Rumor: I have to add a disclaimer on my fundraiser page stating that any money raised won’t go towards to my home cleanup or rebuilding?
Fact
In general, crowdfunding proceeds or other gifts do not factor into how much funding a survivor will receive from FEMA. For example, FEMA would not consider a general “help me raise money for my recovery” on a crowd sourcing platform as a duplication of benefit under our laws, regulations, and policy.
By law FEMA cannot duplicate benefits a survivor receives from any other program, insurance, or any other source. If survivors receive money from a GoFundMe page for a specific disaster-related expense, they may not be able to receive FEMA assistance for the same, specific expense.
For example, if a survivor received money via crowdfunding for “hotel costs” and the survivor also requested money from FEMA for hotel costs, FEMA would need to consider the funding received via crowdfunding before processing the assistance for lodging expense reimbursement.
There are no "magic words" to use on crowdfunding sites, but FEMA would recommend just keeping the campaigns general to avoid duplications of federal benefits.