Trust and safety
Trust and safety on MrsTubs
What we do about fraud, what an organizer agrees to, what we leave unchecked, and how to tell us about a fundraiser you believe is fake.
What we do not verify
MrsTubs runs no IRS check. We do not query the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, or anything equivalent, for any organization on this site.
MrsTubs runs no state attorney-general check. We do not read a state charity registry before an organization starts raising money here.
MrsTubs runs no tax-status verification. An organization's tax status on MrsTubs is what its own organizer stated it to be. Nothing on this site has confirmed it.
We do not review a fundraiser's story, photos or goal before it is published, and we do not monitor it afterwards.
So seeing a cause on MrsTubs is not evidence that MrsTubs checked it. If a gift matters to you, check the organization yourself before you give.
What we actually do
Short list, and every item on it is a mechanism rather than an intention.
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Stripe checks who gets paid
Gifts go from a donor's card into the organization's own Stripe account. Stripe verifies the identity and the bank details of whoever is being paid before money moves. MrsTubs never holds the money and never sees a bank or tax number.
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An organizer's tax statement is recorded, with a name and a date
When someone states that an organization is a 501(c)(3), we store the exact wording they agreed to, which account agreed to it, and when. If the statement turns out to be false, there is a record of who made it.
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Receipts never claim a deduction we cannot support
A receipt says a gift is tax-deductible only where the organization's recorded status supports it. Everywhere else it tells the donor, in writing, that the gift is not deductible. That is the default, not the exception.
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An organization's tax status cannot change underneath gifts already taken
There is no convert button and no admin override. An organization that needs a different tax status is a new organization, so no receipt already sent to a donor is ever quietly rewritten.
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Every card dispute is recorded and raises an alert
If a donor disputes a gift with their card issuer, we record it and alert a person here. The organizer is the merchant of record and answers the dispute themselves; MrsTubs does not decide it.
What an organizer agrees to
An organization can only be created as a 501(c)(3) by someone affirmatively agreeing to this, word for word:
I certify that this organization is, on the date of each gift, an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and recognized as tax-exempt by the IRS; that the EIN entered is accurate and belongs to that organization; and that I am authorized to make this statement on the organization's behalf.
Agreeing to it records a statement. It does not switch on tax-deductible receipts, and it is not reviewed by anyone here. Until MrsTubs confirms an organization's 501(c)(3) status, its receipts tell donors the gift is not tax-deductible.
How to report a fundraiser
Every fundraiser page has a "Report it" link near the bottom. It opens a short form — what made you doubt it, and anything you can point at. You do not need an account, you do not need to have donated, and you do not need to give us your name.
What to include
What made you doubt it, and anything you can point at: a copied photo, a name that belongs to someone else, a story you have seen somewhere else first. You do not need an account, and you do not need to give us your own name. The form on the fundraiser page already knows which fundraiser you mean; if you write to us instead, include its address.
What happens after you report
A person reads it. We will not promise you a decision window we do not have, and we will not tell you what we did about someone else's account. If you gave money and you believe it was taken fraudulently, disputing the charge with your own card issuer is the faster route to your money, and it is open to you whether or not you tell us.