The legal position is that gofundme operates under Californian law. All donations are in the nature of an outright gift, and the money can be used for any purpose whatsoever.
That nowithstanding I would expect contributors to this and to the PJGA to be made aware of the financial position of fund. Transparency was promised but so far has been observed in the breach.
It is interesting that so many of those who complain about lack of transparency in the "find madeleine" fund (which is subject to independent scrutiny and audit) are sanguine about the total lack of transparency in the PJGA.
Personally, I have no objection to people paying to have a time-share certificate on a meteor 1 million light-years away from planet Earth, provided they are compos mentis and are doing so using disposable income of no consequence. I can think of numerous ways in which to support people who have no access to clean water on planet Earth, for example, but... to each his own.
Question: what is the tax situation on this issue?