Go Fund Me

[Dave Fritz]

Have you ever donated to someone through a Go Fund Me page? I'm more inclined to send a check to the party directly for fear of getting all sorts of emails and solicitations afterwards. What do you do?

[Brian Elfert]

I have not done it. One of the reasons to send a check if you can is because GoFundMe takes a cut of every donation.

[Peter Mich]

I’ve contributed to several GoFundMe appeals and haven’t subsequently been innundated with junk email. I can’t recall one instance of that sort of thing. I am very comfortable using GoFundMe. My concern is avoiding scam fundraisers who might use GoFundMe.

[Tom M King]

I have, and no worries from it.

[Jim Becker]

Rarely, but I have a few times. Sadly, I also see too many cases where folks are using GoFundMe to cover things that they should have accounted for themselves, such as pet vet expenses, etc. That's voluntary risk and very different from someone who loses everything they own because their house burns down or suffers catastrophic medical expenses due to....things I'll not go into because such discussion isn't permitted here. There are even examples of rote grifting using the system. So helping someone truly in need because of things just not in their control is one thing, but no way will I ever give money for things that folks should have planned for before they made certain decisions.

[Bruce Wrenn]

My pet peeve on GoFundMe is law enforcement officers hurt on the job. GoFundMe is set up to cover medical expenses, which Workman's comp already covers, 100%, so somebody is ripping off the public. Getting paid for expenses not incurred, which to me if outright FRAUD!

[Bruce Page]

I have contributed to a few what I deem “worthy” GoFundMe appeals. I never received any solicitations, etc.

[Bryan Hall]

I try to avoid gofundme. I've seen too many sketchy/unnecessary pages set up and I just can't be sure if it's real or not. I've been scammed by kickstarter which is a little different, but as a whole I try to avoid giving my money away to anyone I don't know.

[John K Jordan]

Have you ever donated to someone through a Go Fund Me page? I'm more inclined to send a check to the party directly for fear of getting all sorts of emails and solicitations afterwards. What do you do?

No experience with that - I don’t contribute through GoFundMe.

I prefer to make direct contributions to local organizations I know and trust not to share my contact information. If I learn of a local need or a need of a specific person or family I’ve done this: send a contribution to a trusted community outreach person at a local church who will first vet then get 100% of the money anonymously to where it is needed.

This method eliminates all chance of getting on some organization’s “begging list” or worse, having someone think they owe me something. I have received a few nice “thank you” notes through the same intermediary, addressed “To the person who…” or some such.

All mail soliciting or advertising by the “throwing spaghetti against the wall” method goes into the burn barrel.

JKJ

[Brian Elfert]

My pet peeve on GoFundMe is law enforcement officers hurt on the job. GoFundMe is set up to cover medical expenses, which Workman's comp already covers, 100%, so somebody is ripping off the public. Getting paid for expenses not incurred, which to me if outright FRAUD!

Did you ask the family to see all of the bills so you know the family didn't pay anything? What if the family needs a wheel chair ramp built and a handicap van? Maybe workman's comp only pays for a manual wheel chair and the officer really needs a powered wheel chair?

Families of wounded officers often suffer loss of income and extra expenses. They could need a house remodel or a new house if the officer is in a wheel chair, GoFundMe is not strictly for medical needs. Do the GoFundMe campaigns say they are strictly for medical expenses?

[Brian Elfert]

I've actually seen GoFundMe accounts set up for vacations and other silly things like that. The recipients of the the money didn't seem to have any special reason why people should donate. They just thought they could get others to pay for something they can't afford. I hope those people never meet their goals.

It is hard to feel sorry for a family whose house burned down and they didn't have any homeowner's insurance. I know a couple that lives strictly on Social Security and a small pension. They still have homeowner's insurance on their modest home. The house got damaged in a storm half a dozen years ago and they didn't have the money to fix the house without insurance.

[Edwin Santos]

Did you ask the family to see all of the bills so you know the family didn't pay anything? What if the family needs a wheel chair ramp built and a handicap van? Maybe workman's comp only pays for a manual wheel chair and the officer really needs a powered wheel chair?

Families of wounded officers often suffer loss of income and extra expenses. They could need a house remodel or a new house if the officer is in a wheel chair, GoFundMe is not strictly for medical needs. Do the GoFundMe campaigns say they are strictly for medical expenses?

