Have you noticed

What worries me about personal requests for help on crowdfunding sites is whether they have been properly vetted and checked and are not just a scam to get money off charitably minded people.

That is a worry but it's no worse than all the other endless attempts to get people to give money away.

I am sure you right in general Eloethan, I wa however struck by a certain apparent dichotomy on Gransnet threads over the last few days. Maybe not the same people.

I prefer to give that way , provided the cause is something I care about . Many of the big charities have huge admin costs and several directors on huge salaries and sometimes a much smaller proportion of my cash goes to the actual cause , charity is big business.

I think its great, I just delete things I don't like. Its especially good when the NHS fails & if someone wants to pay for someone else's stairlift thats fine by me too. The only thing is you've no way of confirming things are true, unless its local or on the telly I s'pose

People have spoken about preparing for disasters,but this is not always possible. sometimes someone looses their job and when savings have been exhausted it's just not possible to find money for big expenses while living on benefit. The income from benefit is often so low that it not enough to cover a decent diet and utility bills let alone insurance premiums and so people often cancel these.
Basic JSA for example is £73.10pw for a single person. from that the person has to pay water, sewerage, electric, gas and contribute to council tax (in many authorities the minimum expected is 20% regardless of low income!) then food and travel to job interviews or looking for work, it doesn't go far!

I am crowd funding myself, for a lonely old woman, who needs to raise a considerable sum to fulfil her lifetime dream of Mr Poldark ownership..........

All contributions gratefully accepted!!!

I have given money to causes I sympathise with but obviously that is up to me and I have no time for people who want boob jobs etc asking for money.

Either ignore or donate. Then forget about it. Simples!?

OK - I haven't forgotten giving a small donation to the one to use drones to find and neutralise land mines. I hope they are soon in action.
PS I can't remember how much I sent.

I am amused by this thread because, as Elrel has just said ; " ignore or donate". What is difficult for some of us to comprehend is not taking responsibility for one's life - this ties in with a previous thread re: having a good time or saving for a mortgage deposit. I would no more dream of asking strangers for help in personal situations which could have been avoided i.e. not insuring house contents/ travelling without insurance etc.
Most vets will allow payment by instalment after treatment.
However, donating to certain community / arts projects which do not qualify for public funding have always been regarded as acceptable (the old chestnut of the church roof repairs) and people are free to donate or not.
After a disaster, flooding/ fire, giving immediate essentials of clothing, toiletries etc is fine but again, anything further is up to the individual donor.
It appears that the original concept of crowd funding has become another avenue for shifting personal responsibility and expecting someone else to dig them out of a hole - just my view .

As a teacher I used to be aware that long haul expeditions taking pupils to far flung destinations were being organised where the children were required to fund themselves from donations to the tune of several thousand pounds. Poor children never thought of going as the cost put them off and they had no relatives or friends' parents rich enough to contribute.

Ineveitably there would be the unedifying spectacle of rich kids 'begging' from poorer neighbours, family and friends to fund what was, in effect, a holiday which the donors had never been and would never be able to afford themselves.

It seems that the word 'charity' is so potent that it cuts off the capacity for an individual to think a situation through and see it for what it is.

And while there are many worthy charities to which I would and do contribute I can see that some charities are 'more equal than others', however.

Yes/No. My son had a Botswanan pupil in Costa Rica who had been sponsored by his government for his 6th form. one of the UWC schools. His father died and he couldn't go to the funeral because a] he didn't have the money, b] the Botswana govt. wasn't going to pay for his fare either. He was crowdfunded.
I'm not sure I wouldn't feel deeply cynical seeing his plea on FB or wherever, thinking it was a scam; on the other hand, the lad was able to go home and bury his father...
SO I'm very ambivalent.
Yes it is posh begging, but one give to whom one feels empathy for.

I do like the way Kiwis use the English language Ms Absent as in your posting "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."
My parents were Kiwis so I know. In England "wrangled" means a long drawn-out dispute but in NZ it is used to mean negotiated for benefit and help people in distress. After the Christchurch earthquake there were a lot good hearted wranglers doing their best to help while SOME of the insurance companies did everything to avoid paying out. Some people cannot even get their properties insured even in the UK. NZ is a lovely country, wish I lived there. Happy Daze.

I do not agree with crowd funding, as I believe we should take responsibility for our own lives, however that's just how I feel. I accept that people are free to ask, and people will donate if they wish. I choose not to give and ignore the requests.
I would add though that the people with the dog should have been more forward thinking, and prepared for the costs that animals being, also the people who want a alternative lifestyle are just cheeky for asking other people to fund it.

This strikes me as jumping on the band wagon. Any avenue for getting money is explored by some regardless of the intention when provided. The problem here is that the beneficiary may receive a lot of money for nothing with no restriction on how it is used. To be avoided.

