View Full Version : go fund me accounts
How do y'all feel about go fundme accounts to pay for your thru hike? This is is something i decided to do so I should pay for it. On the other hand I guess it would be ok to help a fellow hiker follow a dream. I am not going to ask for help to do it. So what do you think?
(here comes the big can of worms)
Generally frowned upon, on this forum. It's not like you're needy. A thru-hike is a privilege, a vacation. Save up and then have at it.
Oh boy ... let's get the popcorn and soda out for another round ...
saltysack
09-15-2016, 22:09
Word of the day..........J...........O............B
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The Cleaner
09-15-2016, 23:34
gofundyourself.com +100, I'll go ahead and save others the trouble.
The issue with GoFundMe is when you're not returning anything of value. If you plan to provide something of value to the community that is supporting you, it's easier to gain followers who are more likely to fund your hike. So, you're going to circumnavigate the earth on an inflatable pool raft. Great.. but I need to know there will be photos, videos, and something of value to justify my donation to your cause. A video of you trying to escape from a monstrous wirlpool would be great. I'm sure RedBull would get on board too. Get it?
HooKooDooKu
09-16-2016, 01:39
Sort of obvious that asking strangers to fund your vacation would be frowned upon... but haven't some people talked about utilizing GoFundMe as a way for friends and family to gift money to help fund a trip? For example, I could see someone that is about to graduate from school setting up a GoFundMe page and ask those that might otherwise send money as a graduation present to gift them through the GoFundMe page... that way everyone can see how far along they are to funding their trip.
jjozgrunt
09-16-2016, 02:32
I've donated to a few gofundme pages or similar but they were all for what I considered to be good causes. Funding someone so they can have a holiday is not something I would support. Nothing wrong with asking but you will need to make your pich really interesting to money from most people.
I automatically ignore those that say they are for some cause, but if you read it carefully it's only money left over. that the cause will get.
Okay, this is a pet peeve of mine so the following will likely be a bit abrasive to some viewers...discretion is advised.
Why in the world would anyone think it's acceptable to beg for money in order to take what amounts to a 6-month long dream vacation? Seriously, it's bad enough when people use GoFundMe for personal or business needs that serve no greater good other than ease the financial burden on the individual holding their hands out. But, to ask strangers for a donation so you can go hiking is the epitome of entitlement...
If you want something, get off your azz and work for it. The value received from the experience will be tenfold what you would get if it were handed to you.
End of rant (for now).
Lone Wolf
09-16-2016, 05:53
How do y'all feel about go fundme accounts to pay for your thru hike? This is is something i decided to do so I should pay for it. On the other hand I guess it would be ok to help a fellow hiker follow a dream. I am not going to ask for help to do it. So what do you think?
only a fool would give money to someone for a vacation
only a fool would give money to someone for a vacation
and there is certainly no shortage of fools to be exploited these days.you know what they say about fools and their money. Therefor, gofundme for thru hikes came to be. With today's technology, you can exploit fools you have never even seen or met from the comfort of home! Fools hundreds or thousands of miles from your hometown!No more pan handling in the cold or rain! these are good times we are living in.
MtDoraDave
09-16-2016, 07:24
I want to do a thru hike. I don't have the money to do a thru hike and pay my mortgage, cc bills, etc. So I came up with a plan. A financial plan. My credit card debt will be gone in 5 years, and I have started putting $35 in a special savings account every week. In 5 years, that will be $9,100 plus interest.
Yes, I wanted to keep on hiking this past March when the Thru's I was hiking with on my section hike said "come on, stay with us" ... but one thing I've learned is that the attitude of "I want what I want, and I want it NOW" is not healthy. Work for it. Save-up for it. The habit of putting all my "wants" on a credit card or taking out a loan for them only creates a mess that takes YEARS to recover from.
I have given money to Gofundme accounts twice. First, when a friend of mine hurt himself and couldn't work for a while. Second, when a friend lost a child and needed the money to bring his remains home.
People I know keep getting cancer and/or dying, so a thought occurred to me just this past week: What if my hiking partner got cancer and wanted to do our Thru hike immediately? My first though was that I could do a gofundme account.
So, on the whole, I agree - if you want to do a thru hike, save up for it. Don't beg. But like many other things in life, whether or not it's worth my support will be determined on a case by case basis.
One thing to note the people I saw wanting money were young not old like me
Gambit McCrae
09-16-2016, 08:01
I don't care young, old, " I want to dedicate my hike to my best companion ol Roy", to me its all a gimmick. Im going to Louisiana redfishing for 9 days during Thanksgiving. Its about a $2000 trip, travel, lodging, fishing licenses, bait, all the crap for a fishing trip. I also supposedly have ADHD, so everyone: I am going on a fun vacation with lots of travel time, I am fishing for awareness of ADHD, please fund my fishing trip?? I mean its for a GOOD cause
Ankle Bone
09-16-2016, 08:08
One thing to note the people I saw wanting money were young not old like me
Dang. I was hoping you were young and that would explain your entitlement mentality. I guess my generation has them, too.
