Yelp announced a new partnership with GoFundMe to provide a way for independent businesses to start fundraisers and accept donations through their Yelp pages.
This comes after businesses across the country have been forced to temporarily close by local governments, making it hard to pay staff and cover rent.
GoFundMe fundraisers will automatically appear on Yelp pages for restaurants, nightlife, beauty and fitness & active life businesses.
Users will see a “Donate” icon on the Yelp page, urging them to take action.
This gives the community a way to show support for their favorite local businesses.
To kickstart this effort and help communities support the businesses that they love, the Yelp Foundation and GoFundMe have pledged to match up to $1 million in donations, with a $500 matching grant to eligible businesses that raise at least $500 on their GoFundMe.
The fundraisers will start to appear on the Yelp pages of businesses in some of the hardest hit areas starting soon, and will roll out to all eligible businesses nationwide over the next two days.
Businesses must have a claimed Yelp page to participate, and have five or fewer locations.
Data from Yelp shows U.S. consumer interest for restaurants has fallen 67% since March 10th 2020, and businesses like yoga studios and breweries have seen large decreases of 78% and 85%, respectively, due to social distancing measures.
