Does anyone know how to set up a gofundme and get people to donate?

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MelissaG

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2020
Messages
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Location
Louisiana, USA
It's not for me. I have an elderly friend who needs help. She can't work. She just had surgery for her neck. Her back has a herniated disk and she can barely move one of her wrists so needs surgery for both of those too. Because she can't work, she's almost out of money and is trying to get into a special program with the archdiocese in my area for a place to live because she can't afford her rent anymore. She's in her 60's and is being forced to retire early due to all her health problems. She wants to start selling jewelry shes made at market but has no money to buy anything that's needed even to pay market fees. Never mind tables, chairs, canopy, etc.

I just would like to give her some help. My husband is the one with the job (I'm working on my business but only broke even last year) and we are just doing ok with nothing extra to spare. I can't help her. Every time I've tried to ever set up one of these for other reasons, nothing has come of it. I don't know how to promote it or how to help her.

Please know, I'm NOT asking for any of you to donate to her. I just want to know how to get it going by myself.
 
Do you use social media? If you have a fairly large following and several friends that also do, it makes a huge difference.
I do but my following is not huge. I try to keep it only with people that are close to me. I don't think it's professional to add it to my business pages. So maybe it's pointless. My friends and family would be willing to help me but I'm not sure they'd be willing to help my friend since they don't know her and are almost all in a different country.:(
 
Could you get some community groups to help spread the word?
Ideas:
Rotary
Girl and Boy Scouts
Senior Center
PTA at schools
Neighborhood “adoption” - flyers on your neighbors doors
Post on your social media with the ask to share and tag others
I hope these ideas help, it’s very kind of you to help. 🌸
 
If I may chime in for a moment...
I don't know the entire scenario of what your friend is going through

It's v3ry unfortunate that with the way this world is and has been for the past two years+ there are immeasurable amounts of people who are sadly suffering right now and in different ways.

I'd say that if her situation is where she's having difficulty coming up with rent monies and paying their bills etc
Then Maybe she should consider going over to the welfare office to receive some type of temporary assistance until she is able to get her medical issues taken care of and able to get back up on her feet. Plenty of people right now are in that same situation & dealing with evictions. People cannot eat or afford to feed their kids. Absolutely horrific.
If your friend worked on the books then she should be able to pull some sort of money/ possibly retirement from her local social security office.
I know a couple of things because a very dear friend of mine fell on extremely hard times, she was in a bad spot. I'm happy to say that in the end she DID get help. She was HEAVILY blessed with a one bedroom apartment believe it or not through public assistance for the elderly/disabled. The program she is on goes by her income. Her rent is reduced down to what she can afford to pay.
She had to wait some time and was placed on a list but the ending result couldn't have been any better for her. She is doing much better now.

Again I don't know your friends situation but maybe tell her to look into what her state offers, it usually starts with how much income does she have & does she have any assets, does she have any dependents -etc.
& of course there are always those pesky 800 numbers that she can call to inquire on =)
these are some quick & basic thoughts off the top of my head.

God's blessings to yous!☆
 
If I may chime in for a moment...
I don't know the entire scenario of what your friend is going through

It's v3ry unfortunate that with the way this world is and has been for the past two years+ there are immeasurable amounts of people who are sadly suffering right now and in different ways.

I'd say that if her situation is where she's having difficulty coming up with rent monies and paying their bills etc
Then Maybe she should consider going over to the welfare office to receive some type of temporary assistance until she is able to get her medical issues taken care of and able to get back up on her feet. Plenty of people right now are in that same situation & dealing with evictions. People cannot eat or afford to feed their kids. Absolutely horrific.
If your friend worked on the books then she should be able to pull some sort of money/ possibly retirement from her local social security office.
I know a couple of things because a very dear friend of mine fell on extremely hard times, she was in a bad spot. I'm happy to say that in the end she DID get help. She was HEAVILY blessed with a one bedroom apartment believe it or not through public assistance for the elderly/disabled. The program she is on goes by her income. Her rent is reduced down to what she can afford to pay.
She had to wait some time and was placed on a list but the ending result couldn't have been any better for her. She is doing much better now.

Again I don't know your friends situation but maybe tell her to look into what her state offers, it usually starts with how much income does she have & does she have any assets, does she have any dependents -etc.
& of course there are always those pesky 800 numbers that she can call to inquire on =)
these are some quick & basic thoughts off the top of my head.

God's blessings to yous!☆
She worked in hotels for years. Before that, she worked booking musical acts and the like in my area. I don't know how much you understand how about hotels but the average wage for a front desk clerk is $8-$10 an hour in my area. She was one of my employees. She made $12 because she was much loved. Personally, I'd have given her much higher but the owners were cheap. Even I, as her manager, didn't make more. The average rent for a one bedroom in my area is $1200. Electricity alone runs in the multiple hundreds of dollars a month no matter the time of year. Most people are hanging on by their teeth and many have learned to work the system to survive.

She has applied for all of those things available and is currently living on what remains of her unemployment (unemployment in my state is $210 a week at its highest. And the politicians think that's too high. I made $45000 a year at a different job and still only got $190 a week after that job), her savings, and snap cards. In my state, those things take alot of time to go through unless you know how to work the system and we don't.

