Colorado nonprofit takes a hit after donation site Flipcause declares bankruptcy: "They stole from hungry people"

A small Colorado mountain food bank in Leadville lost nearly $28,000 after a fundraising company handling its donations declared bankruptcy while still holding the nonprofit's money.

St. George Episcopal Mission previously used Flipcause as a third-party payment processor for credit card donations. That convenient partnership soon became a very problematic one.

"We would once a month get a disbursement," said Pastor in Residence Melissa Earley. "Then we started noticing we were getting those disbursements more slowly and in smaller quantities."

Earley said the church would request $5,000 and receive only a fraction of that. Before they could fully transition to another processor, Flipcause declared bankruptcy while still holding $28,000 owed to the mission. The church uses that money to operate a food pantry twice a week and serve community meals four days a week, purchasing fresh produce like tomatoes, peppers and lettuce while also distributing donated staples like canned goods, bread and tortillas.

California's Attorney General later issued a cease-and-desist order against Flipcause, alleging the company owed nonprofits all over the country at least $500,000.

Earley said St. George is near the bottom of a long list of creditors and is not expecting to recover the missing funds.

"They stole from us," she said. "They stole from people who are hungry. They stole from people who are unhoused, from immigrants, from kids' sports teams."

It's money stolen from a community that's already struggling, even with places like St. George's. Earley said it costs about $90,000 a year for a family of four to live in the highest town in North America.

"It is expensive to live up here. It is beautiful and expensive," she said.

Despite the setback, Earley said the community did not hold it against them, and stepped up.

After notifying donors about the loss, the church received $27,000 in replacement donations within a couple of months, nearly covering what was missing.

"People who want to live in a community where folks care about each other, that's who wants to live in a community like Leadville," Earley said. "It's hard to live here, and so people step up."