thoughts on a "gofundme"

[robertscz]

hello.... i have started to receive the bills for hospitals, dr's, ect and it is very overwhelming.  i do have private insurance and it is capped at a $3k deductable so i have reached that.  but there are other things, like my co-worker taking off work to go ahead and get tested, and then she will have to take a few weeks after the surgery and i would like to help her out for her time, not for her kidney    my fiance is reluctant to go ahead and post, i want her to do it because of her social media presence, she has 2k+ "friends".  she says we "dont need the money" and it is true, we have the means.  But if 100 people donate $10, that really adds up.  what are your thoughts on this?  and i hope this is an appropriate question to ask.  thanks!!

[iolaire]

I'd probably leave it up to your fiancé.  I personally would not ask but if my wife choose to I'd probably be ok with it.  I would not be happy if my wife forced me to.  I assume that your fiancé would feel similar, its ok if she wants to do it but don't force her. 

I also believe it takes a strong story or social media presence to make a GoFundMe work.  I have no stats but my assumption is a majority of those types of fund raisers don't raise much.  So unless you have a group of friends and family who are asking to give you money my guess is you might not raise that much - unless you have a good story or distribution that appeals to the general population.

[GA_DAWG]

You say you do not need the help. If that is the case, I would leave the gofundme page to people who really do need the help and for whom it could be make or break as far as meeting there funding obligation.

[kristina]

hello.... i have started to receive the bills for hospitals, dr's, ect and it is very overwhelming.  i do have private insurance and it is capped at a $3k deductable so i have reached that.  but there are other things, like my co-worker taking off work to go ahead and get tested, and then she will have to take a few weeks after the surgery and i would like to help her out for her time, not for her kidney    my fiance is reluctant to go ahead and post, i want her to do it because of her social media presence, she has 2k+ "friends".  she says we "dont need the money" and it is true, we have the means.  But if 100 people donate $10, that really adds up.  what are your thoughts on this?  and i hope this is an appropriate question to ask.  thanks!!

Hello Robert,
some years ago I read about similar adverts/thoughts in some of the newspapers and it was revealed later that
that seems the way some people made their money in the first place and over time they became millionaires ...
One can also observe some professional beggars in fashionable streets and sometimes one can see them getting into flash cars, parked around the corner... This is rather sad, because they appear to make fun of people in serious trouble who see no other way except begging in the street for some food...
Just my 
Kristina.

[Riki]

GoFundMe also takes a percentage of whatever you get, and like what was already said, unless you have a good story, or some way of getting a large number of people to view it, you're not going to get many to donate.  When my brother was in a bad motorcycle accident a year ago, I set up a GoFundMe to help his family pay bills, since he wasn't able to work.  It was up for a month, which was all his girlfriend wanted it up for, and I think they got about $250, the majority of it coming from 2 large donations. 

[robertscz]

Well, she decided to go ahead and do one and in less than 5 days it has raised $1950....  This will help cover my insurance deductible as well as the travel and time off needed for my donor.  I am a pe teacher, and my donor is my female counterpart... We are best friends and spend more time with each other than our spouses. So, I guess we have the feel good story, that may be helping. But it's amazing the amount of people that show you that they care. If any of you would like to read about me you can view it here.. I am not asking for any donations from any of you, I just thought it would be interesting to see. The local news is doing a story on us also, my principal contacted them and they ate it up.  Again, the support has been amazing so I urge some of you that are in the same situation as me to reach out. Everyone has a story, if you share yours you will get a good response also

https://www.gofundme.com/bob-czekalinski-kidney-transplant

[kristina]

Many thanks for the update and wishing you the best of luck!!!
The photo of you and your sweet little lucky charm looks very sympathetic...
Best wishes and again : Good Luck
from Kristina.

[Xplantdad]

Good to hear that everything is working out for you, Robert!