She doesn't have any assets. No car or anything. She normally rode a bicycle everywhere but now can't even do that. There are no buses. I have no idea why there aren't any buses. She doesn't have independents.

Now the last thing... I have very few friends since I moved down to the US. Most of them are my husbands friends, not mine (although they are really great guys). She is the one I'd consider an actual friend. She's about 20 years my senior with a mouth on her that she can't control but is a very awesome person. I'm trying to help. Not take advantage of anyone, or hurt anyone. I don't know about you but the last time I looked, kindness is a virtue. I wasn't asking YOU for money. I was asking for advice on how to help someone I care about. I didn't ask because we didn't know about things like welfare. I asked because I know my state and they don't want to help anyone for any reason. As for welfare, my sister in law with two kids received $200 a month total from welfare. You think that helps?

Everyone knows about the places you talked about. But she is desperate enough that she's asking her church for help.

I was trying to avoid bringing all this into the conversation. Now you took it in a direction I didn't intend and now the thread will be closed. So thanks so much. Your passive aggressive condescension is greatly appreciated. That doesn't help my friend or stay true to the thread because you couldn't be kind about someone I care about and I WILL defend myself.

I don't want to lose access to this forum. I love this place but I won't say nothing on an attack on someone you know nothing about. If you have nothing nice to say, perhaps it's better to say nothing at all.
 
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Haha
Simmer down

I don't know what you're looking for but I can tell you whatever it is is certainly not here.
Don't take your s h i t out on other people especially when they had good intentions & were only trying to help you. That's bad form and shows you for what you are, an imbecile.

You asked questions looking for help from others. If you didn't want to expose yourself or your friends situation I suggest not coming online and airing your business out to complete strangers.
Next time don't reach out if you don't Want people to respond or rather if you can't handle what they're saying.
Wow
You are pretty new here, so maybe you are unaware that in this community we *do* care when members reach out.
No one cussed at you.
No one called you names.
Empathy and compassion don't cost you a dime. Hold your tongue (or just scroll on by) if you don't have something nice to say.
 
@MelissaG I know you said you aren't big on social media but that is really the places that go fund me does the best.

Tiktock in particular can be a great resource. Make a account and upload some videos about your friend and the situation. If you do, pm me your tiktock name and I'll share your video
Thanks. I honestly don't know much about tiktok. I have an account but I had to ask someone younger how to use it. It was so embarrassing. I used to be easily caught up on all the tech and now I'm asking for help at age 46. I barely ever post. Haven't yet figured out how to get video that doesn't look horrible. If I can figure it out, I'll post here.

Wow
You are pretty new here, so maybe you are unaware that in this community we *do* care when members reach out.
No one cussed at you.
No one called you names.
Empathy and compassion don't cost you a dime. Hold your tongue (or just scroll on by) if you don't have something nice to say.
Thank you mx, I really appreciate it. I regret ever posting this here. I didn't think that, after all the time belonging to this forum, I'd be attacked for wanting to help someone I care about like I'm a low life.
 
I have no advise on the GoFundMe except to say that many people in my area do not donate through there because there are so many scams. I am NOT saying that yours is a scam, just pointing out the mindset that I have seen. I would hate for both you and your friend to not have a successful GoFundMe.


Also, just a question, if she is having the issues and has no vehicle, even if she were to get the needed funds would she be able to do local markets? I know our van is packed full with tent, table, chairs, product, displays etc. Is there another avenue available to help her generate income?

Just thinking out loud but could you possible sell some of her jewelry at your booth and give her the proceeds to help her get started?

Does she use social media? Could she sell the pieces that she has already made through FB market place to help generate some income?

I wish both of you much success and think that your love for your friend and willingness to help her through this difficult time is wonderful.
 
If she is in the hospital have the hospital social worker talk with her. If she is on Medicare she can go to a rehab place for 20 days fully covered. That will give her time.
 
I have no advise on the GoFundMe except to say that many people in my area do not donate through there because there are so many scams. I am NOT saying that yours is a scam, just pointing out the mindset that I have seen. I would hate for both you and your friend to not have a successful GoFundMe.


Also, just a question, if she is having the issues and has no vehicle, even if she were to get the needed funds would she be able to do local markets? I know our van is packed full with tent, table, chairs, product, displays etc. Is there another avenue available to help her generate income?

Just thinking out loud but could you possible sell some of her jewelry at your booth and give her the proceeds to help her get started?

Does she use social media? Could she sell the pieces that she has already made through FB market place to help generate some income?

I wish both of you much success and think that your love for your friend and willingness to help her through this difficult time is wonderful.
She's been looking at markets that supply tables and the like. Some of them do. I already asked at my market and was informed "you can't share booths and you are registered for bath and body". Most of the others nearby aren't accepting additional vendors at the moment.

Thank you very much.
If she is in the hospital have the hospital social worker talk with her. If she is on Medicare she can go to a rehab place for 20 days fully covered. That will give her time.
She's been out of the hospital for a few weeks now from her neck surgery so I'm not sure that would still be available but I will suggest it to her since she still needs surgery on her back and wrist. Her surgery date for her back hasn't been set yet because the doctor says he wants her neck to heal more first.
 
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