There really is something unseemly about all that, Kickstarter and its knockoffs. I just saw someone I admire begging for money for his wedding, and I just wanted to say, "Can't you go to a justice of the peace?" If you said you couldn't pay your rent or something, that'd be one thing. But you can pay for your wedding DJ yourself.

But hey, if people want to give money to somebody they want to give it to, great. Spend it while you got it...

There is something to be said for the old days, when it would have cost him four or five cents for the stamp to annoy you.

I didn't see any offer to share in any possible profits either, so this guy is truly one-way.

Someone used Kickstarter to collect donations for his wedding? That is incredibly tacky.

It wasn't Kickstarter, but something similar. I mean, if I'm going to chip in on your wedding, I want a piece of cake and a dance with the bride.

I can't remember the name of the woman about 10 years ago who got this whole thing started. She was famous for 15 minutes because she begged for money online to buy shoes and whatnot. She was very up front that she made a good living and didn't NEED the money. She just WANTED the money. And people gave it to her in ridiculous amounts. There's one born every minute.

I like how he "personalizes" the letter with a half-remembered factoid about you. Think of how many hundreds of his former acquaintances have received similar emails. "Hey, how the heck are you? Remember being introduced at that party at John and Jane's in maybe April or early May of '93? Are they still in LA? Do you happen to have John's email address?..."

A couple of my childhood friends (with whom I've reconnected ever so slightly on Facebook or LinkedIn) have asked me to contribute money for a kid's semester overseas, a film, and a legal defense fund. Why aren't people embarrassed to do this?

"Why aren't people embarrassed to do this?"

Getting stuff for free is where it's at these days. 53% of America just voted for it.

I started a business -- syndicated my own column -- and financed it by doing a dialogue polish on a screenplay. Kickstarter is welfare shamelessly demanded -- often by the well-to-do.

I don't mind Kickstarter or other fundraising tools, but like Amy says, post them to your own page and let people give or not give. Sending a personal begging letter is ballocks.

I've seen Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaigns from friends or acquaintances for "Fund my college education," (didn't donate) and "Help our friends rebuilt their lives after a fire destroyed their apartment and killed their cat," (donated) and "Help fund our movie/book/album," (sometimes donate, sometimes not). Usually when it's something artistic, donors get something in return. Acknowledgement in the credits, a copy of the book, a signed CD, etc.

I think, as the comments above have indicated, that Kickstarter and similar sites can be a real benefit to some organizations and people which might not be able to afford an ad campaign, or whatever. But, holy cow, can those things be abused. It's kind of like the "funding mission trips" thread from a couple of weeks ago; one wonders how many of those end up on Kickstarter?

I like, for example, the idea of micro loans to help small entrepreneurs in Third World countries get going. But outright gifts to fund someone's wedding? Nope. Like junk email, I (fortunately) always have the option of the delete key.

And people can have Kickstarter funds and post them on their website and let people who want to contribute contribute, but it's something different when you use the fact that you have somebody's email address to hit them up for money.

Exactly. I'm a huge fan of Kickstarter -- when it's used right. And I've donated to several projects done by the same person (a friend whose live performances, movies and shows I greatly admire). He just puts up a link on his Facebook with a little bit about what he's doing, and he ALWAYS gets his projects funded because people see the post and go "YAY! He's making another movie!"

...but he never hits people up personally. That's just awkward.

I've used Kickstarter to donate toward the production and release of a computer game called Wasteland 2. I did it because I'm sick of the typical console garbage we get from major studios these days, and because I was a huge fan of the original. Shameless plug here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2

I might even be generous enough to donate toward a relative's or close friend's need. But some dude I barely know? Yeah, he can kick rocks.

Quoth MarkD: "I didn't see any offer to share in any possible profits either, so this guy is truly one-way."

Doing it the old-fashioned way, one would call that "soliciting investors" by means of stock or bond issues or the like.

The WORST use of a crowdsourcing site I've ever see, was when this woman I knew in middle/high school tried to use it to fund her infertility treatments. The title was "You can't help us in the bedroom, but you can help us make a baby!"

And the worst was that she kept spamming everyone's Facebook inbox every few weeks, reminding us that, if all her friends donated "just" $20, they could afford the procedure, and drilling in the fact that "only" two people had donated so far. And then there were the sob stories about how they didn't have the means to cover the procedure and how that's so unfair.

