Go Fund Me? Go Fund Yourself!

[untilshewokeme]

See what I did there.

Anyway, is it just me or is GoFundMe getting out of control. I have two Facebook "friends" doing GoFundMes: one is too complete his masters degree and the other is to buy a house. It's starting to leave a sour taste in my mouth for worthy fundraisers that should deserve the attention because people are just taking advantage of the system.

Has anyone else experienced this bullshit?

[D.o.S.]

what's your definition of a worthy fundraiser?

[untilshewokeme]

what's your definition of a worthy fundraiser?

Depends on the situation really. Getting books or arts for a needy school, food programs for the less fortunate, medical bills for an unseen condition, service dog for unseen condition, etc.

A masters degree for a kid that can easily take out a student loan or a kid looking to buy a house with a stable, good job but spends nice money on "toys" aren't some of them.

[casecandy]

I see both OP's point, and the implication of D.o.S.'s question.

I think crowdfunding is out of control, yes. Trying to nail down that line delineating a worthy fundraiser and a moneygrab is probably a futile endeavour, but you know it when you see it.

Not worthy: Devi Ever post-Console. "I need you to pay for my entire existence because, uh, I can't get a job at a coffee shop like other people because, uh, I'm a victim. Or something." No thanks and actually, you're a sociopath. I hear the corner Starbucks a-callin'.

Not worthy: 90% of Patreon. A lot of them literally say "I'll use the money for rent!" LOL how about I'LL fucking use the money for rent, ya dig? Are you fucking new here?

Not worthy: "Buying" Gibson http://www.sonicstate.com/amped/2015/03 ... n-attempt/ (I interviewed this guy for my blog and still have the interview, but didn't punlish because it was old news by the time I got around to it)

Worthy: our child just contracted a flesh-eating bacterium and we face $1,000,000 in medical bills. Please help any way you can. (Not hypothetical, I contributed to this one.)

Worthy: help us raise funds to adopt our special-needs son who is waiting for us in an orphanage in rural Vietnam. Money will pay for fees with the agency and travel. (Also contributed to this one.)

Worthy: help me publish my book! Every contributor gets a copy of the book as a reward. (And several along these lines.)

etc.

[t-rey]

Not worthy: 90% of Patreon. A lot of them literally say "I'll use the money for rent!" LOL how about I'LL fucking use the money for rent, ya dig? Are you fucking new here?

Worthy: help me publish my book! Every contributor gets a copy of the book as a reward. (And several along these lines.)

That first example made me lol

The second one though...I mean, it can be like a long pre-order, I guess, but it only costs a few hundred bucks to crank out a good looking book these days (less if you call in favors on proofreads, edits, etc. - which might not be the best idea, but still). I don't like crowd funding for books, but am more understanding of the same long-term pre-order fundraising for things like pedals, though, or other things that take a good bit of (probably expensive) r&d or significant up front cost to build inventory.

[casecandy]

Okay, recent example of a Kickstarter for a book I really supported (not hypothetical).

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ho ... irst-super

The research and restoration of this comic series was academic in nature and just a fuckton of work overall.

I was happy to pay $80 to support that work, which landed me an exclusive hardcover book, several prints and stickers, etc.

[snipelfritz]

Raising donated capital is a skill/industry in itself. You're basically seeing the effects of too many amateurs trying to do this on a micro level.

This has the obvious repercussions of both con-men and well-intentioned folks with no tact.

Most of these people don't understand the difference between operating capitol and grant capitol. If you ask for money for a specific project (sort of a quasi-grant system), that money should go only to the project. If you're asking for money to go to your organization (or even self I guess) so that you can do various things (more traditional fund-raising/patronage), then its fine to use that money for operating income (food, facilities, basic general expenses that make your work possible, but don't directly contribute to a specific project).

I don't really look into these sorts of things, but I do understand it's big in the gaming community. In most of those cases, you'd expect the group to use all of their funds they're given on the project itself (I guess that would include some wages).

It's a complicated issue as it's people using new systems of trade to indirectly emulate what is a very organized world of patronage in a typically legally defined non-profit setting and/or highly formalized grant system. Once again, the internet has provided another wild-west type system where we must rethink how capitol works.

All that said, I think a lot of the personal asking things are just sort of a fad right now resultant from the newness of the platform and will likely not survive as it is increasingly recognized as tactless/unprofessional.

Asking for money for those clearly in need or issues that people are passionate about is cool. Those who really want to make a change though should look into filing for 501(c)3 non-profit status to avoid any legal/tax issues if they do plan on collecting substantial amounts of money.

EDIT: I'm also glad someone made the "Go fund yourself" pun.

[t-rey]

Okay, recent example of a Kickstarter for a book I really supported (not hypothetical).

