Do you donate to funds set up after disasters?

[disneysteve]

Needless to say, the mass shooting in Orlando is an outrageous tragedy with dozens of innocent lives lost and dozens more injured and traumatized. Thankfully, I don't know anyone who was personally involved but there's only one degree of separation because I do know people who knew victims.

I absolutely don't want to downplay the impact of what happened but this being a personal finance site, I have a question.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to benefit those affected and a lot of my friends are posting the link for that on their facebook pages encouraging others to donate.

Do you typically do this sort of thing? Is this really the best way to help people in need? Do you trust that the money will be distributed in a responsible manner?

I have the same thought after earthquakes and other natural disasters when relief funds get set up. It seems that thanks to the internet, some of these fundraisers can pull in phenomenal amounts of money that may far exceed what the victims even need in terms of financial reparations. Sometimes something about the whole process just doesn't seem quite right to me. Am I being too cynical? I'm really curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

Please keep the conversation civil. I will delete comments that try to turn this thread into a political debate, a gun control debate, an anti-gay debate, or anything of the sort. Just answer the question please.

[rennigade]

I dont personally donate after any disaster. In reality its probably better to donate to an organization like red cross once a year regardless if a tragedy is happening or not.

Whether we think its a good idea or not is irrelevant. Some people feel good about donating money to things like this so why not let them? I believe the majority of the time the money does go to the cause...but we only hear about it when people start to steal from the fund itself.

Look at it this way...if this gofundme raises $100million and each family member gets $2million...are you going to be mad? I dont think anyone would say "man I wish my son or daughter was murdered so I could get that much money."

It is what it is. Nothing will change what has already happened. Not good.

[Singuy]

I have donated after disasters but this time I have the opportunity to help the victims first hand since the hospital all the victims were taken to is the one I work at.

I was OR pharmacist last night and helped with 3 of the GSW victims directly. They were going to be okay.

[MonkeyMama]

I would mostly never donate to a GoFundMe account. Everyone has a hand out at every turn and lord knows where that money is going. I've found the GoFund me trend disturbing. It's disturbing what people ask money for and it's disturbing how freely people fund these things.

A friend of mine tragically lost a young family member this year. Within hours of the tragedy they were asking for $100k. I just thought it was kind of disgusting. This was a college kid who passed and they gave no reason why they wanted the money.

*I* just can't imagine any planet where one of the first things I do is ask for a handout when something that horrible happens.

That said, I think mostly people just want to help and they don't know how else to help. In my example above it was an immediate family member who asked for the handout and I think it was why I was kind of disturbed. If it had been a friend raising money for the family or something, it seems people always want to do that and I don't blame people for giving money when they feel helpless during a tragedy. I've seen this a couple of times at our school. Something tragic will happen and they will say, "Let's raise money for them," even though they don't seem to really want the money or it's not appropriate. I think one time I Said, "WTF" because it was such an odd situation and giving money didn't really seem to be an appropriate response, but in another case someone had some medical bills and we did contribute to help with that. I believe they said they didn't need the money and donated anything beyond medical back to the school. But you know, these are the kind of people you want to donate to because they aren't the ones asking and they don't feel entitled. I can appreciate that people just want to help in situations that they feel helpless.

[DaveInPgh]

I have been trying to find a way to share my thoughts without coming off as a heartless & offensive jerk.

When I see fundraising efforts focused on a single well publicized event, my first thought is what about the tragedies that don't make national news. If someone is killed at a mom & pop store, is their family less worthy of financial assistance because it didn't make the national news?

Like MonkeyMama, I find the GoFundMe trend disturbing.

[bjl584]

I think Gofundme takes a 20% cut of the donations, so it's probably not the best place to do fundraising.

I'd be more inclined to donate through a local charity like a church or some social club.

[creditcardfree]

I personally would only donated to a GoFundMe account if I knew the victim directly or they were close to someone I knew first hand.

I often find that these disasters pull my husband and I to donate to the Red Cross, which with assist anyone, anytime, anywhere, regardless of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation.

It's not that I don't want to donate other times, it's just not at the forefront of my mind as it is when these events happen. I always indicate to put the money where it is most needed, thus if our money isn't needed for current event, it can be used at some later date.

