Have you noticed

Hear, hear.
But at least we are still at liberty to form our own opinion as to whether the project is worthwhile or not and if we so choose, ignore this internet equivalent of begging letters.

I could not agree more.

A few years ago there was a mini whirlwind or whatever hitting a couple of streets so very localised. Some houses were uninhabitable and the house and contents of many were uninsured- why? I insure my property, why should I be paying for others who chose to spend that money in other ways.

I also find it an odd concept. Is it relatively new?
I think the first time I heard of it was a thread on GN about a family wanting an alternative lifestyle. I think they had raised a few hundred pounds instead of the tens of thousands they were hoping to get.

Nobody is forcing anyone to contribute so what's the problem?

Giving is giving, and if someone thinks a 'cause' worth donating to then that's their own decision.

Do we all have to prepare for the possibility that we might need a stair lift at some unknown future point in our lives? You can't plan for everything, especially if you're on a low income to begin with. Insurance is a luxury if you struggle to make ordinary ends meet. Crowd-sourcing in such situations seems worth a try to me.

Crowd funding is a great idea. Like every donation we are asked for it is up to us to to decide if it is a worthy cause.

The oddest crowdfunding request I've seen so far was on a Facebook page I am on. Someone was asking for donations for a funeral! They wanted to give their relative the best send-off they could. The vast family seemed comfortably off, owning their homes etc so it wasn't a case of avoiding a pauper funeral or anything.

As others say, no one needs to donate to any of these requests but to ask for money for someone who's dead seemed bizarre indeed.

Giving is giving, just that. And gifts should be freely given
However, I do not think it is a great idea to "count on" the generosity of strangers if you are in a position to save towards your own needs."La cigale et la fourmi" springs to mind. If a person is truly on a low income, benefits etc, then a stairlift may be provided by SS.
But in answer to your question thatbags " Do we all have to prepare for the possibility that we may need a stairlift (or indeed anything to make life more comfortable ) at some unknown point " etc etc in our old age? I would say yes, it's called being careful, being responsible, even "forward planning " or as my granny would have said, " saving for a rainy day".

Its what I would call 'posh begging'

Gosh! Has it come to begging Mumsy? The odd ones I've seen are simply asking but perhaps there are some that fall into the 'asking earnestly or humbly' category that could be defined as begging.

But not seen any in the 'demanding money with menaces' that seems to be implied by DaphtBroom when she possibly questions that these are 'gifts ...freely given'

DaphneBroom - blasted iPad!

Anya that is precisely the opposite of what I said.
I said what I meant, that a gift is freely given and that (if you read my post of 9.32) we are free to ignore requests of this sort if we choose. Any "demands with menaces" are entirely of your own invention.
Talk about getting the wrong end of the stick then beating a person over the head with it!!

I didn't say you said that DB (sticking with initials it's much safer) I said 'seems' and 'implied' as you immediately followed your sentence 'And gifts should be freely given' with the conjunction 'however' and as a conjunction is used to connect two clauses, or in this case sentences or independant clauses it seems reasonable to wonder if you were therefore making a connection, implying that you did 'not think it is a great idea'.

Or am I overthinking this.

PS sorry you didn't 'get' my irony yesterday which was directed at me not you.

I am surprised you didn't haul me over the coals for starting a sentence with "and"!
I still don't se your problem, if such it is. My meaning was simply that a gift is great if it is given but one should not count on the kindness of strangers or indeed acquaintances, that was all. No underlying juxtapositions, dichotomies, contrasts or comparisons.
I personally would never go beyond the boundaries of the immediate family if I found myself in sudden need, and even then it would be a last resort. I think most of us were brought up with the principle of saving for a rainy day ("and for everything else there's MasterCard" )
Incidentally, it seems odd does it not, that it is regarded as entirely acceptable to ask perfect strangers for funds for e.g. Fluffy's vet treatment or whatever but a single parent can be castigated as a sponger if she is seen to be "taking" from social services. .
Finally, irony, yesterday ??

It's perfectly acceptable to start sentences with 'And' under the correct circumstances despite what some teachers may tell you

It is clear you do not approve of the practice of Crowd Funding, which is fine. I neither approve nor disapprove and agree with those who say that we are free to disregard such requests or equally free to give if we wish. I don't know why we are disputing this as it's a no brainer. By 'we' I mean GNetters in general, not you in particular, just so that's clear.

Didn't mean you to feel you were being hauled over anything just engaging in the to and fro of debate. I'm sure you wouldn't want to be ignored and it does show I read most posts, including yours.

Sorry you missed my 'mea culpa' moment. I have a habit of being too obscure and must guard against that.

I am wary of personal need crowd funding because you are dependent on the crowd funder's assurances for the needs and the families/individuals honest inability to meet that need.

