What are your thoughts on people who ask for personal donations? Say for example, they have a good cause, like wanting to adopt a child. Do you feel it is ethical for people to ask other people to give them money so they can fulfill their own wants or needs? Or do you think if they do not have the money, they should figure out how to make it themselves instead of asking others to support them? Would you give to charitable donations to individuals for their own needs? Why or why not?
In most cases, I wouldn't just spare money on an individual's personal needs/wants. If they want something, they have got to work hard for it. But if there's really a good reason why they badly need money, they asked respectfully for it, and they don't have anywhere to go to, then I guess I'll give them quite a good amount of money.
Its really hard to trust personal donations. You just aren't guaranteed that it will go to what they are saying. But I suppose even with organizations you aren't guaranteed. So it would probably depend how well I knew the person or the cause they were fighting for.
I think people should be responsible for finding funds themselves. If it is a life saving treatment or something then that's different, but to adopt a child, that's a choice and you don't have to. They wouldn't let you unless you were financially secure anyhow, but I have never donated for personal causes, only charities that I support.
This particular instance of gathering money for an adoption really bugs me, because it is an actual situation I've encountered on the internet. I "knew" the person another way, as they ran a great website similar to this one, where they helped people find good deals out there. Then they separately started asking for donations for adoption, as they felt called by God it was something they needed to do. Fine. Adoption went through, very happy for them, but they did get nearly 15,000 of donations from the internet. Now I see update pictures of their life from inside the house - well, their kitchen is beautiful, a center island with brown and cream granite counters, beautiful cabinetry, stainless steel fridge, brand new hardwood floors, I mean, they are living in a home people in my area would die for. It really makes me upset, and I wonder how they can even have the nerve to post pictures of such a beautiful new home when they were asking for handouts. I don't know.
It depends on who the person is and what they need it for. I've seen money raised for medical bills , evicted senior citizens and abused animals that need surgery to recover from injuries inflicted by abusive humans. I'm not going to help a couple of yuppies who live in a nice house adopt a kid, but I've been in desperate situations where I've had to fundraise and I don't think it's a bad idea to ask for help if you really need it.
I actually see a lot of personal fundraising and I don't mind a bit. I have a couple rare diseases where the only treatment is a brain surgery. Many of us have to start some kind of gofundme page to pay for the surgery down payment, or to pay bills during the recovery time when the household is down our extra income. We try to help each other out the best we can and those who got help try to pay it forward after their recovery.
Unless the person is trying to save the child from a harmful environment, I wouldn't donate just to help them adopt because personally I think if they wanted to raise a child then they should have enough money to afford more than just basic necessities. I don't mind donating to people who put out work I enjoy though, but admittedly these days I can't afford to too much.