There is an older guy with a bunch of AT videos on youtube. His schtick is hiking sections of the trail and ¨interviewing¨ fellow hikers, a lot of which consists of hitting on young female hikers during the interview. He posts the videos on youtube. He doesn´t have a job. He lives in a tent in a friend´s backyard.
He smokes cigarettes on the trail and in the shelters while making his videos.
His plea in his videos is to contribute to his Go Fund Me so he can continue to make videos that will help newbies get started in backpacking. He´s asking for money, but he´s giving something back. Does his GFM seem worthwhile? Something I would contribute too?
For me, HELL NO. GET A JOB and QUIT SMOKING.
A one pack a day smoker spends $2200 annually just for the smokes, never mind the hackers cough that interferes with hiking and never mind the medical costs that are inevitable.
I am a charitable man, but I´m damned if I´ll go fund some a**wipe so he can foul up the air with cigarette smoke and bad breath and filthy butts littering the ground around him.
However, using Go Fund Me for a worthwhile charity makes sense. Rowdy raised $40,000 during his thru hike to fund scholarships at the school where he is a teacher, then he wrote an excellent book about his adventure. He´s about my age and I benefited from his advice about attitudes, gear, food, trail advice. Yes, I would contribute to his fund again if he wants to do something else to raise money for charity.
In GFM charity , the money is paid directly to the beneficiary and the hiker is not going to use it to pay for his hike and only contribute what little bit might be left over.
A recent graduate hitting up his family and friends for money to fund his after-graduation adventure would be acceptable in my book. If my grand-nephew wanted to do it I would contribute. Provided he was taking other steps such as banking his graduation gifts and working part time to save money (and not blowing his money on cigarettes and drugs) then, yeah, I´d help fund him.
dudeijuststarted
09-16-2016, 09:55
there are a lot of bizarre people out there, many of which are dying for any reason to be separated from their money. this is how religions operate, after all. hiking>religion, so I say go-for-it.
colorado_rob
09-16-2016, 09:56
there are a lot of bizarre people out there, many of which are dying for any reason to be separated from their money. this is how religions operate, after all. hiking>religion, so I say go-for-it.Agree! "A fool and his money are easily parted" (something like that). More power to those that can swindle money out of fools.
....and keep in mind the GoFundMe website owners takes a cut of every donation. Five Percent I believe.
MuddyWaters
09-16-2016, 13:03
I think
1. You better have thick skin
2. Someone that begs money to go on vacation, is a scumbag with no redeeming qualities.
Dang. I was hoping you were young and that would explain your entitlement mentality. I guess my generation has them, too.
Read the OP again. He said he was paying for his own hike and not asking for help to do it. He was just asking for opinions on GFM's.
My opinion: It's your money. Do what you want with it. Just don't expect me to join in.
Dang. I was hoping you were young and that would explain your entitlement mentality. I guess my generation has them, too.
Uh I don't have a entitlement mentality. I've worked my ass off since I was 15 years old I now work two jobs to pay my bills. I think you needt I retract your statment. I was talking about other people who are asking for money. Ain't nobodyg I've nothing I work for what I get.
Puddlefish
09-16-2016, 15:22
Beg if you want to beg, maybe you can find a sucker to fund you. Phrase your request artfully with tales of adventure and a love of the wilderness, maybe you'll get lucky and some rich old guy stuck behind a desk will get wistful, and throw you a few bucks. You'll be sure to annoy a whole lot of people, but those people aren't throwing money around, why should you care about them.
I do all my charitable donations once a year, I feel it's more important to clearly define what I want my limited dollars to accomplish, rather than to donate to some feel good cause that does more for my self esteem than it does for the recipients. I don't have the energy to get upset at how other people waste their money.
Slo-go'en
09-16-2016, 18:04
....and keep in mind the GoFundMe website owners takes a cut of every donation. Five Percent I believe.
I thought it was 10%, but that might have been a while back.
The thing about gofundme is they use your facebook contacts to solicit the money from. You could do that yourself using paypal and not have to pay any fees. Not too many people troll the gofundme web site looking for people to give money away to, no matter what the cause. If you advertise your gofundme page on a forum like whiteblaze to solicit donations you'll get flamed big time.
Go for it. It's here, its what people do now. If people want to donate they will, and if they don't-they won't. Everybody gets to decided for themselves what they want to do with their money. There might be an old lady in a wheelchair somewhere who wanted to do this all her life and never did, but gets to live vicariously through your documented adventure. Who's to say there is no value in that?
