No. A campaign goes live as soon as its organizer creates it, and nobody at OpenGiving reviews it first.
Here's what OpenGiving does have, and what each part does and doesn't do.
Reporting a campaign
If a campaign looks wrong, open its page and choose Report Campaign. You need to be signed in. Pick a reason (fraud, inappropriate content, misleading information, spam or something else) and describe the problem in at least 20 characters.
You can't report your own campaign, and you can report the same campaign once every 30 days.
What happens after you report
Your report goes to our team with the reason and the description you gave. Someone on the team reviews it and records a decision. While that happens:
- The campaign stays live, and it can keep receiving money
- We don't send you the outcome
- Recording a decision doesn't change the campaign by itself
If you gave money to a campaign you now think misrepresented itself, contact us through the Help Center.
The Verified account checkmark
Some organizers and sellers have a blue checkmark next to their name. It means someone on our team marked that account as verified. We add it by hand, and nothing requires it: an account without it can create campaigns, sell and withdraw money like any other.
The checkmark is about the account, not a campaign. It doesn't mean we've reviewed a campaign, checked what it says, or confirmed how the money will be spent.
Contributions
A contribution isn't held. It's credited to the organizer's OpenGiving wallet as soon as the payment goes through, and the organizer can withdraw it to a PayPal account of their choosing.
Marketplace purchases
When you buy something, we hold your payment until the delivery is confirmed:
- A physical item: you give the seller your four-digit delivery code when it reaches you
- A digital item: your first download confirms it
- A service: you accept the work, or it's accepted automatically if you don't respond in time
After that, the seller can release the money, or it's released automatically 7 days later. If something goes wrong, you can ask for a refund from My Purchases, and the seller decides.
Payments
Payments go through our payment provider, PayPal. OpenGiving never sees your card or bank details.
What this means for you
We don't check campaigns before they go live, and we can't promise how an organizer will use the money or that what a campaign says is true. Read the campaign, look at the organizer's profile, and report anything that looks wrong.