During the early days of the internet, crowdfunding really burst onto the scene. It has captured the universal human desire to help others in need and to pool funds together for a greater purpose. Whether it be GoFundMe, IndieGoGo, or Kickstarter, crowdfunding requests have helped raise important sums of money for people who otherwise would not be able to afford things such as life-saving surgeries and the opportunity to see a dying relative.
But, that’s not all that people try to crowdfund on these sites; a hefty amount of campaigns are for absolutely ridiculous and ludicrous crowdfunding requests. And we’re not talking about simple ridiculous things; we’re talking the most absolutely wild requests. Have you heard of the woman who tried crowdfunding a breast implant surgery? How about the student who wanted to raise ten bucks so he could get some McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets? Or maybe you’ve heard of the fundraiser to get Kanye West out of millions of dollars of debt? In this list, we’ve brought out some of the silliest, wackiest, and overall strangest and most bizarre things people have tried to raise money for by crowdfunding. Check them out here in our list of the 25 Crowdfunding Requests That Are Remarkably Ridiculous.
25
The plot of the movie "The Martian" had Matt Damon left on Mars, abandoned to be dead. After overhearing the news, one fan wanted to make sure we could get the silver screen superstar back to Earth safely.
Source & Image: GoFundMe 24
Kate Funk, Brennan Groh, and a black cat named AC have been making "The World's Most Super Amazing 100% Awesome Cat Calendar" for years. To get the calendar finished in time and to build the elaborate sets, they took to crowdfunding $3,500. They ended up raising over $25,000 and made hundreds of people happy with their very own super amazing cat calendar in return.
Source & Image: Kickstarter 23
Skip that morning coffee! With the caffeinated Power Energy Toothpaste, you'll receive a "rush while you brush" first thing in the morning.
Source & Image: IndieGoGo 22
This girl wants help to cure her "insecurities" and "feel alive again" by crowdfunding a breast enlargement.
Source & Image: GoFundMe 21
One major Tim Tebow fan wanted to buy an NFL team to make the former Florida Gator its starting quarterback.
Source & Image: GoFundMe 20
Fred Beneson decided he wanted to translate the entirety of the novel "Moby Dick" into an emoji book. He succeeded in his ridiculous Kickstarter request and was able to "confront a lot of our shared anxieties about the future of human expression by forcing a great work of literature through such a strange new filter."
Source & Image: Kickstarter 19
Aiming to "get real people and small businesses engaged in politics," FCTRY created a Kickstarter to design and distribute a Bernie Sanders "Join-The-Action Figure." (They've even made a Hillary Clinton figure in the past.)
Source & Image: Kickstarter 18
This Kanye West fan created a fundraiser after hearing the singer was $53 million in debt. The trouble was that Kanye didn't want the money. In the end, the fan donated it to fund arts in schools.
Source & Image: GoFundMe 17
After lying to a black metal record producer about having a black metal bassoon duet, Liam Perry & Jamie Johnson took to Kickstarter to raise the funds to turn their lie into a reality.
Source & Image: Kickstarter 16
c
Source & Image: Kickstarter 15
Critical of society's overdependence on mobile phones, which are "ruining your dates...distracting you at concerts...disrupting you in movie theaters...clogging up sidewalks," The NoPhone Team has a perfectly ridiculous solution: a phone-shaped hunk of plastic which acts as a surrogate to your real phone. The bonus is that it doesn't do anything - since it's just a hunk of plastic.
Source & Image: Kickstarter 14
If the smartphone craze weren't enough, one dad's design of a fake smartphone for his daughter's dolls was so popular with her that he started up a ridiculous Kickstarter campaign to "refine and perfect my design of the static phone and want to create a model including a functioning screen and possibly bluetooth technology."
Source & Image: Kickstarter 13
This mom asked for $350 so she could get her kids summer passes to a local amusement park. Other users weren't thrilled, criticizing her for being lazy and trying to get handouts.
Source & Image: GoFundMe 12
Aiming to recreate the bust of famous actress Bea Arthur, Kickstarter user Jules successfully raised $18 to buy 12 unsweetened McDonalds ice teas before ripping up the empty styrofoam cups to piece together a Bea bust mosaic.
Source & Image: Kickstarter 11
After a grilled cheese with what looked like the Virgin Mary naturally charred into it sold for thousands of dollars, long-time couple and "pretty sure Jesus was an awesome guy" fans Rob and Meg set out to make divine intervention in grilled cheeses less erratic and sporadic. The two started a Kickstarter campaign for the Grilled Cheesus: an electronic sandwich press which embosses the face of Christ in every grilled sandwich you make.
Source & Image: Kickstarter 10
With dreams of becoming a great comic writer and illustrator, one student wanted to create a manga about a stoner who saves the universe.
Source & Image: Kickstarter 9
People without hair can sympathize; it gets cold without a hat.
Source & Image: GoFundMe 8
One dad was worried about who his daughter was dating, so he asked for money to create the Yelp of teenage dating. In it, parents could review their kids' ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends. And we're worried about the NSA…
Source & Image: Kickstarter 7
To raise money for his charity, Kevin Haebeom Vollmers pledged to eat an entire gallon of kimchi "Live. In my underwear." As Kevin said, "I'm up for it, though. I'm mentally and physically prepared because I'm, as the kids like to say, #AsianAF."
Source & Image: Kickstarter 6
This distraught Prince superfan hoped to raise $470 million to buy his estate and save his "most valuable treasures." We wonder where the money would really have gone…
Source & Image: GoFundMe 5
On a related note, another Prince superfan wanted to raise enough money to attend his funeral. The trouble? Prince asked for a private service - and to be cremated.
Source & Image: GoFundMe 4
If you've ever found the news boring, you had your chance to make it more exciting with this ridiculous crowdfunding campaign. The founders of the Kickstarter drive pledged to make a twice-weekly news show where all the reporters delivered the news drunk as skunks.
Source & Image: Kickstarter 3
Michael Panik of Jacksonville, Alabama, was shocked to double his fundraising goal thanks to the charity of strangers. With $20 in hand, he was able to buy a 40 piece Chicken McNugget meal.
Source & Image: GoFundMe 2
Comedian Kurt Braunohler wanted to have a bit of fun, so he crowdfunded over $6,000 to have a skywriter scrawl the message, "How do I land?" in the skies above Los Angeles.
Source & Image: theandrewgeorge via Reddit 1
Zack Brown was a simple man with a simple dream: to make a potato salad. Though his goal was $10, the campaign ended up raising over $60,000.
Source & Image: Kickstarter 
