[nouseforaname]

I really hate the entire culture around Gofundme. I feel like a number of people use it in a way I find horrifying.

My grandfather passed away a few years ago and my much younger relative in college in Hawaii decided to make a gofundme page to raise money for the plane ticket to his funeral. I could have paid for his ticket no problem, but I got the feeling the gofundme wasn't really about the money. It somehow was just "what you do" for a bit of attention.

Call me old fashioned but I don't really like the way it looks when my family members are begging all over facebook for something the family could easily take care of. It also feels weirdly exploitive of people who are bad with money management. His parents are solid middle class, but I personally know one of the people donating $100 to his gofundme was a fifty-something year old waitresses with a heart of gold and no sense of budgeting.

[cooperadymas]

When the big, fatal limousine crash happened in New York a few weeks back, it seemed like there were GoFundMes being shared around Facebook before any details of the accident were released. I saw at least 6 different campaigns being shared at the same time the news outlets were beginning coverage.

It looks like now GFM has created a special page for the "event", and over half a million has been donated.

I can't even put into words why this makes me uncomfortable, but something about it feels skeevy. It's difficult to have a rational conversation about it without detracting from the tragedy itself.

[covercash]

I think part of it has to do with how gofundme started... early on, they made it look and feel like people were essentially donating to a charity. They hid their fees deep in the FAQ and allowed the general population to assume that donations on gofundme were the equivalent of donating to something like the Make A Wish Foundation. It was a toxic company from the very start.