GoFundMe Thoughts?

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So, one of my biggest pet peeves are sharing on social media of links to various GoFundMe accounts that are set up for silly reasons. I have absolutely NO PROBLEM with this mode of fundraising when someone has suffered some sort of tragedy such as a terribly injury or illness, an act of God such as horrible storm damage, or the sudden unexpected death of a caregiver or financial support person. HOWEVER, I do have a problem with people soliciting donations in this manner from complete strangers in order to finance their personal life decisions, so that they can "pursue their dream" or be a bit more comfortable. I believe that if there is something that one wants, one should be willing to work for it. I do not believe that a GoFundMe account qualifies as working for it.

An example pertinent to this forum - A friend of mine posted a link on Facebook today toa GoFundMe campaign for someone he knows. She is a single mother in her mid 20s, who is pursuing her BSN at a private college in town. She makes mention about how busy she is with school and caring for her child, and she also mentions the large student loans that she is accruing. (This college is known to accept anyone willing to sign on the bottom line. I'll bet she will come out with $80,000+ in student loans from them.) And she goes on to talk about how she qualifies for reduced fee childcare, but it is such a huge hassle to go through the certification process on a regular basis for this. (Apparently she has to do some volunteer work in order to qualify because the program does not count her clinical hours as classroom time.) She is raising money to pay for child care while she finishes school so that she will not longer need to go through the hassle of qualifying for reduced fee childcare...

I just have a problem with this for a wide variety of reasons. Am I the only one? I mean, she has every right to ask for money and I have every right to ignore it, but it just bugs me that someone is asking for money to pay for childcare so that she can avoid the hassle of qualifying for reduced fee childcare. This is just one example of what I consider to be silly requests...

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

I have no issue donating to my friend's GoFundMe account for her baby. He was born with O.I. & will have to have many surgeries & treatments. But if someone is going to school by CHOICE, I won't donate. The baby didn't choose to be born with O.I., but people choose school. There is financial aid for a reason. If they don't want to fill out the FAFSA, then don't ask people for money.

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Specializes in critical care.

I'd be willing to bet you any amount of money that she has every intention of applying for the reduced child care, and keeping the extra money she gets from the go fund me for herself. That is seriously tacky. Basically she's saying that she could actually get money for this for free, but instead of filling out a paper and including pay stubs, she'd rather take other people's hard earned cash. That's just plain old disgusting.

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Specializes in PDN; Burn; Phone triage.

Oh yay! This topic again.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Oh yay! This topic again.

Just one recent example:

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/crowd-funding-yay-958412.html

11 pages of thoughts

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Well, after I clicked on the button to post this, it crossed my mind that I should have searched for old related posts first... Please forgive me for being irritating. Maybe I need to make a GoFundMe account to raise money for therapy that I will need after being berated for bring up an old topic.. (Kidding - Okay? I should have looked for an old thread first..)

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Meh, it doesn't bother me. People will do what they want with their money.

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I'd like to get money for my expenses without the hassle of going through all that...you know...EMPLOYMENT.

Maybe I should set up a GoFundMe account so I can avoid it all?

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Specializes in PCT, RN.

I'm just gonna set up a GoFundMe account so I won't have to work ever.

I mean, I can do that, right?

People will totally donate their hard-earned money so I don't have to work!

Genius, why didn't I think of this before....

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Well, after I clicked on the button to post this, it crossed my mind that I should have searched for old related posts first... Please forgive me for being irritating. Maybe I need to make a GoFundMe account to raise money for therapy that I will need after being berated for bring up an old topic.. (Kidding - Okay? I should have looked for an old thread first..)

Definitely no need to apologize. Just wanted to save you the trouble of looking since I knew exactly where to find it.

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Specializes in NICU, Trauma, Oncology.

Tacky tacky tacky. I know someone who set up a GFM account for her BSN program.

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.

To the OP, don't be sorry for posting this.

Many GoFundMe campaigns leave a bad taste in my mouth, especially ones that involve helping someone pay for school. If a person sets one up, and people donate to it, good for that person that set up the account. However, I will never donate to one. While I would imagine most of the people who set up a "Fund my Schooling" campaign do need financial help in some way, I'm sure there are individuals worse off than them, with more dire financial commitments; and many of those individuals were able to make sacrifices, work hard, and make it through school with the resources that are available.

With all the recent issues with "charity" money going to all the wrong places (Red Cross in Haiti, some cancer charities, etc.) I am very skeptical of any charitable donations.

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