Less than a year later, they had filed for divorce, and she's been posting about what a jerk her ex is...the one she was once so willing to bring a child into this world with. Glad I didn't donate!

Some people just shouldn't procreate, sofar.

Back in the day, we used to do this kind of thing, but it was live and local, in the form of music. We'd hear about some misfortune happening to a family or a friend, and round up the usual musician suspects and play a benefit. Five bucks in the bucket or whatever you could afford. All proceeds went to the person(s) needing the help, everyone enjoyed a day of great music, we got to polish up our repertoire, jam with friends, learn some new stuff, and had a great time.

We do that now on Facebook, too, of course, but it's not like people are more pushy. Well, maybe some few are. But the ones that are just don't get any feedback from me.

@Flynne

So much fun! I recently went to one of those. Family whose kid had cancer did it in their back yard. Food for sale ($5 a plate for BBQ), and a bucket for donations. Live music performed by musically talented friends and family members. And, it being Austin, people from around the neighborhood were attracted to the live music and stopped by to listen -- and donate.

Sites like Kickstarter allow people from all over to donate, but it's also nice to see community events like that.

The WORST use of a crowdsourcing site I've ever see, was when this woman I knew in middle/high school tried to use it to fund her infertility treatments. The title was "You can't help us in the bedroom, but you can help us make a baby!"

This could be a lot of fun if they used a tiered reward system. Like:

Donate: $1: We'll send you a handwritten thank you note and an inked footprint.

Donate: $5: We'll send you a sample of the baby's first haircut.

Donate $25: We'll send you a link to the YouTube video of us getting sprayed in the face changing a diaper for the first time.

Comedy gold.

I wonder if he can snag this for his movie soundtrack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-BYzaDwNoE

Gimme some money!

I'm just so glad I never got sucked into FB and most other social engines. Anytime a human is involved in a system it reminds not to let body parts near an engine.

I too started a business. How did we fund it? First of all, we started it on a small enough scale that we could afford to get it off the ground ourselves. Then, we kept it going with "sweat equity" -- working on it on evenings and weekends, without paying ourselves. Now, we keep it afloat by reinvesting our profit in it. Never asked for a donation of any kind. We fund our business (a small e-press) by publishing the kinds of books people want to buy, and marketing them well.

I feel strongly that if a person wants to start a new business (or shoot a movie, or write a book, or whatever), 99% of the time they shouldn't start it until they have the means to fund it themselves, without debt or begging. If your project is so big you need to beg or go deeply into debt to get it off the ground, you need to scale it back. I know some new businesses do require loans because they need to invest in physical assets that can get expensive, but in those cases I think they're even more obligated to try and figure out how to minimize extra costs as much as possible. You know when you deserve lots and lots of money for something? When you've produced something that's worth a consumer paying that much for it.

@sofar yep that babymaking one sounds the worst. Especially if you can't afford, or save to affford the procedure, you won't be able to afford to keep a baby.

I've seen good and bad Kickstarters. The good ones were more like presales, Order even before we know we will start making X and it's 20% off. A good way to judge, desire for your product, a good price, raise startup capitol, and advertising just what a starting buisness needs, sometimes. One bad one I heard of the poster didn't put limits on the "presales" and had effectively made the discount too good, at or below cost. Unfortunately, he got 20 times more orders than he wanted, and will be filling those orders for 3 years, at or below cost, before he can charge regular price again.
The ones just asking for donations are lame, did we really need another way of begging for money?

"I've been driving a Honda Insight hybrid since 2004, and if there's any car news real friends of mine have heard, it's that the hybrid battery failed in time to be replaced under warranty -- entirely free. Plus they washed and shined my car and filled my tires. (Best of all, the battery failed as I was a block away from the Honda dealership that does the upkeep on my wee car.)"

I missed this, given the subject line.
"Entirely free." Really? So we have abandoned reason, briefly? You know there is no such thing.

Note that this is the actual future of EVERY hybrid and electrically-driven car, and that NiMH batteries have a huge environmental cost. Once again: a secondhand Buick Century has FAR less environmental impact, especially driving as little as you!