Question about Facebook birthday fundraisers

What_time_is_it

When a friend posts a birthday fundraiser on Facebook, does that mean they are asking for donations to that charity INSTEAD of a present? Or as well as?

It's the ones that always start with "For my birthday this year I'm asking for donations to...". If someone emailed that to me I would certainly read it as meaning that they are asking for donations to charity instead of presents this year.

What's the etiquette for this?
What do you do? 

comeandgo

I ignore them.  The charities they may support may be totally different to what I believe in.  If I usually give that person a gift, they will still receive a gift.

What_time_is_it

I tend to agree.
I suppose what I asking is what the person posting it is trying to say. If it were a conversation in real life then I would definitely think that saying that they would like donations to a charity for their birthday this year would mean exactly that - i.e. INSTEAD of a present, I would prefer you to donate to this charity.
On Facebook I'm not so sure?!

Pollycat

Pretty rude to expect someone to give to charity and buy them a birthday gift.

I don't see why Facebook is any different to expressing their preference in a text, email or face-to-face.