The use of "go fund me" these days is a bit like online begging

[BlackGirlAndRobin]

I get that its used for a lot of good, which is great, and I've readily supported friends in the past who were raising funds for charity etc. But recently I've seen some rather dubious fundraising attempts which have left me thinking

The one I've just seen is for a "homeless" soldier who has had his bedsit broken into. The thieves took his "Apple Mac" laptop which had precious photos of his time as a soldier. This person has raised over £800 so far.

Other one I saw was a guy who wasn't eligible for a maintenance style grant to study away from home. So was asking for help to pay for his accommodation.

I'm being cynical unreasonable, aren't I? Obviously each to their own and all that.

[whois]

My cousin is raising money for his son's medical bills in America. His son has cancer, he's only 12. The bills are HUGE

Exactly proving he OPs point that it is glorified begging.

[MaidOfStars]

Jennifer Look, it's a business venture. If you can't afford it, don't take it on. I'm not paying for it

Buzarrely, I thought this was the very aim of crowdfunding - unfunded projects with some value for the public. I know people have used the platform to get scientific research off the ground, to restore public buildings, etc. This is how it should be. Not the litany of begging it's become.

[wannaBe]

yes it is begging. Over the past few months I have seen ones from people wanting to raise money to get back to the US to visit a dying relative, one from someone wanting help to fund his degree, just to name a couple.

IMO the barometer for these is very straightforward. If a mate asked you in the pub if you would give them a few quid towards their trip abroad/studies/new car/, and could you ask your friends whether they might be prepared to do the same would you? I'm guessing that most people would think in that instance that their so-called mate was a bit of a freeloader who had a bloody nerve.


Just because this begging happens via a website doesn't make it any less of a cheek.

But tbh I blame the gullible who give to these people. Without them the sites wouldn't exist.

[Only1scoop]

Yanbu

Gfm also take around 8 percent in total I believe.

I think you have to be wired up a certain way to do that kind of thing.

[ThenLaterWhenItGotDark]

I think it is different Katy, because at least you know that the charitable organizations have the cash to decide what to do with, and they have already put themselves out there as it were to say so.

I don't donate to any of these things (and raised an eyebrow so high it hasn't come down yet) when my second cousin did it for her disabled son to have their garden done nicely for him to play in and put those climbing frame things in. They received 10 grand in total, local papers and businesses got involved. Guess what? The garden is still a shithole and they haven't bought any climbing frames. But they're 10 grand better off.

What does sicken me is that very very savvy people use SM for very very nefarious means. Look at the begging threads on here. And don't tell me that the people that start the "I'm so pooooooor I'm fettling down the sofa for 2p to buy some marge" don't know that they will have a lot of very kindhearted people funding them for the next god knows how long. Nobody is that naive to not realise.

Again, we are all adults and can choose to give or not. But some people are grabby scammers and some people are too kind (or daft) to be let loose on the internet. It's very sad really.

[ThenLaterWhenItGotDark]

As far as the sob stories go, I'd not believe any of them unless I knew the person personally. It's too easy, and hoax slayer etc are full of them. "homeless ex soldier robbed" sounds like a Britain First headline...

On any CF page, or FB, or MN.

[KeyserSophie]

"homeless ex soldier robbed by refugee benefit scrounger who didnt wear a poppy"

maid yes you're right and there are some platforms which are more focused on small businesses/ inventors who are basically looking for very early stage angel investors. it's also great for social enterprises- i.e. profit making businesses with a social aim which rely on grants to get them started.

[Indiechic]

Keysersophie re funding a gastric band: "What have you got to lose". Just brilliant

[Micah]

I thinks pp said, you have to bear in mind the person begging has no legal obligation to spend the money on what they say they will.

I'm particularly wary of the knee jerk fundraising for medical costs on diagnosis. In the uk most costs will be covered. So the 10 grand raised for "treatment abroad" or whatever is pretty much 10 grand in someone's pocket.

If you're happy with that fine. But if you donate to a kitten fund and find the fundraiser has spent it on drugs, you have no comeback.

[KleineDracheKokosnuss]

I think it's fine that it exists. It's a way to put people in touch with each other and as someone has said, to locate benefactors.

However. I am very particular about who I donate money to, and always check as much as I can into the background. For example, there's a guy trying to raise money in the US to remove excess skin after he lost an incredible amount of weight. I'm contemplating helping, nut haven't yet been able to verifu enough that it's legitimate.

Most stuff on there I wouldn't touch though.

[Only1scoop]

Hhhmmmm quite fancy the new diamond crusted Omega. My watch is on the blink.

