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...
Like anything, there is a time and a place for sites like gfm and, like anything, people will find a way to try to abuse it. I have seen these sites appropriately used to raise money for, for example, fellow alumni of my alma mater who lost legs in the Boston Marathon bombing (and would therefore have extreme renovations that would need to be made to their homes) and for funeral expenses for children who've died of cancer whose parents don't have that kind of money. And then I've seen them inappropriately used, like by the girl I went to hs with. Or by some bakery in Oregon that tried to raise money so they could continue breaking the law and refusing service to LGBT customers.
I'll be starting a go fund me for a laptop. I think I'd rather play candycrush on a laptop as opposed to a phone. That way, I can scroll through "the dirty" for my city and be twice as productive at work.
I agree with you. I did the single mom thing and worked and went school. It sucked. Badly. However, I did not panhandle. I had my child by choice, I will take care of him without random assistance. There was a case where a woman had a gofundme account for a boob job, stating it would make her a 'better wife and mother'. Many were livid over this, and I do understand why. Society has gotten to a point where the entitlement is way out of hand. One must realize that no one owes anyone else anything. However, you are correct when you say that she has the ability to ask for whatever she wishes, and you have the right to ignore it. I typically do not donate to gofundme for any reason, due to the rampant fraud that has been going on by people with those accounts. ex- the many cases of women who claim to have breast cancer, raise thousands, they never had the disease in the first place.
While I will not be donating to any GoFundMe fundraiser or crowd-funding account any time soon, I see less vitriol expressed toward the other types of free rides.
The typical run-of-the-mill student who sets up a GoFundMe account is going to net no more than a few hundred dollars, or at the most, $1000. But by virtue of winning the ovarian lottery, privileged students born to extreme wealth in old money places like Darien, Connecticut or Newport, Rhode Island get to ride through 4+ years at Harvard or Princeton at the princely sum of $47,000 in tuition each year ($200,000 for an undergrad education at the Ivy League).
We can gripe about the laziness of students who engage in crowd funding efforts, but they are not the ones who get free rides through school. The students who were fortunate enough to be born to parents at the top of the economic rung are the true faces of the free ride through school.
I am firmly middle class (always have been), but I have become more understanding of old and new wealth. A long, long time ago (or even more recently), these kids' parents built companies that are now heavy hitters in the stock market, and those stocks (through profit sharing, mutual funds, etc.) are what we all need for our pensions and profit-sharing accounts so that we can eventually retire without worrying about eating. They played their money smartly, and I play their money smartly. A symbiotic relationship, so to speak.
It irritates me too, especially for something this. So people should give this girl their hard earned money so she can go to school to get a degree for 4x what it should cost? Um, no.
It irritates me too, especially for something this. So people should give this girl their hard earned money so she can go to school to get a degree for 4x what it should cost? Um, no.
No, that's a false reading of the situation. There is no "should" donate. It's "may" donate if so motivated.
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
I guess I'm the odd person out...go fund me accounts don't bother me. I just ignore them.
To be honest, I've fantasized about setting up one for myself-believe me, I think I have a good story- but I'm too private to tell the world and FB my business and secondly I'm too proud to beg! Bwahaha!!!
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I guess I'm the odd person out...go fund me accounts don't bother me. I just ignore them.
To be honest, I've fantasized about setting up one for myself-believe me, I think I have a good story- but I'm too private to tell the world and FB my business and secondly I'm too proud to beg! Bwahaha!!!
Lol. Yeah. I've thought about setting one up too, but then I think "I'm better than that."
I have a policy of strictly ignoring go fund me links and requests. Due to my volunteer efforts I've become a fair internet sleuth, and have found myself actually getting angry over go fund me stuff I've read in the past after checking it out.
We all have struggles. And when I've found it to be necessary to help out, I'll write a personal check. Or a cashier's check from the bank if I want my privacy upheld. That's something I've done and will continue to do. However, the overwhelming majority of these types of requests can be absolutely debunked in a matter of minutes.
If I wanted to throw away money I'd walk down the street tossing it up into the air. Like my Stepdad's lesson on the parking meters here in my city. I still love that guy's moxy. 5k in quarters, downtown, throwing it into the air while walking back and forth between overpriced/deceptively programmed parking meters. Hillarious!
Don't use GFM!!! It's a scam!!! I recently helped a good friend on Facebook that lost his wallet in Nigeria and needed money for a plane ticket back! The good news is that he told me to wire him $1000 dollars and in exchange he will pay me back $2000!!!!! I should be getting my money any day now via PayPal:D
Don't use GFM!!! It's a scam!!! I recently helped a good friend on Facebook that lost his wallet in Nigeria and needed money for a plane ticket back! The good news is that he told me to wire him $1000 dollars and in exchange he will pay me back $2000!!!!! I should be getting my money any day now via PayPal:D
But that's only if you first give him your SS# and bank routing and account numbers, right??
KelRN215, BSN, RN
1 Article; 7,349 Posts
Like anything, there is a time and a place for sites like gfm and, like anything, people will find a way to try to abuse it. I have seen these sites appropriately used to raise money for, for example, fellow alumni of my alma mater who lost legs in the Boston Marathon bombing (and would therefore have extreme renovations that would need to be made to their homes) and for funeral expenses for children who've died of cancer whose parents don't have that kind of money. And then I've seen them inappropriately used, like by the girl I went to hs with. Or by some bakery in Oregon that tried to raise money so they could continue breaking the law and refusing service to LGBT customers.