Would you crowd fund your hobby?

[Lady_Counselor]

I thought there was a thread someplace about this, but I couldn’t find it. I think it was for vet bills though.

Is it me, or are crowd funding gigs like this completely tacky?

I know the economy is bad, and that people are struggling, but still, whatever happened to sucking it up and working it out?

I’ve worked two and three jobs to keep my horses. I pay all of their expenses. I never let bills pile up for feed or services. And a couple times when life got rocky, I moved a couple of them on to people better equipped to afford them and use them.

This girl could do so many things other than crowd funding (which isn’t looking all that successful, BTW).

Free lease to a good barn, rehome one or both, if she’s at a barn where there is a lesson program, work off some keep with the use of the horses. Get a second, part time job even if it’s crap, something for the check. Sell unused tack, advertise as a tutor (if she has the ability to teach someone else), just do SOMETHING instead of posting an internet begging ad.

Even if she somehow falls into a generous donor who hands over three months back board for her horses, guess what? Unless she is earning the board for right now, she’s right back to ground zero with the bill racking up again, while someone else feeds her horses.

Is this common now? I’ve seen a lot of these sites set up, but most of what I’ve noticed at them are people looking for help with medical bills, or getting text books for a school, stuff like that.

Maybe I’m turning into a version of my parents, but damn, ads like this just amaze me, and not in a good way.

[trubandloki]

Yes, offer to do something for the money you are begging for, minimally.

Like Girl Scout Cookies; sure they are crazy expensive cookies but supporting the kids and getting something for it. They do not just knock on my door saying ‘give me money, I want to go to camp’.

[fatappy]

This whole ‘internet panhandling’ phenomenon makes me want to vomit.

I could not think of one situation where I would beg on the internet.

[BestHorses]

I agree that it is tacky to ask someone else to fund your hobby, bad decisions, etc. Then again I also have a problem with pro riders getting tax deductible donations to take part in eventing. Is that really a charity???

[HorseKrazy]

Ugg, I feel for her- but she needs to DO SOMETHING instead of trying to crowd fund. If she is a waitress her schedule is flexible, she could find a second job. So many other option besides cf online…

[jn4jenny]

This is the older thread.
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?419970-Asking-for-donations-for-horse-injury

As for tacky, it’s in the eye of the beholder. Long before these web sites came around, school children and Girl Scouts were peddling overpriced candy bars and cookies to fund their hobbies. I know plenty of poor high school/college students who “crowdfunded” by asking their parents and friends to give cash for Christmas toward a big purchase like a saddle. And guess what? Adults crowdfund too. It happens every single Sunday, in every single church in America, when they pass the offering plate.

What makes it “tacky” is when the requester’s motivations, or rhetorical pitch, is not compatible with your personal beliefs and goals. In this case, the campaigner is three months behind on her board already, appears to have no serious prospects for getting back on her financial feet in the near future, etc. So from my perspective, yes, this campaign is tacky. But let’s imagine tweaking the pitch just a smidge. And to really make my point, I’ll use a real campaign as an example: the campaign to raise funds for Talia Czapski, a young eventer who was hit by a drunk driver and suffered serious injuries that will take a year of recovery. Talia had a reputation for being a cheerful, hard worker at the barn who was affording her horse expenses just fine. Her friends and BO easily raised enough funds to care for her beloved eventing horse during Talia’s recovery year. So absolutely, in that case, crowdfunders were “funding Talia’s hobby.” But it’s because the campaign spoke to them.

Or to hit closer to home, how many of you gave money to the recent COTHer who had gotten a divorce and was desperate to afford hay for her horses + some basic car repairs? Some of you reacted with sympathy and sent money. Others said “If you didn’t plan for your own financial health separate from DH, that’s your bad.” Again, it’s all in the eye of the beholder.

“Panhandling” means “putting out your pan and hoping for a donation, for which people will receive almost nothing in return.” But sometimes, people do get something in return: at the very least, in a well-run crowdfunding campaign, they feel warm fuzzies. They often feel a sense of comraderie and community with the campaign sponsor and the other donors. In a really really good campaign, they feel like they’re part of something bigger and more important than themselves. And in some campaigns, you get actual physical stuff as a thank-you gift.