For most emergencies there are bodies that will help, but they usually scrutinise all applications carefully, ask for outside independent assessment and usually will expect the applicant to do something towards meeting the need themselves, even if it is just a peppercorn contribution. I think I would want evidence that a crowd funder had exhausted all these alternatives before even considering contributing. Many of these appeals would be better met by a loan, repaid overtime than a free hand out of cash.

what exactly is crown funding, how different is it to charity giving.(sorry had computer serviced and I cant find any comas).

It's Crowdfunding, not quite sure but I think someone sets up a page (is it on Facebook?) asking for money for a 'worthy cause'.

Actually, someone DD knows set one up not that long ago; it was for someone close to them whose daughter was terribly injured in a road accident (not her fault). There is no NHS in their country and she had to be flown to a specialist hospital, parents had to find accommodation near there too. Sadly, the girl died so there were funeral expenses, not something you would ever expect to find for your young daughter. The expenses were horrendous, but the community pulled together and in fact people contributed from all over the world. I am sure if there is money left over they will start a fund in her memory or contribute to a charity.
So it can be a good thing.

But for someone to Crowdfund for what should be normal expenses is wrong, wrong. Why have an animal if you can't afford to pay vet's bills?

As Daphne says, we can choose or not to give. I have never looked at any page except the one I refer to.

Oh well. That's me told.

I'm adding these odd requests to my lists on human inventiveness and life's rich tapestry. And shrugging. ?

If people didn't respond, the askers would presumably stop asking. Probably most of them do. To those who get some money I say good luck.

'Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions online from a large number of people.' It is usually done through a crowd funding platform, an internet based organisation that helps the person seeking crowd funding to prepare and put out their request

Crowd funding started as a new way of raising business finance, especially by small start-up companies that were having difficulty raising money from more conventional sources like banks. Quite often the sums required are small and funders can invest as little as £100 in a company, by doing this across a range of companies they minimise the risk of a major loss and will usually get a much better return than putting their money in a savings account.

Crowd funding has now spread away from funding businesses, although that is where it is still mainly used, Charities use it to fund projects and, as this thread has shown, some individuals are using it to help them in unexpected need. Anyone wanting to put out a crowd funding request needs to find an appropriate platform, a business based platform is not much use if you are looking for money for a charitable project.

My DS recently raised money on a crowd funding site. He is an archaeologist working at a university and wanted funding to carry out an excavation at an iconic site. He went to a specialist archaeological crowd platform, Dig Ventures digventures.com/ and with them prepared a prospectus. Those investing in the project will not get their money back, or any monetary return at all.In this case people give for the sense of involvement. They are given opportunities to take part in the excavation, visit the site and get involved with linked activities. His appeal was very successful and this years excavations made some significant discoveries. Have a look. It is quite good fun.

WASPI are using crowd funding for legal advice regarding increase in state pension age. Over £60,000 has been pledged in two days I think.

I don't agree at all. Even if there is a belief that some of the requests are fairly frivolous or result from supposedly irresponsible behaviour like a failure to get holiday insurance, people are free to choose whether they wish to make a donation.

I think it's very heartening that some people are willing to make a donation for, say, a pet's operation or to help someone cope financially if they have had an accident and are unable to work.

daphne It doesn't necessarily figure that someone who thinks crowdfunding is a good thing - whatever the "cause" - would think helping single mums is a bad thing. I'm happy about both - as I think many fans of crowdfunding probably are.

Not quite the same thing, but I am very impressed by local charitable giving in New Zealand where I live. Recently, for example, a local family's rental house caught fire and was burned to the ground. They lost pretty much everything – furniture, clothes, children's toys, photographs and other memorabilia. Local people wrangled – not so much with money – but with p[laces to sleep and meals, nappies and toys, food and bed linen and sheer physical help salvaging anything that was salvageable. This was only one instance of "ordinary" people helping out. There have been many stories of plumbers, electricians, chippies, builders and others contributing their skills to help out families in trouble.

Sometimes they knew about the dire situation because they were local but sometimes they knew because there was some kind of electronic appeal. Either way, how good is that?

Another thought – please give me a break because I have been so busy looking after grandchildren when absentdaughter was preparing for and doing her final degree exams while holding down a new job (for which she was head-hunted but not quite with the right timing) so I have spent very little time on Gransnet.

Pets can be a very important part of family life and bring much joy to it. I would say that I have always been in position where I reckoned I could pay for regular veterinary care – yearly vaccinations, the occasional illness or accident, etc. However, vets' fees are horrendously high, so when, say, a beloved dog is hit by a car and needs major surgery to save its life, it is very hard for a family to say we can't afford this – our lovely little boy who has been part of our lives for several years is too expensive to save. How do you tell the children? I can fully understand why they ask for help. Other pet owners and pet lovers would too and might be wiling to help.

Why would anyone blame them or criticise them? No one has to contribute to any scheme unless they want to.