Stupid GoFundMes . . . SWH Added

I guess this is the wrong crowd to ask for funding to send me on a cruise around the world. Would it matter if I told you I wanted to do that my whole life?😆😉😀

Doesn't bother me because I've never been to the website. I think, though I would be shaking my head at some people's "me me" attitude and selfish requests. However, you never know if someone will fund you unless you ask. There is no harm in asking. I would just hope that those with funds to donate would donate to a worthy cause.

Why do you care what they're asking for? I care about that as much as I care about what those who use food stamps are buying - neither is any of my business. I started my business with Kickstarter. If I wanted to go to Thailand to travel, why would you care if it was for business or pleasure, just don't give the money if you don't want to, no need to be judgy about it.

Beggars are everywhere - and many are scammers that will happily take you for everything you've got.
What I hate about the scammers is they can really take advantage of the elderly, and gullible.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if terrorists manage to fund themselves this way.
I work hard for my money and I'M the one who's entitled to it (for my immediate family) - no one else is.

I don't go on that website and have only had one person send me a link so they could get money for dental work.

It's very different then how people paid for things way back before the internet, they worked multiple jobs, worked more hours, or got an education to make more money. Now I see so many crying about what they don't have and asking other people to fund them.

Sadly, I doubt the people that really need the money would ever ask for it.

I never look at them unless someone brings them to my attention. I suppose people feel comfortable asking for just about anything these days. Your opinion about this is similar to mine: when someone is in a hardship situation (unexpected medical crisis, needing financial help for something *unpreventable* like recovering from a natural disaster)--- I have no problem with this. When it's for some vanity or leisure purpose-- get a job.

I'm ok with people asking me for money as long as they're ok with me saying "no".

I long for the day that GoFundMe-s don't need to exist for people who need to set them up because it is literally the difference between living and dying. People should not have to set up crowd sourcing to pay absorbent hospital and treatment bills or to pay to legally do something with a dead body after the fact. It's disgusting that the most basic of things, ones health and life and care after death are things that are beyond the reach of anyone but the well off. I know, not the answer to your question. It's just that all of these things make me so angry. I have several people in recent months set them up for medical expenses and in one case it started as medical expenses but she lost her fight with cancer so it became end of life expenses.
If someone wants to put up a "help be buy a new mattress", so be it. It's their right. It's your right to choose to donate or not. It's your right to move on past if you don't want to help. I think it's a bit much to call them lazy and beggars. You do not know their full situation and it's not very nice to judge.

It does not bother me in the least, I simply don't donate to them. Who cares if someone is looking for money for a new car, or to make potato salad if that is what they want? If it is a cause you don't want to support then simply don't support and it and move on, if others feel differently then the person will get their money, either way it is nothing to me as it does not effect my life.

But at the same time I can admit it annoyed me greatly when that pizza place got rich off of gofundme just for expressing hateful and discriminatory views, but in the end even that has no effect on my life beyond what I allow it to have by letting myself feel annoyed.

I'm like "meh, who cares." I figure anyone can donate to whatever cause they care about and it's unlikely that people who want to go to Vegas or fight in the MMA are going to get many donations, anyway.

Back when MSN had groups I was in a crafting group. The group owners started to do other things after a while and the group slowly became quiet before closing. No biggie. Was fun while it lasted. 2 yrs ago I get a link in my email for a Go Fund Me page. Gal from the closed msn crafting group must have had a list of everyone’s email and kept it. She and her hubby lived in a small apartment in San Francisco and over the years as the rent went up decided to stay there but neither had been steadily working for years. Finally it got too expensive and they had to move only they didn’t have money for first, last rent and deposit. They had to move out of the area to somewhere more affordable and rented a trailer in a trailer park. At that point they did what anyone in their position would do; decided that they needed to buy a RV so they could drive it to Las Vegas and find work there. They only needed $28,000 for the rv. Yes let me jump right on that one and help you out random stranger I hadn’t talked to in 6 yrs.

