How Much Is Enough?
Seth Godin had an insightful blog post the other day about the nature of donating money to non-profits:
The reporter tells you, I’m going to show you a video of the meat you’re going to eat for dinner being slaughtered. You avert your eyes. Or the fundraiser says I’m going to tell you about easily avoidable suffering in the developing world. Avert your eyes…
Therein lies the problem for most charities - the framework they use to talk about themselves is too negative and it doesn’t include a feedback loop for the giver. How much should I donate the ASPCA? $5? $500? I have no idea how much money is sufficient so I avert my eyes.
The ASPCA’s response is to run more of those Sarah McLachlan ads, thinking they can bombard us into giving. It’s a depressing, expensive, and ineffective solution.
This is why Tom’s shoes works so well. Buying shoes is a positive experience. And I know that one pair of shoes will benefit one child. You can’t get more concrete feedback than that. The Girl Scouts do a decent job too. It’s not clear where in the organization my money is going but I do get delicious minty-flavored feedback when I donate.