The campaign you linked to is not likely to inspire those feelings, but there’s plenty of other horse-and-hobby-related campaigns that can. Here’s just a few that were moderately successful and that I do not personally find tacky. Most of them are athletes who have been working hard to make their dreams come true, or rescue organizations working toward a particular fundraising goal. It’s clear from their campaigns that this isn’t the only way they’re raising money. And honestly, I would welcome a crowdfunding campaign from an eventing rider that I liked and supported. I keep waiting to see which eventer will actually figure this out first and do it. Syndicating a horse is sorta kinda a version of crowdfunding, I guess.

https://www.rallyme.com/rallies/65

http://www.gofundme.com/5xe8r8

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/going-for-the-gold

[Canaqua]

Ugh.

Here’s a super tacky one, guy wants to go to the Super Bowl. Sure, you and everyone else. At least no one has given him money.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/just-1-ticket

[Sannois]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;7386999]
Yes, offer to do something for the money you are begging for, minimally.

Like Girl Scout Cookies; sure they are crazy expensive cookies but supporting the kids and getting something for it. They do not just knock on my door saying ‘give me money, I want to go to camp’.[/QUOTE]
Yeah except now they do not even have to work for it, Mommy and Daddy Take the slips to work, or park them outside of a wallmart and sell.
When I was a Girl Scout you HAD to go Door. You put in the leg work.

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=Sannois;7387111]
Yeah except now they do not even have to work for it, Mommy and Daddy Take the slips to work, or park them outside of a wallmart and sell.
When I was a Girl Scout you HAD to go Door. You put in the leg work.[/QUOTE]
Thankfully my co-workers have their kids come into the office to deliver and personally say thank you for ordering.

[RubyTuesday]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;7386999]
Yes, offer to do something for the money you are begging for, minimally.

Like Girl Scout Cookies; sure they are crazy expensive cookies but supporting the kids and getting something for it. They do not just knock on my door saying ‘give me money, I want to go to camp’.[/QUOTE]

If I give anything, I give money to the troop itself and not the girl scout corporation. The kids get what, .25 out of a $4.00 box for their troop I think it is? They’d do better with a car wash day.

[jn4jenny]

[QUOTE=Sannois;7387111]
Yeah except now they do not even have to work for it, Mommy and Daddy Take the slips to work, or park them outside of a wallmart and sell.
When I was a Girl Scout you HAD to go Door. You put in the leg work.[/QUOTE]

Did you trudge to school barefoot in the snow both ways as a kid?

Honestly, I rather approve of the new ways Girl Scouts are taught to sell cookies. Since when is anything sold door to door anymore? I hate solicitors who come to my door, even if they’re adorable Girl Scouts.

There’s still a lot of hustle, business manners, and negotiation to working the cookie table in front of the grocery store. For example, when I go up to such a table, I like to pretend that I’m waffling about how many cookies to buy. It’s interesting to see which girls get creative about trying to upsell me, which girls have clearly taken responsibility for keeping the table stocked or counting the money, whether the girls tell you about any of their troop activities or have made a display to familiarize you with their troop, whether the girls have been instructed on basic business manners, etc. In that sense, it’s the same as a crowdfunding campaign: it can be tacky and lame, or it can be a real opportunity that makes everyone involved feel good about the transaction.

As for taking an order list to work, there’s an “effective parenting” way to do that an an “ineffective parenting” way to do that. For example, my local friendly Girl Scout is the daughter of an HR employee. But she writes the email to her mother’s colleagues herself. She includes a picture of her troop and herself wearing her Girl Scout uniform, and it’s displayed prominently on her mother’s desk next to the order form. And when you get your cookies, there’s a small thank-you note written by the kid. It sort of reminds me of a good Ebay seller.

Okay, stepping off my soapbox now.

[TheJenners]

Tacky. Totally tacky.

[Mara]

[QUOTE=jn4jenny;7387245]

There’s still a lot of hustle, business manners, and negotiation to working the cookie table in front of the grocery store. For example, when I go up to such a table, I like to pretend that I’m waffling about how many cookies to buy. It’s interesting to see which girls get creative about trying to upsell me, which girls have clearly taken responsibility for keeping the table stocked or counting the money, whether the girls tell you about any of their troop activities or have made a display to familiarize you with their troop, whether the girls have been instructed on basic business manners, etc. In that sense, it’s the same as a crowdfunding campaign: it can be tacky and lame, or it can be a real opportunity that makes everyone involved feel good about the transaction.

As for taking an order list to work, there’s an “effective parenting” way to do that an an “ineffective parenting” way to do that. For example, my local friendly Girl Scout is the daughter of an HR employee. But she writes the email to her mother’s colleagues herself. She includes a picture of her troop and herself wearing her Girl Scout uniform, and it’s displayed prominently on her mother’s desk next to the order form. And when you get your cookies, there’s a small thank-you note written by the kid. It sort of reminds me of a good Ebay seller.

