Many Black Lives Matter donations have reportedly gone to a similarly-named charity with a very different goal

The Black Lives Matter Foundation, a charitable organization based in Santa Clarita, California, is not affiliated with the Black Lives Matter Global Network, the racial justice movement seeking to end police brutality. Their goals are actually quite different — the Black Lives Matter Foundation seeks to "bring the police and the community closer together," while the larger, more well-known movement has called for defunding police departments across the United States. But for donors and online giving platforms, including GoFundMe, who don't do their research, it can be tough to spot the differences.

That's seemingly how the foundation — which has one paid employee and lists a UPS store as its address — raised at least $4.35 million likely meant for the global network in a matter of weeks in June. The bulk of that money came from an online giving platform called Benevity that allows employers at places like Microsoft and Apple to match employee donations, but was frozen before it was disbursed after the distinction came to light.

There's nothing particularly scandalous about the 5-year-old Santa Clarita charity, which is in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service. Its founder, Ray Barnes, a 67-year-old music producer, says he has nothing to hide and is open about the different goals, although he hasn't done much in terms of achieving his goal (the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said it hasn't heard of Barnes or the organization) because he said he's still outlining a real action plan. Still, a Black Lives Matter spokesperson said the movement intended to contact Barnes, who is black, about "improperly using" the name, which isn't trademarked. Read more at BuzzFeed News.

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