Just because people choose to be kind doesn’t mean that you can take advantage of this kindness. That sounds about right, doesn’t it, dear Pandas? Unfortunately, some people have so little shame that they flaunt their greed and beg for money openly. In the digital age, that’s easier to do now than ever.
For example, tons of people create GoFundMe projects to try and weasel out some money from naive altruists. That’s where the aptly named ‘Don’tFundMe’ subreddit comes in. It’s an online community that names and shames the most egregious and greedy GoFundMe campaigns.
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Some of these projects are as shameless as they can be. However, some others are clearly tongue-in-cheek social commentaries, attempts to have some fun and brighten people’s day. Scroll down to see what the GoFundMe landscape is really like, dear Pandas. And be sure to tell us about the worst campaigns you’ve ever laid eyes on.
Bored Panda reached out to the founder and moderator of the subreddit to have a chat about the online group’s history and dumb GoFundMe campaigns.
“I was inspired to create /r/DontFundMe after seeing a college friend post a GoFundMe for a Christian mission trip overseas that, at worst, looked suspiciously like a vacation and, at best, looked to not be especially beneficial to the community it was supposed to help. Her campaign was never posted to the subreddit and only served as the initial inspiration,” they shared with us.
#1 What The-
Image credits: kickynn
The founder of the online community told Bored Panda that they have no idea why the people behind the most egregious campaigns aren’t ashamed of themselves.
“Maybe part of the reason is that these donations are entirely voluntary, so they don’t have the same level of guilt as, for example, a pharmaceutical company holding lifesaving medication hostage behind outrageous costs,” the moderator mused why some folks have an easy time begging for money on GoFundMe.
#2 My Friend Sent Me This 2 Months Ago
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#3 Update: The Green Bean Man Has Raised $5
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Bored Panda was curious what the mod would change about GoFundMe if they could do anything. However, they were candid that they haven’t followed the platform’s development over the years. Though they do have one novel idea.
“We could take all of the healthcare-related campaigns and bundle them all into one single one-day campaign, say on April 18th. We could call it ‘Tax Day’ and ensure that the funding is used to cover all healthcare costs for every citizen of the United States. Maybe we could even have all of the billion-dollar corporations donate to this campaign,” they said. The idea sounds great. Hopefully, someone will pitch it to GoFundMe.
#4 This Gives More Backstory To Actual Gofundme Idk If It Fits
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#5 The Fund For This Lady’s Midlife Crisis Tat
Now you can help one PA woman cross two items off of her bucket list. The first was to get a squirrel tattoo and the second was to orchestrate an online fundraiser. She decided to combine them into one glorious GoFundMe page
Image credits: gofundme
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#6 The Hat Fund That’s Actually Pretty Good
Image credits: gofundme
The founder told us that, unfortunately, r/DontFundMe “is a dying subreddit.” There’s been hardly any engagement or growth over the past several years.
“I’d like to believe that the majority of redditors are moving away from ‘outrage’ subreddits like this one I created. I’ve come to realize that subreddits like this probably don’t have a positive lasting effect on mental health,” they said.
#7 A Fund To Erase This Bad Decision
Turns out getting a job was tough for this tattooed New Yorker. To help erase her (really, really, really) terrible decision and hopefully brighten up her job prospects, she started a GoFundMe campaign to get the 420 tattoo removed from her forehead.
Aiming for $800, she raised more than $1,000 in just a few days.
Image credits: gofundme
#8 Former Child Star Wants 100k, He Has Spent All His Money
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#9 Kid At The School I Go To
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California-based GoFundMe lets people fundraise money for pretty much anything and everything, so long as it fits the company’s community standards. So while you might see some fairly run-of-the-mill requests to help an animal shelter or a family who has lost their home, you’ll also find some Americans begging for help because they can’t afford life-saving medication or healthcare.
Between 2010 and 2020, GoFundMe raised over 9 billion dollars, contributed by over 120 million donors. However, not every project is altruistic. Some people see the platform as a way to make a quick buck by telling a sob story. And they get called out for it by the ‘Don’tFundMe’ subreddit.
#10 Turns Out Having Kids Is Expensive
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#11 I Insist You Don’t Give This Guy Any More Money
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#12 A Fund For This Guy’s Booty Call
What’s a guy to do when his entire relationship hinges on a $325 plane ticket to Miami? His future is in the hands of the Internet.
Image credits: gofundme
r/DontFundMe has been active for almost 7.5 years. Founded way back in late October of 2014, it has amassed nearly 219k members since then. The entire subreddit is run by just a single moderator (though they also use Reddit’s AutoModerator for help).
