Your Thoughts on GoFundMe - Page 2

Cakers3 · ‎06-17-2015

@JaneMarple wrote:
@JBKO wrote:
I have a curiousity about GoFUndMe. If you don't make your goal, do you still keep the money? He's at 1k now.
No, the money goes back to the donors.

@JaneMarple Not true. According to the FAQ on the GFM website you keep whatever is donated. Plus you can continue even if the goal is met.

hth

"" Compassion is a verb."-Thich Nhat Hanh

JaneMarple · ‎05-23-2011

@Cakers3 wrote:
@JaneMarple wrote:
@JBKO wrote:
I have a curiousity about GoFUndMe. If you don't make your goal, do you still keep the money? He's at 1k now.
No, the money goes back to the donors.
@JaneMarple Not true. According to the FAQ on the GFM website you keep whatever is donated. Plus you can continue even if the goal is met.

hth

Thank you @Cakers3, several years ago I set one up for a friend of mine who is handicapped and that was the stipulation that the goal had to be met or all donations given back.

You Don't Own Me- Leslie Gore
(You don't Know) How Glad I Am- Nancy Wilson

sunshine45 · ‎03-09-2010

@gizmogal

i can tell you that a regular semester abroad studying cost my daughter more than $8000. payment for classes, books, room and board, transportation to and from europe, passport fees, visa fees, cell phone and international calling access, not to mention the regular college fees that are assessed.

********************************************
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein

sissel · ‎08-13-2010

Just be careful with this, relatives are sometimes just money hungry too. Some really do need it and are great people. I really don't understand any of this but if you give do they show your name & the amount you gave? I would never give to a stranger never know if they need it or not. We have so many people on street corners begging for money. We always go to this intersection same young girl with her cardboard sign needs money but when too hot day or windy /rain day she isn't there. If you need money so bad would not be there? Then across the street so many McD's & other places say now hiring why can't she apply? Maybe I just don't understand but cash is tax free.

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

I am not a fan of GoFundMe for soliciting money from people for things that should be paid for by the person who is requesting it.

i was always taught that if you want something, work for it. It is in bad taste to ask people to contribute money for something you want. I would be embarrassed to do this, and I would kick my kids butts if they ever did such a thing.

If someone truly needs money for a medical problem, funeral, or some disaster beyond their control and people want to help out, I am in. Helping people truly in need is good and the right thing to do.

Would I personally donate money to someone who wants to study abroad and asking on GoFundMe? no way

I’d tell them to get a job. I can’t believe the sense of entitlement of some people.

Now, if I knew someone who worked to study abroad and they were not asking for hand outs, I’d probably slip them some spending money to make their trip more enjoyable.

JeanLouiseFinch · ‎10-03-2011

I honestly have mixed feelings about GFM. Of course, there are requests out there that are greedy but there are also those of genuine need. One of our kids and their SO lost everything in a fire except the clothes on their backs and their cars. They didn't even have shoes to put on when they got outside, had to borrow some from neighbors. The fire was so bad they nearly didn't make it and were lucky to get out alive. Being forced out of their home while a little fuzzy in the head from being awakened in the middle of the night, and without time to think, they had nothing in the way of phones, keys, wallets, eyeglasses, etc. - not even a quarter in their pockets. They literally lost everything, including two cats. Neither of them are rolling in dough that they could recover on their own. Starting from scratch is costly even when you get some hand me down furnishings. A good friend started a GFM for them. Through the kindness of friends, family, and friends of family, they were able to put their life back together with the material necessities. The emotional and psychological stuff took longer. I am grateful that GFM was an option in their situation.

I don't mind donating to a GFM account, but the kind of efforts I support are those that I believe are genuine need. I am not in favor of throwing money at someone for an experience they'd like to have but can't afford.

JeanLouiseFinch · ‎10-03-2011

@sissel wrote:
Just be careful with this, relatives are sometimes just money hungry too. Some really do need it and are great people. I really don't understand any of this but if you give do they show your name & the amount you gave? I would never give to a stranger never know if they need it or not. We have so many people on street corners begging for money. We always go to this intersection same young girl with her cardboard sign needs money but when too hot day or windy /rain day she isn't there. If you need money so bad would not be there? Then across the street so many McD's & other places say now hiring why can't she apply? Maybe I just don't understand but cash is tax free.

@sissel- When someone donates to a GFM account they have the option of being named or left as annonymous.

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

My opinion in two words...cyber begging. I'd never participate because there's no accountability. Some of the requests may be legit but I imagine many are not.

I did hear a story on the news tonight that I might consider. Elderly couple living on the Navajo Nation out in the middle of nowhere had the roof blown off their ramshackle mobile home last week (terrible winds here). They are raising 3 grandchildren now in a home with a tarp for a roof. Friends are asking for building materials and help putting on a new roof, not money. I felt for them.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

NycVixen · ‎10-15-2010

It's absolutely your decision. IMO, I would contribute to support educational endeavors especially for a family member.

I agree that I wouldn't hold any hardship you experienced in the past against him; every ensuing generation is supposed to do better than the ones before it. You know firsthand what it was like not to have the money so you can go at the proper time.

International studies will broaden his perspective and most likely teach him things he couldn't learn otherwise. This was my experience and any young person that is focusing on education is on the right track. I would give directly to his family.

~Live with Intention~

riley1 · ‎03-10-2010

I consider GFM as "cyber begging" - some are legit, while I believe many are not. Can this person get a job to offset some of the costs? Are you sure it is for a study abroad program or is he just going to tour Europe? Those are questions I would be asking before or if I donated money.

However, it is your choice to give or not