I get that this request sought and received official mod sanction, but to my mind - and seemingly that of most posters in the thread - the OP asking strangers online for money to fund her daughter’s expensive European jaunt is inappropriate to the point of parody. I feel that if these threads are subject to official mod sanction, the criterion for approval should be at the very least be for some sort of worthy or charitable cause like this one. I’d welcome any thoughts or input on this, but my first reaction to reading the holiday funds request was annoyance at the sheer cheek, coupled with a feeling that this board shouldn’t be used as a place to beg funding for luxuries.
I’m ok with it. I don’t see any deception in the request. The mods shouldn’t have to decide on the worthiness of the cause. I’m not giving any money because this is nothing but a luxury trip and there are plenty of people who actually need money if anyone has any available to give.
Agreed. Let’s not burden the Mods with some lengthy approval process. Let the users handle it. They certainly have in the past, and seem to be doing so now.
I temporarily closed the thread. I am going to clarify where the approval came from since I don’t remember the request. Although I could very well be losing my mind.
Can I make a suggestion? (I’m not being facetious. I’m 100% serious about this)
Require all donation threads to be in the Pit. ALL OF THEM. Knowing that your thread will be in the Pit will require people to really think if their thread requesting money for cartoon school, luxury vacation trips and bunny air-conditioning is really worth the flaming they’ll get.
But, one of the nicer donation threads from long ago was when Polycarp*'s computer broke and he couldn’t afford a new one. There was a donation thread and he got a nice used system because the SDMB was a better place with him on it. Had that donation thread been in the Pit, there would have been nearly no flaming.
You want us to give money? Ask in a forum where we can respond mostly unfettered. The mods can keep using the “Are you a real Doper who’s been around a while, or are you just a grifter who joined 3 minutes ago?” standard, so no extra work for the mods and possibly some really good Pit threads.
Anyone else like this idea?
*Who I miss, dammit!
Wait…“losing”? You’re a mod here. Don’t you have the tense wrong? It’s spelled “lost”. 
I guess the problem I have with it is that sanction implies approval, and if that one gets endorsed it’s hard to see what wouldn’t get through. And yeah, I’m OK with the mods or admins deciding what does and doesn’t constitute worthiness: it doesn’t have to be a lengthy vetting, just enough to make people think “should I really be asking for money for this?”. Your daughter needs a kidney operation, sure; you want a trip to Vegas, tough.
That is pretty much it. If the consensus is that a request is less than worthy it will soon drop off the front page into obscurity. We do not allow multiple bumps.
Well, then, that’s a chance in policy. And I’m not sure it doesn’t devalue the marketplace forum perk.
Yeah, re-open the thread so I can post this:
I hope no one donates hard-earned money to this “cause”. I have chaperoned EF Tours to Europe before, and they are very much a luxury (not luxury accommodations, but it’s pure tourism, no study). The girl should do a semester abroad in college if she wants an educational experience. Frankly, ALL college students should do a semester abroad, it’s the cheapest way to see Europe for an extended time.
I’m not convinced there is no misrepresentation in the OP. Those tours must be paid in full months before departure. Certainly, the tour has been paid for if she’s leaving June of 2015. So is the request simply to reimburse the parents? And if she’s leaving in 2016, she has one whole summer plus several months to babysit, mow lawns, wash cars, walk dogs, and pick up cans. Neither the OP nor the GoFundMe page state the year of departure.
So either it’s already been paid for or Emily has time to earn the money herself. Give your money to the guy who’s trying to save his house.
Doesn’t that policy make the official imprimatur rather pointless, though? All it seems to say is “We’ve read this, and it’s not actually illegal”. Possibly I’m heartless, but I think a better approval policy than a default “Yes, as long as it’s legal” is a default “No, unless it’s compelling”.
Does my post above, #10, constitute threadshitting? Because if so, I won’t go post it over in the re-opened thread.
True enough, but then you’re getting into Mod discussions about what is “compelling” and what is not, and subsequent interview questions to the would-be OP for more information. A long drawn-out process that would result in a yea or nay, based on the OP’s answers, and then further discussion among the Mods.
I can’t imagine a bigger waste of the Mods’ time.
Leave it to the users. They seem to be very good at ferreting out good vs. bad money grabs.
I vote this is the best solution.
I still never got that jungle gym for my cats, dammit.
I think the SDMB should open a sub-forum (lol) in MPSIMS called “Fund Me” and take a 10% cut of the action. Getting the word out is the hard part of crowd-sourcing, so why not monetize the boards popularity?
+1
I honestly feel there should be a blanket ban on soliciting money or donations altogether, even in PMs. I feel this crap should be kept off the boards, the potential for scams or abuse is just too high, and it can sour relations.
I’m inclined to agree, although I would grudgingly accept an exception for eye operations or rare cancers, with a huge caveat donator attached. The current thread is beneath contempt.
Why does a “vetting” process for these requests sound like it needs forms to be submitted in triplicate and a consultation period from the mods? Its a thread asking people to pay for a 14 year old’s luxury holiday, it should have taken 5 seconds for the mods to tell the OP to catch herself on.