Yelp Adds A Gofundme Donation Button For Struggling Businesses

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Yelp is hoping to help struggling business stay afloat while COVID-19 restrictions are in place by teaming up with GoFundMe. Since a lot of businesses have to shut down unless they're classified as "essential retail," the two companies are making it easier for them receive direct donations from loyal patrons and people in their community who may want to help. Yelp pages for restaurants, nightlife, beauty and fitness, as well as active life businesses can now display GoFundMe fundraisers. Eligible business' pages will show a Donate button right on their profile.

Since the program focuses on small, independent businesses, they'll need to have five or fewer locations in order to take advantage of it. The Donate icon will start showing up on Yelp pages for some of the hardest hit areas starting today, but the feature will be available to more eligible businesses nationwide over the next couple of days. Yelp and GoFundMe also pledged to match up to $1 million in donations, with more companies promising to match even more donations in the coming week.

Other tech companies taking steps to combat COVID-19 and to help people affected by the outbreak include Amazon, which teamed up with the Gates Foundation to deliver and pick up at-home COVID-19 testing kits as part of a trial. GrubHub recently deferred commission fees for independent restaurants nationwide, while Facebook pledged $100 million to small businesses impacted by the pandemic.

By Mariella Moon
March 24, 2020
Source: Engadget.com