Okay, stepping off my soapbox now.[/QUOTE]

None of the troops, Boy or Girl, who camp outside my local grocery have been taught ANY business manners. They run at you shouting, even when you’re clearly trying to avoid them. Same thing on the way out. It’s not an organized campaign so much as a “mob them till they back down” used car sales tactic.

I used to avoid it by using the door nearest the pharmacy, but the troop moms wised up and started blocking it as well.

Like others, I’d rather just donate to an individual troop. The cookies are just OK these days, and the Boy Scout popcorn is insanely overpriced!

[Darkwave]

What’s funny is that this has been happening for a long time in the running scene. People don’t get accepted to run a major race like the Boston or New York Marathons. So they then get into the race by running “for charity” - if they raise enough $, they get a bib (and sometimes, depending on the org, their trip to the race is subsidized).

When faced with a request from someone who has a newfound (and convenient) affinity for a charity, I always research the charity, and then make a DIRECT donation to that charity if I agree with it. The only exception is if I know the solicitor really is doing it for the charity, and not just for the race entry.

[merrygoround]

Awww, c’mon guys, you, like me, are just jealous we didn’t think of it as little kids when we wanted that pony, and saddle, and bridle and boots and hat, and barn.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[gottagrey]

I have no problem helping kids in a band fund their trip to band finals or buying wreaths to support HS crew - simply put many schools extracurricular activities have had their funding cut off - i would much rather buy a $2.00 candy bar from a kid in a band than have that kid on the street w/ no place to go but trouble.

I would not support someone’s horse hobby unless it involved helping a school riding team or something along those lines.

[Sannois]

[QUOTE=Mara;7387420]
None of the troops, Boy or Girl, who camp outside my local grocery have been taught ANY business manners. They run at you shouting, even when you’re clearly trying to avoid them. Same thing on the way out. It’s not an organized campaign so much as a “mob them till they back down” used car sales tactic.

I used to avoid it by using the door nearest the pharmacy, but the troop moms wised up and started blocking it as well.

Like others, I’d rather just donate to an individual troop. The cookies are just OK these days, and the Boy Scout popcorn is insanely overpriced![/QUOTE]
That is what I have experienced as well. Sad really!

[SonnysMom]

[QUOTE=Sannois;7387111]
Yeah except now they do not even have to work for it, Mommy and Daddy Take the slips to work, or park them outside of a wallmart and sell.
When I was a Girl Scout you HAD to go Door. You put in the leg work.[/QUOTE] For safety reasons the Girl Scouts in my area are not allowed to go door to door.
As far as the take slips to work that isn’t new. The girl in my troop who sold the most cookies every year did it because her mom worked at the Post Office’s main sorting center. All the drivers would come in to pick up their mail and buy cookies. Other customers would buy them too. She routinely sold 300+ boxes. I am 45 years old so yes this was 35 years ago.

[rothmpp]

[QUOTE=SonnysMom;7388034]
For safety reasons the Girl Scouts in my area are not allowed to go door to door.
As far as the take slips to work that isn’t new. The girl in my troop who sold the most cookies every year did it because her mom worked at the Post Office’s main sorting center. All the drivers would come in to pick up their mail and buy cookies. Other customers would buy them too. She routinely sold 300+ boxes. I am 45 years old so yes this was 35 years ago.[/QUOTE]

Oh, yes. I lived in a townhouse complex with a ton of like-aged kids. I worked my ss off to sell 50 boxes so that I could get that dmn patch. Half of the girls in my troop did nothing except hand that form to mom & dad to take to work and would sell 300+ boxes every.single.year. My dad owned a small company and never felt it appropriate to bring it to the office. As an adult I understand why, but super tough on a little kid. While I hate running the cookie gauntlet at the grocery store, at least the kids are more evenly rewarded for the work.

[birdistheword]

I think crowd funding a recreational hobby is incredibly tacky, ESPECIALLY for an adult. If I got to the point of needing to beg on the internet for money, I would be selling or leasing my horse (and that would be after doing everything in my own power to generate money). I’m not against crowd funding in general though. I’ve had my friends go on medical missions and such, and I’m happy to donate to them, or donate to seriously ill friends. But for someone to maintain their expensive luxury hobby? No way!

PS- I’m starting a crowd-funding campaign so I can pay my cable bill- I need it to watch Keeping up with the Kardashians. Does anyone want to donate?