GoFundMe- Is it me?

Unless desperate never fund anything via a GoFundMe appeal the fees are high.
Better off zapping money to the charity or whatever.

No, I don’t co tribute to any go fund me requests. Some may well be genuine, but I’m not convinced that the majority are.

I have contributed once a few years ago but I am another who thinks people should buy life, house and travel insurance.

I no longer travel anywhere, but in the days when I did, I certainly bought travel insurance for a day trip to France, whereas I know many would not bother.

If I cannot afford something, I do not buy it. I have my funeral paid for, and my house is insured, as was my car when I owned one.

Silvio13. Sorry, no, I dont have ideas.

It may be worth starting your own thread.
Else people will reply to just the original thread.

I would have thought the same as the op[still do about travel insurance ones], until a few weeks ago, when I was sent a link about one, where family members know what is happening. And it is a tragic case.

I dont think I still doubt that some are not always genuine.
But that is not true in the one I know about.

I never have, and I never will donate to any GoFundMe appeals. One was set up some years ago for a work colleague who had taken seriously ill and needed an electric wheelchair, we donated directly to the cause once the money had been collected…..minus the charges which were applied at the time - not sure how it works now but things don’t get generally done for nowt do they?

Primrose53

I’ve seen several GoFundmes for people who have passed away and their family ask for help in “giving him/her the send off they deserve”.

I find those a bit odd. I know some people have genuinely fallen on hard times but if it were me I would just do my very best with the budget I have available.

Hi all together,

I somehow stumbled upon this thread because I also need to start a charity campaign for that exact reason you mentioned. Trust me, never ever would I have thought, that I need to ask strangers for financial aid online.

But I just lost my grandmother, who was the most important person in my life. She took custody of me when I was one year old because my parents weren't able to take care of me. This was a little over 30 years ago.

We never had a lot of money but she gave me the best childhood one can ask for. She definitely was a loving and caring person. So naturally I wanted to return that and took care of her as long as I could. But the last years, she needed care 24/7 - so she got a place in a nursing home. I helped her financially to cover the bills but it completely ate my savings and parts of my paychecks.

And now almost 6k for the funeral and still some open bills totaling 3k for the nursin home are not manageable for me anymore.

And the funeral is not over the top or something fancy. It's almost the basics in most terms.

The last days I tried to get infos on how to get started with a gofundme, but every thread, article or comment I read, is pretty negative. I mean I get it, many people tried to scam with charity platforms and the trust of people willing to help might be low. But what other opportunities do I have?

Maybe you have an idea here?

Best wishes from Austria

Though it started as a good thing, now everyone has jumped on it. They are easy to set up, so it has gotten flooded with them; social media is full of them. Unless it is someone I know or a cause I would believe in, then no, sorry.
Controversial, but there are two I will not contribute to: one, people who have had house fires and lost things. You see this so much, and the fact is people do not learn; you need house insurance. We only pay under £20 a month, and it's worth every penny.
2. Paying for dogs to come to the uk Sorry, I know so many are ill-treated abroad, but there are too many homeless dogs in this country anyway and many more dogs being cruelly treated.

I was involved in charity fundraising last year and it was all on-line. I had a terrible time trying to keep up with payments from cash donations etc and the charity staff were very bad at replying to me over technical issues and even when I spoke to them they seemed clueless about my problems.
This year they contacted me again to see if I would take part again but I said no due to the difficulties of on-line fund raising.
I still support the charity in my own small way but will never do on-line charity fund raising again. I did it in my brother's memory and found it very upsetting that the whole process was tainted by confusion and mistrust.

Lovetopaint037

I have first hand knowledge of how Go Fund Me has saved the life of the young boy who lives next door to us. He was diagnosed with an incurable and aggressive brain tumour. There was no hope for him until the family learned there was a drug approved and paid for but only for adults. There had been insufficient use of it to prove its use for children. However, it was available if paid for privately. Go Fund Me was set up and its contributors allowed this to happen. The family lived on a knife edge as there was no way they could pay for it without the Fund. The result is that the treatment worked and we now have a healthy, happy child next door but above all his success has led to the drug now being available to other children. He will have to continue the medication for the foreseeable future but the family no longer has to hand over thousands of pounds on a regular basis. Their relief is beyond describing.
However, this belief that somehow it is okay to use this kind of funding for almost anything has grown. Coronation Street hasn’t helped when the characters seem to suggesting they set up GoFundMe for all sorts of things. It’s a shame if this kind of attitude leads people to doubt its use.

This case worked out well but there is something wrong with a system that denies treatment to anyone who can't pay. This example led to others being treated by the NHS. Why couldn't the NHS have trialled treatment in the first case?

I have come across a few. Yes, if not telling the truth, may be convicted of fraud. The one I will mention was a single mum asking for money to fund a holiday for herself and child, as she hadn't had one in a long time. She received a lot of money for her holiday. Not fraud, as the truth. I cannot to-date fathom why people do these gofundme pages? I understand, however when it is there last resort. This would be considered begging back decades ago.

