Sourcing funds is something I think is very helpful especially in a country like Nigeria where many people face financial hardship, sometimes a person needs money for school fees, hospital bills, a new business, rent or even food and the people around them may not have enough to help, therefore going online to ask for support can be an option, then the question is, how do we know who to trust when many scammers exist everywhere?
Personally I think online fundraising is a good idea, but we must be careful.
, the internet lets people reach thousands of strangers they would never meet in person, a person can post their story today, by the end of the day people from many countries may have contributed money to help them, that is a part of the internet. People who have never met you can come together to support you when you need it most.
Unfortunately some people have turned this chance into a scam, they create stories use pictures of sick people or children without permission and pretend to be in desperate situations just to collect money, some even copy stories and use them to deceive others, because of this people who truly need money may find it hard to get help because donors fear being scammed.
So can we trust donor platforms? I would say that we can trust some of them, we should not blindly trust every platform just because it has a website, many followers or a polished page, a platform should earn people’s trust through its actions, not its promises.
I think one way these platforms can become more transparent is by verifying the identity of people who raise funds before they can receive donations, for example a person who is raising money for surgery should be able to provide medical documents with sensitive information protected, a person who is raising money for school fees should provide evidence of the fees where possible.
Another thing is that platforms should clearly show how much money has been raised , the charges taken and how the money is transferred to the intended beneficiary, Donors should also be able to receive updates on what their money was used for, If a campaign is found to be fraudulent the platform should investigate, suspend it where needed and explain what action was taken.
In Nigeria the Securities and Exchange Commission has rules that govern investment based crowdfunding, including requirements for crowdfunding intermediaries,However people should understand that donating to a personal charity campaign is not the same, as investing through a crowdfunding platform.
For me I would rather take my time to verify a fundraising campaign than rush to donate because a story made me emotional, I would check the person’s identity look for evidence ask questions and if possible confirm the story through someone who knows them.
At the time I do not think we should allow scammers to make us lose our kindness, there are still people who genuinely need help, they should not suffer because of dishonest people’s actions.
At the end of the day online fundraising can do a lot of good, transparency and accountability must be taken seriously, people give their money because they believe they are helping someone and that trust should never be taken for granted.
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