These are very good points.
Anymore, I find it difficult to believe insurance makes victims like this "whole". I'm sure the major medical expenses are covered, but it's the sundry other things like you mention that can drain the family's savings, especially a young family.

[Doug Garson]

Did you ask the family to see all of the bills so you know the family didn't pay anything? What if the family needs a wheel chair ramp built and a handicap van? Maybe workman's comp only pays for a manual wheel chair and the officer really needs a powered wheel chair?

Families of wounded officers often suffer loss of income and extra expenses. They could need a house remodel or a new house if the officer is in a wheel chair, GoFundMe is not strictly for medical needs. Do the GoFundMe campaigns say they are strictly for medical expenses?
To me it's a sign of a broken system when someone gets hurt on the job, whether law enforcement, miltary or the private sector and has to go begging to get whole.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

I get a Go Fund Me request every quarter and several more at the end of the year....

[Sam Force]

Not a fan of GoFundMe but there are added expenses sometimes. When 1 of my grandsons was born he spend the 1st 90 days in the NICU 45 miles away. His parents as well as the wife and I made numerous trips a week, just gas alone was over a hundred a week. We never asked or received any help as we managed to see our grandson as often as possible. So if there is someone who has similar experiences donations are appreciated and I don't begrudge them and hope the help goes to expenses as it should

[Brian Elfert]

To me it's a sign of a broken system when someone gets hurt on the job, whether law enforcement, miltary or the private sector and has to go begging to get whole.

Law enforcement usually have better worker's compensation than most private employees. They are likely to get most or all of their pay while on medical leave. I am certain the worker's comp system is set up by businesses to reduce their costs. Heck, I don't even get my full pay if I am out due to a work related injury. The higher your hourly rate the less pay you get as a percentage. Worker's comp costs would increase quite a bit if businesses had to pay 100% of wages plus pay for things like wheelchair ramps, home remodels, and the like. I do think they should pay 100% of wages.

I got hurt at a summer job years ago. I was pretty banged up, but no permanent injuries. I had crutches for a few days. The doctor said I was ready to go right back to work the next day. I went to work the next day and couldn't work for long due to the pain. I lost most of a day's pay as worker's comp wouldn't cover my wages since the doctor said I was good to go. I was in high school so it wasn't worth fighting for $24 in pay. I didn't need the money to support a family or anything like that.

[Barry McFadden]

I've actually seen GoFundMe accounts set up for vacations and other silly things like that. The recipients of the the money didn't seem to have any special reason why people should donate. They just thought they could get others to pay for something they can't afford. I hope those people never meet their goals.

It is hard to feel sorry for a family whose house burned down and they didn't have any homeowner's insurance. I know a couple that lives strictly on Social Security and a small pension. They still have homeowner's insurance on their modest home. The house got damaged in a storm half a dozen years ago and they didn't have the money to fix the house without insurance.

Exactly why I would not contribute through Go Fund Me. Too many instances where people don't get travel insurance because they don't want to pay the money and soon as someone gets sick or injured they are looking for complete strangers to pay for them. I don't think so!
Saw one once where the cousin of a famous actress broke a leg and the actress set up a Go Fund Me to help with expenses and someone pointed out that possibly the actress who was always showing off her jewelry and multi million dollar cars and houses online could just pay the expenses herself!

[Bob Borzelleri]

While I know that there are situations that lead to Gofundme requests that demonstrate real need because of unanticipated expenses that could mot have been reasonably planned for, I wonder why I would need to browse the internet in order to find folks who are clearly in need.

When COVID hit, our house cleaner found herself with a client list that fell through the floor. She had been with us for 5 years. Excellent work ethic, reliable and always kept us informed if family issues came up and she needed to reschedule. Suddenly, her income fell to a small fraction of the client base she had built up.

One of our neighbors who was in need of cleaning services signed on with her after she worked with us for a year or so. We talked and agreed to continue our monthly payments as sort of a “let’s not make each other sick” leave. We revisited the decision after three months and, in the end, kept the payments up for 9 months before everyone felt that we could all control potential exposure.

In my view, it is not hard to find real people in need nearby because of circumstances beyond their control.

That said, I have donated to friends who are teachers who have wanted to establish programs that the district coukd not fund.