I have to agree with others on lack of sympathy for them having no holiday insurance. It is something that has always been a concern of mine and I probably buy too much but I need to know that if the worst were to happen we could have medical care and be repatriated.
I have given to go fund me so that a young person who is on limited time can go places and enjoy whatever time they have left.
I will not give to things you should save for.

It is unregulated, so no proof, so recipients can spend as they wish.
GoFundMe take their cut; 2.9% plus 25p per donation. For charity fundraisers, the fee is 1.9% plus 20p per donation
If you follow a single link in FB, then you will get many more of these

I don't give to many charities anymore as I collected once for the PDSA at a supermarket and I'm sure over the 2 days they ended up with far more that they declared.
I do a lottery at £1 a week to benefit the RNLI and donate to my grandchildren's school money, books etc which has a tight budget. This way I know the children benefit from the reading books. I needed medication for my dog's arthritis years ago and was out of work. So I went to the RSPCA and they let me have it for a very low price. When I found a job I sent a cheque to them for the proper price the vet wanted.
Rarely do go fund me only once in the last few years. It was a canal boat that caught fire making the owner homeless and was in the press so I know it was genuine.
Too many scammers on there and cash collection tins are sometimes pilfered imo

Only ever donate if its something very specific, not weddings or holidays. Too many have jumped on the band wagon and expecting others to fund them travelling etc.

Totally agree Chocolatelovinggran. Like you, I believe EVERYONE should buy travel insurance rather than rely on the generosity of strangers. It seems we are now bring asked to contribute to bring people home from abroad, pay for a funeral, donate funds because someone has lost a loved one, serious diagnosis?? don't worry, the public will donate!! The list is endless and if you're Hard Hearted Hannah, so am I.

I hope I'm not identifiable, but many years ago my lovely cousin lost a 6 month-old to cot death. Not having much money, & us being a family of 30+, the couple asked if anyone would like to contribute to a nice gravestone.
One of my aunties said ' I'd be so ashamed it's shameful begging to bury your own child' which was just so Victorian I couldn't believe it.( only asked close relatives & only for the stone)
40 years later & people are asking strangers to contribute in much less unforeseeable circumstances.

If you can afford to go abroad on holiday you can afford insurance. A bit like if you can afford to drink to excess you can afford a taxi home.

I see these appeals regularly in the newspaper for funeral expenses and a pub 'bash'. Most recently a young man who died abroad and his friends/family were 'wanting to give them a good send off'. The man had a surviving child with his girlfriend -all I could think was surely the money was better raised for the child's future!

I'd never contribute to these appeals but do give to charities directly.

I know of one lady who was appealing for funds as she lost her property in her rented house fire. The fire was started as a result of her careless behaviour (fire investigators concluded that) and she had not payed her rent for many months - a pattern she adopted at previous addresses it seemed. She had no renters insurance. People donated to her nevertheless - she then went on to 'rent' another property and defaulted on the rent to the next landlord - even boasting about it on line.

It is difficult, isn’t it? I often feel quite conflicted and I do give sometimes but very carefully.
I’ve been lucky enough to have a family with the intellectual and economic resources to support me when it’s been necessary. And I’ve been able to do that for my own children and other family members.
But I’m well aware that life is just not like that for everybody, and it does feel that I ought to be able to help people out when I can. I like the idea that a lot of people can give a little and it makes a big difference.
But I do also think that people should try to put some money by for rainy days. We’re encouraged these days to have insurance for absolutely everything, every appliance we buy comes with that option and we’re encouraged to add insurance on to almost every transaction even buying a concert ticket! So we’ve developed a culture where people expect that every eventuality will somehow be covered - and it comes as an awful shock when it’s not.

I agree

Me too

Same here

Just giving is very different to Go Fund Me! They allow individuals to raise money for a recognised registered charity. Sponser money goes directly to the nominated charity so there is no risk of donations being inappropriately used if given in cash.

My daughter raised money this way for the Lochaber Mountain Rescue in the highlands of Scotland as a thankyou because they rescued her when she slipped and broke her ankle badly on the top of a Scottish mountain! She was airlifted to a local hospital and was put in a temporary cast. The friend who were with her got her and her car back to civilisation then I had to go to Scotland and drive her back and then drive her to and fro for all her treatment including an operation to repair the damage. She asked how much the rescue cost them and they estimated about £4000! Obviously she didn't have to pay that as they are a charity, but some of her friends and family were happy to sponser her to run a half marathon to raise money when she recovered enough to do it.

She did have travel insurance through her bank and was able to claim for some of the costs associated with her repatriation, including my train fare to go to Edinburgh to get her, but many of her out of pocket expenses she had to find herself. We wouldn't have dreamed of asking anyone else to pick up the tab.

The charity benefitted enabling them to help others in a similar unfortunate circumstance in the future.

I appreciate that somebody has to pay for the running of GoFundMe but I believe 3.50 is actually given to the charity and the other £1.50 for the running of the organisation running the page on social media
I also don't get the number of people who place flowers at the site of a death when that money could be donated to an actual charity that helps somebody . The only person that benefits from the flowers is the florist that sells them.
Nobody can plan for an early death of a child and may need help with the funeral but surely everybody knows that travel insurance is needed when you book a holiday