MNHQ so what is allowed.

Akiram as a "longstanding" poster myself, I think there is an element of truth in that. I think if someone posts about being in such financial strife then people are going to offer money and other things. Especially this time of year.

Frothing No I think sponsorship is fine.

sorry for wrong cause, Reality

ah yes, I recall the Justgiving stuff now - I had dim memories of writing out a cheque for the school post run, but that must have been from family donations

frothing giving to sob story isn't sponsorship,it's soft
sponsorship is payment for a demonstrable act and usually legitimised and corroborated eg just giving page, charity cause

if someone wants to dig deep for every sob start,that's there look out.don't see how mnhq can or should intervene in such a situation

essentially, trust nae fucker

Awa No she didn't ask in exact words but the request was definitely there. As a "longstanding" poster (where are people getting that from by the way?) she would have known that such a thread would have had kind hearted MNers digging deep into their pockets.
Queen I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I think your post shows at least part of the reason why posters dislike these thinly veiled begging threads. People with less than the OP wanted to help so to then find out things might not have been as they seemed must surely sting.

Helen, I know you're busy, but can you respond if possible to my point about the timings? You said on a deleted thread that you were initially investigating troll reports, and thats why a sensible advice post wasnt made until just before last night's thread got pulled, but my early report wasn't about trolling- I asked for MNHQ to post quickly to prevent the crazy telethon atmosphere, which was bound to turn ugly.

It felt like nobody really read it, as the reply I got back gave me my own advice

Surely asking how much was raised is sensible in that it allows the next person to decide if their donation is required.

Queen if that is true then I am disgusted.

Frothing - no sponsorship is good, and MN is a great way to raise the profile of people doing things for different causes. If you use a JustGiving page, then you know the money is going where you intend it to.

so what is the consensus on asking for sponsorship?

eg, Reality (sorry to name check, I just remember your cause) and her mammoth walk for Help for Heroes? (fantastic cause)

or TSC's dp running the marathon in aid of Clic Sargeant (plus memory of MNer's son) (another fantastic cause)

or my old appeal for funds for my child's school (obviously I think it is a fantastic cause, and am grateful daily for the equipment and generosity, but I fully realise that it is less 'verifiable' if you like)

I have absolutely no doubt that those listed (and any others I have seen, tbh) used the funds for what they said they would. But a JustGiving page is easy to set up. so, in true internet style, we still don't know each other and therefore don't know that the money is going where is shoudl be - it is all taken on trust (and I was happy to donate in that spirit, both for good causes and as a way of 'paying it forward' having been on the receiving end of MN spirit)

so, should appeals for sponsorship also be frowned upon?

RealiTree, she said in the first post she was skint, only had £20.

Then she gave her paypal details, but much later on in the thread, definitely not in the OP: maybe she said she'd PM her bank details, I didn't see that but that definitely wasn't in the OP either: maybe after she'd been offered cash by several people.

So what if she was saying she was skint and people offered to help? Are we not allowed to complain about being skint?

I think it was fair enough to ask the OP what had been raised, as the reply would have stopped the rest o f the thread turning into an embarrassing telethon.

The OP didn't ask directly for money. She just said she was skint.

I think anyone that donates money or food knows that there's a possibility that the person may not be genuine, but really, we're all adults and I think we can deal with that. The same if I give money to a homeless person on the street, I have no idea how they'll spend it, but sometimes I do it anyway.

After all, I spend enough money on crap for myself that I don't need, and if I don't give more than I can afford, it doesn't matter much, does it.