Come on MNetters you know I luffs you all immensely

[Booyaka]

Sometimes it is quite good. For example, there was a case near where I live where a woman had split from her violent husband. He took the boys to the marital home and tempted them up to the attic with a train set and locked the door then set fire to it and burnt them all to death. After the deaths it transpired that he had researched it carefully to ensure that as he did it and his names were on the deeds, it counted as a deliberate act so the insurance wouldn't pay out. He'd done it deliberately to make sure she was left with absolutely nothing, no home, no family no possessions, no money, nothing but the clothes she stood up in. I donated to that. It was horrendous and quite widely publicised.

I guess it's a case of 'buyer beware'. Research the collections properly, ask questions if you need to, make sure it's legit. The Dax one shows that a little research can be very revealing.

Just as an aside, I'm not sure why the soldier having a Mac is so terrible. People who are homeless haven't been forever and will have some possessions they'd like to keep. He'd be an idiot to get rid of a Mac which can help him search for a job and home and sort out his benefits for an amount which probably wouldn't cover a months rent and deposit.

[Booyaka]

^^Sorry, it was her two sons he killed, wasn't v clear.

[BalaRua]

Yanbu, one came up on my newsfeed the other day saying 'please help me raise money for some gym equipment for my house so I can lose weight, because I'm too shy to go running outside'.. Really?!

[SinisterBumFacedCat]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this! I saw one from an old school friend who lost a load of weight and then wanted funding to become a weight loss instructor. Good for her, but I wouldn't dream of asking her to pay for any of my vocational training or anyone pther than my employer or possibly close family member, which I would repay, so I thought it was cheeky.

[Imeg]

I also think it's important to be cautious. I saw an emotional interview on US tv with a family whose child was born with a rare medical condition and they were raising money because his wife would have to give up work to take care of him. Most people would never have heard of this condition but if you are familiar with it then you know that it does not have a major impact on general health. It is likely to require outpatient checks and possibly a few non-major operations (day surgery) depending on the exact effects. So unless there were any complicating factors or concurrent conditions there was absolutely no reason at all why the wife would have to give up work. I am sure that the parents were genuinely upset at their son being born with this condition, and I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they overestimated the care he would need rather than cynically exploiting the situation.

[SinisterBumFacedCat]

booyaka I heard about that on radio 4 last week, her community are amazing, lots of local tradesmen donated their time free to renovate the house so she can sell it and have enough to buy a new place. The church were brilliant too. Horrendous story though, poor lady loosing both her boys

[BeyondThirty]

I nearly set one up to fund my powerchair (nhs not great at providing them)
In the end i didnt though, was too scared of it going tits up and people going over my life with a fine tooth comb. Apart from that, i felt really weird about asking people directly for money, even with a 'good cause'. People i know knew i was waiting to buy it and noone offered to help, why should i guilt them into it with a sob-story?!

It took a few months of very careful saving, but i paid for it myself.

[TakeMeUpTheNorthMountain]

See now I have thought if it in my darkest hour, years of medication has rotted my teeth and I haven't smiled in years, the self consciousness is often overwhelming and I can't go out. I'm in Ireland and it's going to cost at least 10 grand to fix. It will take me years to do that. I've seen other crowd funding campaigns that are similar but I dont know, it does seem like begging

[Scremersford]

It generally makes me feel awkward. There are quite a few things I'd like, but I have to save up for them, so I wouldn't dream of making people feel uncomfortable by pressurising them.

I'm more sympathetic to the genuine ones, but it still just seems such a bizarre concept to promise to fund a total stranger, individually.

I've had quite a few come in my newsfeed and email for people wanting to go on holiday to exotic places. Usually its dressed up as helping to do something or other, but it seems like a whole little industry run by other people who are making a living out of it. British people, I mean, not poor people in third world countries.

I also saw one where a person had an expensive, professionally produced video made to promote their Go Fund Me campaign to pay tuition fees, and I'm afraid I did question why they wouldn't simply spend the thousands that video cost to make on the fees. But apparently they needed much, much more money than that...

I also consider that some US medical treatment is very interventionist in certain areas, and would not be an option in many countries at all, and this would not be considered disastrous.

[PaulAnkaTheDog]

So what happened in the end with the baby dax one?

[UterusUterusGhali]

Recently on FB etc a post went viral of a chap from the uk with Crohn's who said he faced discrimination for his hidden disability. Fair enough. It was a good post. He showed himself with clothes, looking "normal" and then topless showing his iliostomy etc.
However...
He then went on to link to a Just Giving page to pay for "medical costs"!
He's in the uk! All stomas & medicine are paid for!

A lot of people on the Crohns group I'm in from the States fell for it. :(

[Enjolrass]

So what happened in the end with the baby dax one?

They said they made a donation to the charity and would post a photo of the confirmation.

They never did.

[PaulAnkaTheDog]

What?!

So did they raise more money than they needed and pocket it? That's awful.

[BeyondThirty]

And by then most people had forgotten about it and it was out of the news.

As far as i saw, those people who asked for their money back as it had been given for medical treatment never got it. I know some were encouraged to report to the police (technically it is fraud, after all), dont know what happened after that though