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ho ... irst-super

The research and restoration of this comic series was academic in nature and just a fuckton of work overall.

I was happy to pay $80 to support that work, which landed me an exclusive hardcover book, several prints and stickers, etc.

Alright - that makes more sense to me. I am quick to make assumptions based on the fuckton of crowdfunding things I've seen for people just writing some fictional book and feeling like the entire goddamn internet needs to give them money so they can quit their job and be a writer or whatever.

[echoraven]

...I am quick to make assumptions based on the fuckton of crowdfunding things I've seen for people just writing some fictional book and feeling like the entire goddamn internet needs to give them money so they can quit their job and be a writer or whatever.

If your offering something in return, I'm cool with that. Just the humongous fucktard shit of "give me money just because" is idiotic. I prefer Kickstarter because there is some form of accountability (though not great since the Devi Ever console thing went through it) but gofundme? No. No thank you.

[the raytownian]

Has anyone else experienced this bullshit?

It is nothing new. The road to Bullshitland is paved with good intentions.

It's kind of like those traveler friends who get food stamps just because they can, despite coming from middle class/wealthy families and being perfectly capable of getting jobs (or eating from a dumpster) if they actually wanted to, but simply don't, "B'CUZ THE SYSTEM SUCKS--Yeah, can I get that without the mayo? Thanks". People take advantage of things like this and basically spoil them for everybody.

Welfare, charity, begging, etc. is for people who can't do or need help to do, not people who "don't wanna" do, or who think they "shouldn't have to" do if there's a loophole to get around actually trying. Anyone who's been stuck in the manipulative and fatalistic welfare system's trap knows this to be true. They also know that it's the slumming "free spirits" and entitled freeloaders who 1). Make everyone dependent on welfare look like a leech, and 2). Hog up resources that should be going to the truly disadvantaged.

EDIT:

No thanks and actually, you're a sociopath.

So, I kinda disappeared from here for a while when things started getting noticeably more... dramatic way back when. I really haven't kept abreast of whatever shitstorms have been unleashed here since ducking out some years ago, having chosen to leave specifically to avoid them. It was right around the time that the idea for the Console unit was first being thrown around, actually, IIRC.

I'd be lying if I said I were not morbidly curious about some of the juicy details that lead to statements like the quoted post, though. I don't want to threadjack, but feel free to send me lengthy PM-rants about all the horror stories I've missed. Dish, gurlfrands!

[lost in music]

That comic looks fresh as hell.

[casecandy]

That comic looks fresh as hell.

It is. Canada's first superhero was Inuit! From the 1930s. It's cheesy (it's a 1930s comic, duh) but really fun and of huge historical importance.

Like, to put it in perspective, our first superhero was Aboriginal, and we only recently got another superhero that was a Canadian Aboriginal woman (DC's Equinox). So in terms of representation it was almost a century ahead of the curve.

[Jwar]

I did an Indiegogo one not that long ago for a publisher I knew that was releasing killer shit. I paid like 150 and got a metric fuck ton of stuff in return. I was SOOOOOOO fucking happy with the outcome of it. He didn't even come close to his mark, but still gave out what he'd promised. I got 14 epub digital books, 2 paper backs (which are around 16 each) and 4 limited edition, signed and numbered hardbacks by authors I love. I was beside myself with joy! If you've ever collected limited edition horror novels before, the limiteds can run 60-100 by themselves...so I got a killer fucking deal! PLUS if you look under Voracious Supporters on their site, you'll see my name. http://sinistergrinpress.com/supporters/


Go Fund Me can be good. I knew a lady that used it because she didn't have money for cancer treatments. It helped a ton. I knew a few people who used it for not so good reasons. Like my sister in law who runs marathons and wants people to fund her races....I mean, give me a fucking break. So it just depends.

They can be good if they are used the right way. Ultimately it's up to the user to decide what is worthy of their hard earned cash though.

[casecandy]

Collectively, we really liked the word "fuckton" in this thread.

[t-rey]

...I am quick to make assumptions based on the fuckton of crowdfunding things I've seen for people just writing some fictional book and feeling like the entire goddamn internet needs to give them money so they can quit their job and be a writer or whatever.

If your offering something in return, I'm cool with that. Just the humongous fucktard shit of "give me money just because" is idiotic. I prefer Kickstarter because there is some form of accountability (though not great since the Devi Ever console thing went through it) but gofundme? No. No thank you.

Yeah, if it's like 'hey I need like 1500 for editing, marketing, etc, and everyone gets a copy of the book' I can abide it - I still don't particularly care for it, but that's my own thing. What I've seen too much of (not that often, but still way too much) is people wanting like $7,500-10,000 for vaguely explained reasons (i.e. they don't want to work anymore and want to sit in some coffee shop and play writer all day).