Some people donate with their emotions and not with their rational mind. It is what it is.

[DaveInPgh]

I think Gofundme takes a 20% cut of the donations, so it's probably not the best place to do fundraising.

I'd be more inclined to donate through a local charity like a church or some social club.

"We would like to inform all supporters that Go Fund Me has contributed $100,000 towards this campaign, essentially waiving their transaction fee and ensuring the every single penny donated will go towards supporting the victims and their families. We are so grateful for all of the support the Go Fund Me team has provided."

Not sure what their typical fee is, but in this case they are waiving it.

[MonkeyMama]

I think Gofundme takes a 20% cut of the donations, so it's probably not the best place to do fundraising.

Ugh. I didn't even know that.

I will rethink using GoFundMe at all.

[disneysteve]

In reality its probably better to donate to an organization like red cross once a year regardless if a tragedy is happening or not.

That's more in line with my thinking.

I believe the majority of the time the money does go to the cause

GoFundMe keeps 7.9% of donations for administration. So if they did raise $100 million, that means $7.9 million of it wouldn't go to help anyone but the people who run the website.

if this gofundme raises $100million and each family member gets $2million...are you going to be mad?

I wouldn't be mad. I would be - not sure of the right word here - somehow bothered by it though. I don't think giving a victim's family a boatload of money is necessary or appropriate. $10,000 for a funeral? Sure. Maybe a college scholarship fund for children of victims? Great idea. But handing out millions just because has never seemed quite right to me. I feel like there are so many better places that money could go to help others in need. I know three people personally who have active GoFundMe campaigns because they are struggling for a variety of reasons. $100 or $1,000 would have a far bigger impact for any of them than $100,000 most likely will for the recipients of money from these big nationally-publicized efforts. Maybe these campaigns should cap the donations they accept at an amount felt to be reasonable but not excessive. Clearly there is no amount of money that will truly compensate them for their loss. Just throwing money at them feels wrong to me.

I hope this doesn't sound insensitive. That's truly not my intent, and it isn't this particular event that I'm picking on. It's on my mind every time something like this happens.

[Singuy]

Ugh. I didn't even know that.

I will rethink using GoFundMe at all.

It's a 5% fee, not 20%.

[disneysteve]

I personally would only donated to a GoFundMe account if I knew the victim directly or they were close to someone I knew first hand.

I've been in that situation and what we did instead was to donate directly to the family. We didn't funnel it through a middleman because that way we knew 100% of our money was actually going to the people in need.

Example: A friend was terminally ill a couple of years ago and a campaign was started to support the family, pay for meals, medical expenses, transportation, etc. Rather than donating to the campaign, we just bought some gift cards and gave them directly to the family.

I realize that doesn't work when the need is more distant or you don't personally know the people involved.

[DaveInPgh]

It's a 5% fee, not 20%.

Plus a processing fee.

"While it's free to create and share your online fundraising campaign, GoFundMe will deduct a 5% fee from each donation that you receive. Since our fee is deducted automatically, you'll never need to worry about being billed or owing us any money. A small processing fee of about 3% will also be deducted from each donation. Please see Pricing & Fees for more info."

[disneysteve]

I always indicate to put the money where it is most needed, thus if our money isn't needed for current event, it can be used at some later date.

That's another good point. Will they give out all the money no matter how much comes in? There ought to be some kind of limit.

Even with charities that we are directly involved with, we hesitate to support campaigns for a narrow purpose. At our synagogue, we are most likely to donate to the endowment fund as opposed to giving to the alter flowers fund. I don't want them to have thousands of dollars sitting in the flowers fund at the same time the roof is leaking and they can't afford to fix it.

[rennigade]

GoFundMe keeps 7.9% of donations for administration. So if they did raise $100 million, that means $7.9 million of it wouldn't go to help anyone but the people who run the website.

Right...as they should. If they didnt charge a fee they would need a gofundme page for them to stay in business. They probably have a building at the very least...rent, utilities, employee salaries, health care for employees?, servers, etc etc...

Even if you manage to donate to a group that doesnt take a percentage off the top...the money for them to operate has to come from somewhere. If its from the government then we're all paying it regardless. The only way around it is to donate to the families directly.