Attorney General Bonta Warns Fundraising Platform Flipcause to Immediately Stop Its Operations

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today sent a cease and desist order to Flipcause demanding an immediate stop to all its operations, including all solicitations for charitable purposes. Oakland-based Flipcause is a fundraising and community engagement platform designed to help small nonprofits manage donations from a single dashboard. However, Flipcause has delayed transferring donated funds to nonprofits — totaling approximately $500,000 in donations to date. In today’s cease and desist order, the Attorney General warns that Flipcause is not properly registered as a fundraising platform and has failed to remit donations. Due to these violations, the Attorney General is seeking monetary penalties of up to $70,000. 

“Donors placed their trust in Flipcause to ensure their contributions reached those in need. Instead, charities are experiencing significant financial stress due to the platform holding these funds back. This is simply unacceptable,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We are holding Flipcause accountable for withholding these funds and ensuring that every cent possible reaches those it was intended for.”

Several nonprofit organizations have accused Flipcause of failing to distribute hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor contributions. To date, the following nonprofit organizations have reported that Flipcause acted as their charitable fundraising platform between 2023 and the present, and failed to remit the donation amounts detailed below, despite repeated requests over a period of more than 60 days: 

The Attorney General has the primary responsibility for supervising charities and professional fundraisers who solicit on their behalf. Under Government Code section 12580 et seq., the Attorney General may investigate and bring legal actions against charities and fundraisers that misuse charitable assets or engage in fraudulent fundraising practices.

Attorney General Bonta’s cease and desist order demands that Flipcause immediately take the following actions:

• Stop its operations, including operations related to solicitations for charitable purposes in California;
• Provide an accounting of all charitable assets within its possession, custody, or control from 2015;
• Provide to the Attorney General a list of all charitable organizations, since 2015, with which Flipcause was involved, or provided a platform to solicit or receive donations; and
• Transfer all of its cash or cash equivalent assets into a blocked bank account. 

The Attorney General’s Registry of Charities and Fundraisers (Registry) administers the registration and reporting requirements set forth under Government Code section 12580 et seq. The Registry does this through its various programs, such as: Initial Registration, Registration Renewals, Delinquency, Dissolution, Professional Fundraising, Raffles, and Complaints. The Registry also maintains the Registry Search Tool for the public to research registered charitable organizations, fundraising professionals, and charitable fundraising platforms.   

A copy of the order can be found here.