I guess I can add my two cents worth. I sure would not feel comfortable asking anyone,family included, to fund my thru hike. Part of the challenge is to figure out a budget too. There are plenty of ways to earn extra money through out a couple of years to help fund a hike.
However, is it not our faults as parents that we have spoiled this young generation by giving them everything (too many toys, phones, cars, college education, co- sign mortgages, etc)? Many of us have created there desire to not have to work for the joys of life. By the way, have you ever experienced paying for a wedding these days. Isn't the 'registry' for wedding gifts the same thing as a 'go fund me'?? Because today more than half of all those 'go fund me' plans end in a divorce don't they?
There is always exceptions out there though.
Dan Roper
09-17-2016, 09:54
Work enhances pleasure. You ever walked the long, hot miles to Jacks River falls, which has perhaps the best swimming hole in America? The miles, the heat and the sweat make the swim the greatest payoff ever. If the parking lot was right next to the falls instead of four miles away, the experience would lose most of what makes it so magical.
If people can walk out on the trail without having worked for it, without having planned and struggled and sacrificed to make it possible to go, it loses some of its magic.
Don't reduce the magic by looking for shortcuts. Earn it.
Like many have noted a Go Fund Me account is a luxury that rarely would be of interest to the general population. Sort of like being a Trail Angel, where's the motive. But many choose to become Trail Angels, so what's the harm.
I thought about this a long time ago..If a trailangel can ask for a handout for gasmoney from orginizations and hikers for a new vehicle..Why not...Lets see who's panties get in a uproar over that...
I thought about this a long time ago..If a trailangel can ask for a handout for gasmoney from orginizations and hikers for a new vehicle..Why not...Lets see who's panties get in a uproar over that...
Seems like this is trolling but obviously giving gas money to a trail angel or someone who provides a hitch is not the same as giving money to fund someone's vacation. BTW, I have offered gas money to nearly every ride I have ever been given and it has only been accepted once.
Everyone can do what they want with their own money including giving it to people on vacation or using it as firestarter or roll your own smokes. I don't see why anyone cares one way or another.
My grandparents would have slapped me silly over a go fund me account.....
HYOH....fund your own hike too
MuddyWaters
09-17-2016, 20:26
I thought about this a long time ago..If a trailangel can ask for a handout for gasmoney from orginizations and hikers for a new vehicle..Why not...Lets see who's panties get in a uproar over that...
Difference in my book between an angel...
And a trail groupie
Difference in my book between an angel...
And a trail groupie
So a Trail angel can have no job and get org.s to give them gas and take 6 months doing this..So are they a groupie?
Also have hikers buy them a Vehicle by go fund me and people that have a go fund me to hike are held to a higher standard? LOL
I don't understand people who use GFM for frivolous things.
When my husband and I had to deal with job loss, it was mortifying but we didn't even consider asking strangers online for financial help. I can't imagine asking people for money for an extended vacation.
fiddlehead
09-17-2016, 21:57
Seems to me, it's just high-tech pan-handling.
Up to you if you want to give or not.
Easy enough to pass on bye.
Sarcasm the elf
09-17-2016, 22:27
I will say without any embarrassment that I contributed to a gofundme to fund friend's vacation.
Then again it was a setup without his knowledge and he had just gone into remission from stage three lung cancer.
Puddlefish
09-17-2016, 22:45
I don't understand people who use GFM for frivolous things.
When my husband and I had to deal with job loss, it was mortifying but we didn't even consider asking strangers online for financial help. I can't imagine asking people for money for an extended vacation.
I pretty much figure that all of GFM is for frivolous things, that way I'm never offended, nor tempted to log onto the site.
Scooter2
09-18-2016, 09:44
I agree with what you said in your OP: "This is is something i decided to do so I should pay for it. "
Scooter2
09-18-2016, 09:47
Go for it. It's here, its what people do now. If people want to donate they will, and if they don't-they won't. Everybody gets to decided for themselves what they want to do with their money. There might be an old lady in a wheelchair somewhere who wanted to do this all her life and never did, but gets to live vicariously through your documented adventure. Who's to say there is no value in that?
Re: "it's what people do now". What happened to pride? Seems it is no longer seem as a redeeming quality.
Traveler
09-18-2016, 12:23
Re: "it's what people do now". What happened to pride? Seems it is no longer seem as a redeeming quality.
Well, one can look at business ventures where people propose a project and solicit funds from others. Sometimes funding reaches the goal and those proposing the project don't have to invest much if anything. Essentially its the same thing, begging, but one has little to no rate of return if successful, the other does, however both an AT thru hike and business ventures have similar success rates.