Intuit And GoFundMe Team Up On Small Business Relief Fund

Fundraising platform GoFundMe and Intuit QuickBooks have teamed up on an initiative to help small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) raise money while they’re facing challenges from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to a press release.

It’s called the Small Business Relief Initiative, and it has the goal of getting “money in the hands of small businesses struggling to pay employees and business expenses due to COVID-19.”

“As the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the globe, shelter-in-place mandates have proliferated, and small businesses have had to close their doors,” the release stated. “They are running out of cash to pay their employees and cover business expenses.”

The initiative combines GoFundMe’s fundraising ability with the expertise from Quickbooks, and it will allow for local SMBs to have the tools and resources they need to run a successful fundraising campaign.

GoFundMe has also introduced the Small Business Relief Fund, into which both companies can directly donate.

“Small businesses need relief today to manage their cash flow,” said Intuit QuickBooks’ Executive Vice President and General Manager Alex Chriss. “By joining forces with GoFundMe, we can connect millions of small businesses and their local communities. We’re helping to give the community a platform to quickly put cash in the hands of small businesses who need it the most.”

QuickBooks has provided its network of SMBs with a “tools and resources site” to help them either start or support a fundraiser.

“By embedding the initiative in QuickBooks, small businesses are connected directly to a method of fundraising should they need it,” the release stated. “From there, small businesses can share their story and request help covering employee-related and business expenses. Then everyone — friends, family, neighbors, companies — can all search the Relief Initiative site to find small businesses in need and donate directly to them.”

People can also donate to the Small Business Relief Fund to support the initiative overall.