I have contributed to crowd funding a few times, when a local lady was mugged, when a child needed treatment abroad, that sort of thing, I didn't feel any compulsion and it seems to me that if people have spare cash and are happy to help it is up to fhem to make a judgment and contribute or not. Some of the requests do seem cheeky but are easy to ignore. There will always be people with an eye to the main chance but if no-one is being coerced to fork out it doesn't bother me.

I agree with the last two posts.
We would say 'wangle' here as opposed to wrangle in NZ
I suppose there is the old phrase....'those that don't ask won't get!' you would want to be careful though in handing out cash.

radicalnan.

I contributed to a new local business through Kick Starter as it's a project I believe in & is a business, I will be listed as one of the "founder members" although that was not my reason for contribution. The Partners have already put a large amount of money into this business ( a new Distillery in my local Devon Town)

One of the most astonishing cases IMHO of greed is my neighbour's DD who is getting married next year & is asking on Facebook for contributions to the Wedding - she has been with her partner for about 18 years & they have 2 teenage children - she is going for the full White Wedding & expects others to pay for it Words fail me.

There is a difference of seeking help when another member of the family/pet has been involved in an accident leaving huge bills - we are free to choose to help or not. Many years ago DH & I contributed to a fund (long before "Crowd Funding" has been thought of) to arrange for a seriously injured young man (we knew the family) to be flown back from America after he was severely injured on holiday & typical young man - no Insurance

daphne I see your point. Some people are happy to give money to people or causes that they approve of but are very unhappy to pay more tax because they don't have a choice as to where the money is spent. It's an attitude I don't share.

I can see that there is perhaps a danger of things that should be paid for by society as a whole ending up being left to crowd funding and charities. It is obviously not possible for the state to be responsible for every misfortune that befalls people and I think this is where crowd funding can step in. Those that feel people should be less irresponsible and more self-sufficient do not have to donate.

However, I feel that something like the NHS should be properly funded by governments and yet now we have a "Health Lottery".

I believe in the USA taxes are quite low and there is a great reliance on charities for all sorts of things, and huge opportunities for the mega-wealthy to raise their profiles, massage their egos and have public buildings erected in their name.

Sorry - I've gone off the point a bit but I think all these issues are loosely related.

With the best will in the world it is not always possible to save for emergencies or pay for insurance. When my DH became ill two years ago I had to leave my job to care for him. He then had to finish work permanently but lost his ESA when I returned to work. All our savings went. He died suddenly at 51 just over 3 weeks ago leaving nothing. I have been dependent on his family for help with funeral costs as I can't claim any help as we weren't on any benefits.

I agree with Bluebell on this one. I also don't count myself mean, I have several standing orders with charities close to my heart, give one-off donations when there is a disaster needing funds, and I give several hours a week doing voluntary work.

There are always cloud funds being asked for in our local newspaper, some sounding a bit 'iffy', such as unproven medical treatments abroad.

I also worry that there may not be sufficient monitoring of these funds by trustees or accountants, and what happens to the excess money once the funds have been raised

I'm also not a fan of sponsoring people to have a holiday, like trekking in Nepal, or sailing around the Azores. I did give some money to both friends asking for this, but only because I felt I would be seen as mean otherwise. They were also for charities that weren't of any meaning to me.

I have mixed feelings about giving money for a honeymoon instead of a wedding present, but I always do.

Another one while I'm at it, I'd prefer to give donations to a charitable organisation, such as Cancer Research or MS Trust just for example, rather than at fund raising events for individuals. I'd rather my money went to benefit all sufferers of medical conditions, not just the ones who have the means or the wherewithal to raise money for themselves, to put it plainly, and a bit brutally

Reading this back I may come over as stingy, but in the end I know that I give to my financial limit now anyway.

I see crowdfunding as no different to paying for a strangers coffee (as I have) anonymously. It's a choice you make depending on whether you think it's worthy & you can afford to spare the amount you donate. I think I find it preferable to giving to large charities where I'm never sure how much of my donation is being used for the cause itself & not advertising etc.

Pamsj1 sorry for your loss & predicament.
My friend found herself a widow at 38 with 3 kids & discovered a wk before the funeral she had one in her belly too! She had to borrow money too despite being eligible for the funeral grant, that isn't enough to cover a basic cremation ? ???????

My DD's friend was born with a congenital condition which meant she went through the menopause at 15 and her ovaries stopped producing eggs. Her mother promised her she would pay for Fertility Treatment when she was old enough and set up a fund but then spent the money just as it was needed. The NHS wouldn't treat her because she needed a donor egg and they don't fund that. DD's friend threw fundraisers, saved every penny she could and in the end, resorted to Crowd Funding. I was pleased to be able to help her by contributing to her fund and it gave others a chance to donate openly or anonymously as they saw fit. This year saw the birth of a beautiful baby girl and the mother is a fabulous mother. Without Crowd Funding she would have been denied the chance to have been a mother which, through no fault of her own, a genetic mutation and a feckless parent would have inflicted upon her.
Pamjs I am so sorry for your loss.