The online group presents itself as “a subreddit for those born without shame-glands, dedicated to showcasing particularly egregious GoFundMe projects.” In other words, it’s about showing the weirdest, most shameless times people tried to swindle a quick buck or two from those willing to show kindness.
#13 The Instagram Egg
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#14 Woman Who Abused Starbucks Barista And Refused To Wear A Mask Wants $100k… For Abusing Starbucks Barista And Refusing To Wear A Mask
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#15 The Fund For Alabama
If you’ve had enough of donating to sickly children or homeless cats, then why not mix things up and donate to… the state of Alabama? That’s right, Alabama State Senator Paul Sanford set up a voluntary tax page where you could help pay Alabama state taxes whether you actually live there or not.
Image credits: gofundme
Now, there are a few rules that you have to be aware of if you plan on joining r/DontFundMe and posting content there. For one, as much fun as it is to poke fun at people who deserve it, the subreddit’s members are asked to blur out all identifiable info. What’s more, posters should avoid adding visible links to the projects themselves. That’s to avoid promoting any and all campaigns directly (whatever they might be).
#16 The Fund To Put A Tardis Into Space
Image credits: kickstarter
#17 It’s A Mood For Sure
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#18 Girl Posts On Facebook Group Begging People To Give Her $20,000 To Impress Her Dad So She Can Use His Car
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What’s more, the content that you post on r/DontFundMe has to be in some way related to egregious GoFundMe projects. There’s a separate subreddit for bad Kickstarter projects. Meanwhile, general begging posts go on the legendary r/ChoosingBeggars. In other words, the content has to be mainly focused on GoFundMe. Though the ‘Don’tFundMe’ team explains that they do allow some non-GoFundMe posts “within reason.”
#19 Why
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#20 I Think This Is Appropriate Here
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#21 Look At Diss Dude
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The sub also isn’t the place for any actually good campaigns. There has to be an element of malevolence, absurdity, or hilarity present. “This subreddit is for bad GoFundMe projects that obviously beg for money or don’t have a clear objective other than the ability to sponge money from your wallet,” the mod writes.
#22 The Fund To Send A Woman Around The World For ‘Spiritual Healing’
Traveling the world sounds like an amazing opportunity. And the chance to travel the world on someone else’s dime? Even better. Rebecca G. is asking people to help her pay for a $10,000 round-the-world trip, all so she can advance in her “spiritual journey.”
Sure. She promises that as she travels she will help others realize their own spiritual journey, all while living out her dream. How she plans to help others is unclear, though. What we do know is that she plans to write a book about it. Yay?
Image credits: gofundme
#23 Please Show Some Love
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#24 This Woman Gave Her Son Industrial Bleach To Drink, Uploaded It To Youtube, & Is Now Trying To Sue Nbc For Reporting This
Image credits: PaulAspie
Anyone who’s caught promoting projects or soliciting donations on r/DontFundMe will bet permanently banned. And, as always, members of the subreddit are duty-bound to follow Reddit’s general rules, aka be a nice person, not a jerk. That means no spamming. No harassment. No threats. No organizing witch-hunts against GoFundMe beggars that you personally don’t like. Poking fun at them online is fine—but there’s no excuse for abuse.
#25 The Fund To Prove The Earth Is Flat
Despite the overwhelming amount of scientific evidence to the contrary, rapper B.o.B. is thoroughly convinced that the Earth is flat. He is so certain, in fact, that he launched a GoFundMe campaign in September 2017.
The goal of the campaign? To raise $1 million to send satellites into space to “find the curve” that, in his mind, is the only real proof that the world is spherical.
Image credits: wikimedia.commons
#26 A Fund To Help Someone Adopt This Creature
After going through a harrowing divorce in August of 2015, a Denver woman decided that there were only two things in this world that could ever revive her happiness. The first was adopting this adorable hedgehog.
The second was collecting the $500 dollars it apparently takes to adopt an adorable hedgehog.
Image credits: gofundme
#27 Seriously…?
Image credits: BestBedpan
Which of these projects did you think were the dumbest, dear Pandas? What do you think it would take to ensure that people stop trying to make a quick buck at the expense of others? Is there anything that you wish you could change about GoFundMe as a whole? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
#28 Because iPhone X Is More Important That Preparing For Your Baby
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#29 Help Me Buy A Tesla
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#30 Wwjd?
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Source: boredpanda.com