PORTSMOUTH — Carolyn Dagostino was scrolling through her Facebook timeline last week when a post from a fellow small business owner caught her eye.

The post said that fundraising campaigns had been created online for individual businesses without the knowledge or consent of the business owners.

Dagostino, who purchased the burger joint BRGR Bar with her husband, Jason Dagostino, in January, said she searched the fundraisers for businesses in the area. Sure enough, BRGR Bar was listed among a handful of other Seacoast eateries, even though she and her husband hadn’t created the fundraising campaign or authorized anyone else to do so.

"My initial reaction was that it was a full scam and that people were trying to get money on behalf of our staff or on behalf of our restaurant," she said.

After researching further, though, she learned the fundraisers were created as part of a partnership between Yelp and GoFundMe. The online business directory and review business had teamed up with the fundraising platform for what the two for-profit companies described as an effort to help small businesses during the widespread disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Many businesses have been required to temporarily close, making it seemingly impossible to continue to pay their staff and cover rent,” said Chad Richard, senior vice president of business and corporate development for Yelp, in a blog post Tuesday. “Fortunately, loyal customers want to help them weather this unprecedented crisis and are looking for ways to make an immediate impact.”

To give users “a seamless way” to help small business during this challenging time, Yelp added a “donate” button to the pages of individual businesses deemed eligible, directing patrons to individual GoFundMe fundraisers for those businesses, Richard said.

“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,” Richard added.

The fundraisers were first launched Tuesday in several major West Coast metro areas then rolled out to select businesses nationwide, according to an announcement from Yelp. While some business owners welcomed the help, others were annoyed or even angered by the way the campaign was executed.

Carolyn Dagostino said she recognizes that Yelp and GoFundMe may have thought they were helping BRGR Bar and others.

“It's still an affront,” she said, “to have our name and business put on there without us knowing about it.”

Dagostino said she and her husband would have launched their own GoFundMe campaign if they wanted one. They would have created it and promoted it themselves. But they are supporting their staff members in other ways, as they continue to do business, she said.

Although the pandemic has hampered sales, BRGR Bar’s business model translates pretty well to a takeout-only environment, Dagostino said, enabling the establishment to keep five or six people employed.

“We’re one of the lucky ones, I think,” she said.

“We’re paying the bills,” she added.

Dagostino said customers have helped by buying up gift cards and leaving generous tips for her staff.

"The amount of support we've gotten from this community, it gives us chills,“ she said.

Amid all the uncertainty and change caused by the pandemic last week, Dagostino said she also spent hours trying to persuade Yelp and GoFundMe to remove the fundraising page they created for BRGR Bar. To opt out, she would be required to claim the fundraiser, which meant tracking down and submitting a copy of her personal identification, BRGR Bar’s business license and more, she said.

“It’s a bummer, but we’ll get through it,” she added.

Mark Graziano, who owns Lunchbox Louie’s in York, Maine, said he was bothered by the fact that Yelp and GoFundMe set up a fundraiser for his business without asking him first. Even though the restaurant has closed temporarily due to the pandemic, Graziano said Friday he wouldn’t even try to get the fundraiser taken down.

"I don't have time to deal with them," Graziano said.

"It's a publicity stunt for them, to some extent," he added.

Graziano said most of his employees continue to work at the other eatery he owns, Anthony’s Food Shop in York, where his team is adjusting to a difficult and unfamiliar situation, sanitizing the shop constantly, offering gloves to shoppers and taking other precautions.

"We're doing the best we can in this environment," he said.

If anyone does donate to Lunchbox Louie’s via GoFundMe, Graziano said he will figure out how to claim the funds and pass them along to his team, rather than keeping the money for the business.

After the outcry from business owners, Yelp said Thursday that it quit automatically adding the “donate” button to business profiles. Fundraisers that had been created as part of the campaign were removed late last week, according to Yelp spokesperson Flora Theden. Yelp and GoFundMe are working together to offer an opt-in version of the program, Theden said.

A spokesperson for GoFundMe did not respond to a request for comment.

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