RACINE — A Racine-based nonprofit is warning other orgazations after Flipcause, their primary fundraising platform, filed for bankruptcy.
Fight to End Exploitation, which raises awareness and provides education about human trafficking, is among nonprofits nationwide affected by Flipcause's financial collapse. The platform, which markets itself as "the best fundraising software for small nonprofits," was issued a cease and desist order by the California Attorney General in November before filing for bankruptcy.
"We rely a lot on donations," said Rachel Harrison, program director for Fight to End Exploitation, which is a small nonprofit.
She said Flipcause owes them about $8,100.
"For a small nonprofit such as us, that is a substantial amount of money," Harrison said.
According to bankruptcy filings, Flipcause owes more than $29 million to organizations nationwide.
Harrison said Flipcause served as their primary fundraising tool for several years, handling everything from donation collection to event registration fees.
Watch: Racine nonprofit leaders look to raise awareness following financial collapse of Flipcause
"Any sort of donations," Harrison said. "Whenever we did fundraising campaigns, for example, the conference we did in October, people would register via Flipcause and pay through Flipcause."
The organization noticed problems toward the end of 2025.
"They were not transferring our money on time," Harrison said.
Harrison reached out to TMJ4 to raise awareness for other nonprofits that might be similarly affected.
“There has been no notification from flipcause directly about this," Harrison said. "I guarantee there are a lot more organizations that have no idea that they are in the same situation as us."
Fight to End Exploitation has since removed all Flipcause links from their website. Harrison also said she filed a formal complaint with the Calfornia Attorney General and the Internet Crime Complain Center, as well as the FBI and the FTC. She also filed a local police report with the Racine Police Department.
Lt. Sarah Zupke, who serves on Fight to End Exploitation's board in addition to her role with the Racine Police Department, said the organization wanted to create a paper trail that could help if a larger investigation develops.
"The organization is based out of the city of Racine, and they're the victim in this case," Zupke said. "So we want to make sure that we're doing our part, you know, in terms of the documentation."
Zupke said RPD is able to connect organizations like Fight to End Exploitation with additional resources and assist in passing along information to other investigating agencies.
While Zupke will not be investigating the local police report herself, she emphasized the importance of accountability.
"Flipcause needs to be held accountable," Zupke said.
The financial loss is impacting the organization at a critical time for human trafficking awareness and education, as January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
"It's just very devastating that something like this delays our outreach and how we can actually support those in our community," Harrison said.
"It's going to be impacting not only us but those that we serve," Zupke said.
FlipCause did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The California Attorney General recommends impacted nonprofits take screenshots or download any records they have with FlipCause and file consumer complaints.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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