Go Fund Me.

[Mimi]

Has anyone come across this ?

It had first come to my attention this evening. On Facebook there is a link for Go Fund Me which leads to a family asking for money to help pay for their mothers funeral. She tragically took her own life so I understand her family may well be struggling to pay for the huge cost of it which I have no problem with but upon closer inspection there are many , many 'begging ' links that you can click on.
There is one there for someone's wedding. They are actually asking for money to pay for their wedding ! There has to be a 'morale ' cut off point surely?
I can understand asking for money being raised for charity, holidays for sick children etc, but a wedding.....Really??

[Gemini]

I haven't come across this Mimi. I have sponsored several people for good causes, via Just Giving, but not Go Fund Me,

A wedding is ridiculous. Some people will obviously ask strangers for help with anything!
A FB friend of mine had an appeal to send her 2 daughters to a summer dance course. They live in America. I know the family don't have lots of money and the course plus all the dance shoes and clothes are very expensive. I was surprised by the appeal however. I would never ask friends for help in this way , and I have certainly known some hand to mouth years in my 20's with 2 small children!

[Shemadee]

A friend of mine told me that one Go Fund Me page was put on by a girl who implied that she still had cancer when she had been given the all clear some years before. She wanted money to pay for a trip to Disney for her family. It does seem that there is no kind of checking system in place which leaves things wide open for frauds and also leaves one suspicious of what may be genuine cases.

[Daisy]

There don't seem to be any formal checks on how genuine people asking for help are on Go Fund Me, except the good common sense of possible funders! Asking for help with a wedding is bad, but faking an illness is even worse. I'm sure there are many genuine cases and a lot of very kind people who are prepared to help, but it's a pity it's open to such abuse.

[Glammanana]

Unfortunatley there will always be people who will take advantage of what starts off as a really good idea,the Charity I work for does get taken in by some clients I'm afraid but the people who go out to qualify them are taken in by their stories,one lady came to us for curtains for her bedroom and kitchen insisting on a certain colour all well and good if we had them but she tutted and moaned we did not meet her colour choice,same lady was sporting a nice set of false nails and hair extensions extras that she could have paid for her curtains with I'm sure but maybe I am just cynical and not as charitable as I should be.

[Daisy]

Glamm - I think most of us feel the same - necessities come before luxuries. You pay for the necessities (if you can), then if there's any money left over you can choose your luxuries. I'd certainly put curtains before a manicure or hair extensions neither of which I've ever felt justified in spending money on. I hope your fussy customer found her curtains in another charity shop so at least one good cause benefitted.

[Glammanana]

Daisy the difference in our charity is that we supply necessary items free of charge when the client has been referred to us so she wouldn't get them "gratis" from any other shop bear in mind we had already supplied all her white goods and bedding but she had to be difficult over these darn curtains,and yes we all cut our cloth to fit our needs don't we I wouldn't dream of beauty treatments before paying for items for my home.

[Shemadee]

Some people really astonish me with their attitude especially on sites such as freecycle when they demand the item for themselves and then try to insist the donor delivers the item to them. I've had a couple of people take the item and then ask if I have anything else they could have ( one arrived in a brand new Mercedes!). Though tbh most people are pleasant and polite and some picking up on behalf of others keep asking if you are sure they don't owe any money.

[Daisy]

I suppose there will always be people who expect something for nothing. On a much smaller scale, a friend who makes the tea for the Wood turning Club both our OHs go to was saying that there's one member who always takes 3 or 4 biscuits and then brings his cup back so he can take some more. The club charges the princely sum of 25p for tea and A biscuit! My friend takes out the cost of the tea etc and the rest goes to club funds, so his greedy man is really cheating his own club.

[Shemadee]

When we were courting there was a millionaire (which really meant something in the late 60s/early 70s) who used to go from group to group getting included in the drink rounds and then moving on to the next one before his round was due. Everyone in the pub knew what he was doing and eventually cut him out but I suppose that might be how you get to be a millionaire though it doesn't seem likely he had much fun spending his money!

[Gemini]

Once again my Georgia friend has made a Facebook appeal fundraising for her daughters summer dance intensive as they call it. Last year I gave a small donation, and later when they hadn't met the target, I donated the same amount again.
This year you can buy a T shirt celebrating the arts, or just donate. My friend is constantly posting now, saying that they won't make the total, even saying if 300 people just give 5 dollars it will be a great help.
I really do feel this is begging!
I could easily give £5, which is more than 5 dollars, and I probably will. I do feel I have been guilted into it though. If we couldn't afford anything for our girls, they couldn't do it.

[Daisy]

Gem - I agree with your last sentence. I think a one-off situation is entirely different from asking every year. They are trying to get other people to fund a lifestyle which they cannot support themselves. Maybe it's because I was brought up in an era where you saved for the things you wanted and if you didn't save you didn't get them, but I don't think it's a bad way of teaching our children/grandchildren the value of money. The other thing is that it slightly taints your friendship with Georgia because you feel coerced into giving, even though you may have given freely anyway.

[Nana]

I never give to anyone asking for money on FB only our Granny members on here as I'm certain it's not a scam. I feel strongly about not giving to strangers requests as they are just that 'strangers'. I feel that our generation are too trusting in that respect. When DD knew I was using FB she advised me never to give money to anyone I didn't know because drug users need money for their habit. She said even paedophiles have the nerve to ask for money under a false cause. It is such a shame that they spoil it for good causes.

Gem, I would go hungry before I asked a friend for money. I'm a believer that we live within our means. To pay for tap shoes, school uniform etc I took from Peter to pay Paul. It was the only way I could hold onto my dignity.