[Roger Feeley]

My niece worked for the Carnegie Foundation for a while. While the foundation was set up by Carnegie, it relies heavily on donations by present day philanthropy. Her job was to insure that charities supported by the foundation were well run. As she put it, it would only take a few scandles to turn off the money spigots.

She said that figuring out where to donate other peoples money is really hard!

[roger wiegand]

My pet peeve on GoFundMe is law enforcement officers hurt on the job. GoFundMe is set up to cover medical expenses, which Workman's comp already covers, 100%, so somebody is ripping off the public. Getting paid for expenses not incurred, which to me if outright FRAUD!

Don't know where you live, but the people I've ever known in at least three states who had to deal with Workman's Comp found it to be an utter nightmare with claims denied, routine services denied, extreme difficulty finding docs willing to work with their systems, and endless paperwork. In every case these folks had much worse care and higher out-of-pocket expenses than if they'd been allowed to use their regular health care insurance.

[Jim Koepke]

My pet peeve on GoFundMe is law enforcement officers hurt on the job. GoFundMe is set up to cover medical expenses, which Workman's comp already covers, 100%, so somebody is ripping off the public. Getting paid for expenses not incurred, which to me if outright FRAUD!

Bruce, you are fortunate to live in an area that takes such good care of their Law Enforcement Officers. Not every state, county or locality does. In many cases the jurisdiction doesn't have the tax base to pay for the insurance to cover such injuries in the line of duty.

As others have stated there are many expenses not covered even if there is workers compensation.

A big problem is often the claim is delayed. Sometimes the delay is beyond a year. During that time an injured officer may not be able to make their car payment or their mortgage. Should they lose everything just because they were shot or injured in the line of duty?

jtk

[Brian Elfert]

While I know that there are situations that lead to Gofundme requests that demonstrate real need because of unanticipated expenses that could mot have been reasonably planned for, I wonder why I would need to browse the internet in order to find folks who are clearly in need.


Most GoFundMe campaigns are advertised via phone, email, social media, and so on. If it is for an officer that was shot or something it will likely be advertised by the news media too. Most don't expect you to find their campaign by accident and then donate.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I've seen both sides of WC claims. In 1978, fell eighteen feet to concrete, shattering right elbow. Fell in the AM, and had replacement surgery in the PM the same day. Employer said not to worry about anything, as my pay would be continued, plus medical expenses, including travel to and from doctor/ rehab. Dr told them I would be out for six to eight weeks. Week after they took temp cast off arm, I went back to work. Despite having to learn to write left handed, I did my job. Daughter was hurt on the job, while working for an airline. It was job ending injury. She had to retain an attorney to just get her medical bills paid, plus permanent disability. Every time she went to doctor, insurance rep had a visit right afterwards with doctor. Soon was able to spot her waiting at the doctor's office. WC tried everything possible to prevent her from having shoulder surgery, which finally she did.

[Jim Koepke]

Employer said not to worry about anything, ... Soon was able to spot her waiting at the doctor's office. WC tried everything possible to prevent her from having shoulder surgery

Sometimes it comes down to the individual people involved. An employer who stepped up and took care of things versus a bureaucrat who was on a mission.

jtk

[Anuj Prateek]

A few times when I knew the folks directly or indirectly.

[Dave Fritz]

My cousin's daughter has stage four breast cancer. She's the mother of three and she and her husband have had a lot of expenses insurance won't cover. We decided to send my cousin a check and let her take care of it. They then get the full benefit of the funds instead of a third party getting a cut.

[Brian Elfert]

I was surprised how little that GoFundMe takes for their cut. Someone told me last night the fee is 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction. That is pretty good if that includes the credit card fee. I figured it would be closer to 5%.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Unless the authenticity of the GoFundMe is confirmed, and how one does that can be a challenge, the GoFundMe could be a complete fraud, and none of the funds will go the advertised beneficiary. In short, the person starting the GoFundMe could pocket 100% of money. This week a public figure was accused of bilking veterans out of money for funds to help a dying pet.

[Brian Elfert]

Fraud happens with requests for donations no matter if through GoFundMe, or through more traditional fundraising sources. GoFundMe and the Internet just makes it easier. Fraud of this sort was happening long before the Internet.