Yes, and I don't contribute to them.

I've also had people get very angry if I didn't contribute to their fund (even if it's kind of legit like help me pay for these unexpected medical expenses). It's a minefield. A lot of people use it as "Bank of Public" to get them out of being stupid.

I ignore them. I never give money online...I only give money in person or if I attend a funeral where they ask for donations

Don't know if this helps, but the concept just isn't new. Just the internet part is.

Decades ago, an ex-boyfriend contacted me for lunch to discuss something involving his sister, with whom I had been friends for years. I had just started seeing the man who is now my husband but I hadn't really ended things with the ex. So I went to lunch, only lunch, partly to tell him it was over but also to catch up on her as she was going through major mental health challenges. He presented me with several books of raffle tickets offering a weekend at a luxury hotel, a TV, and some 3rd prize I forget. He and (ostensibly) his sister were trying to raise tuition money and calling it the "(Last name) Education Fund". When I picked my jaw up off the table, I said "You make this seem like a charity." He replied, "Well, if people feel better thinking that it is...." I pushed the tickets back across the table and stood up to leave. He pushed the tickets back and urged me to take them with me in case I changed my mind and wanted to pass them on to others! I threw them back at him and left him both the tickets and the check.

So maybe I'm comparing that outrage and unbridled chutzpah to the relatively benign trend now. The GoFundMe pages are less intrusive in some ways, easier to ignore. Sure they're selfish - but the fact is, the people who want to go to Vegas or whatever are just using the internet to show how shallow they are, so more people are finding out about it. Karma???

I've donated to a few go-fund-mes that I believed in.

I was truly disappointed by money that donated money Kanye West. I looked at it and saw they were trying to get their go-fund-me's recognized....

I DO agree with you on those asking for money because of things they "want" like a new mattress.

Good points you make, though I think there's a lot of different ways to look at it. I think of a lot of different methods of "procuring" gifts or money when I read these GoFundMe's. All the way back to wedding, baby and birthday registers (which I like a lot, by the way), destination weddings, asking family and friends to fund kids' school trips that a family can't afford, asking for help paying hospital bills, asking for help due to an untimely death. Then there's asking for help funding someone's idea that they want to get off the ground (business stuff), using GoFundMe as an alternative for sponsoring an activity, etc.

I do think that some people enjoy a good "story". I have never contributed to anything but hospital bills for what you're talking about, but I'm not surprised that people do this because of the wide-reaching internet. You could say that "a fool and his money are soon parted" about the "not so needy" requests, but some people really like the story... that's why they're able to get people to give...

actually, they bother me too. i have donated to a group caring for stray dogs. but it seems like everyone starts a gofund me. some for legit reasons, but man, i can't afford us and you.

I've seen go fund me things on my Facebook page. If I want to donate I do. If not I skip it and go on. Very much like I do at a craft show or flea market if it's something I want to spend great if not just keep moving.

They bug me, too! I've never donated.

I didn't even know this existed. Thanks for telling me. I've never seen it.

I have only seen a couple of go-fund-me accounts. I don't even really know how I got there (seriously, I am so bad with computers sometimes!).
I think that it's awful when someone has come up against a hardship and needs to ask strangers to help pay for things.
That being said....Sometimes I think, "man, I should start a go-fund-me for my kid. He's a great student, an amazing soccer player, and has been given a chance to play for the state. My husband works full time, and then part time in another job, I am a full time student and just got a part time job. Neither of us are "lazy" or "beggars."" But I don't. Because I couldn't stand to be judged. I wouldn't want to have to PROVE my need/want. Because it's embarrassing as a parent to say that you can't provide for your kids.
So when I see a gofundme that I may think is a bit ridiculous I just move on. Because maybe to them it's not silly, maybe to them they are not begging, maybe that kid that wants a new BMX bike IS a really good person with parents that just can't afford the bike. Who am I to judge?