfage later said it was a "guess."
"Our donors gave to us to get the job done, and they trust us to do so," Kolfage told CBS News.
Kolfage has not specified how the money sent to his new organization will be used and reportedly declined to give CBS News and specifics. On the GoFundMe page's revised description, the money is said to be going "toward wall construction only."
Though Kolfage and GoFundMe announced last week that all funds would be refunded, the fundraiser's page is still up on the website and can seemingly still accept donations.
The page's description explains to donors how they can make sure their donation goes to the new non-profit instead of getting refunded. Those donors who take no action will be refunded by April 11. Kolfage told CBS News that more than 8,300 donors have asked for their money back directly.
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