Do You Trust Crowdfunding? Here are My Concerns.

Crowdfunding like Patreon, Gofundme, and GiveSendGo have become very popular. I have noticed that if someone gets hurt or killed then the family may set up a “gofundme” account to help pay for medical bills or the funeral. I have some reservations though. I am sure you can trust the sights to some extent because they get a little off the top for their trouble, but can you trust that the money will go where you want it to go? 

There is always someone ready to take advantage of a tragedy, and crowdfunding can make it easy for the fraudsters. For example, in Plantersville, Texas there was a story about a little boy named Christopher Ramirez that got lost in the woods. It created a large local manhunt with many people ready to help. Sadly, there were also scammers using the tragedy to create gofundme accounts to allow people to donate to the family, then pocket the money themselves. At least there was a happy ending when Christopher was found alive. 

The same thing happened in Greenwood, Luisiana when a fire took the life of a police officer’s wife. A Gofundme was set up to help the officer, but it ended up being fake. Money brings out the worst in some people. 

Some of the crowdfunding sights have also decided not to help certain people and send the money back to the donors. The Freedom Convoy had a “gofundme,” but the company refused to send the money to the organization helping the Freedom Convoy. In the end they were forced to change the crowdfunding to Givesendgo. Now Patreon is refusing to send funds to a Ukraine organization because they said they would use it to buy body armor. The Body Armor could save lives, but Patreon said it will not allow people to fund military equipment.  

In the end, I am not sure that giving to crowdfunding sights can be trusted. I know in some instances they have helped a lot of people, but is it worth the risk? My opinion is no. There are other ways to give that will guarantee your money goes where you want it to. Plus, if you give to a reputable organization then you claim it on your taxes.