How Many Dollars Do You Donate And Why: Some Super Short Chats

What is the last thing you donated money to, how much did you donate, and WHY?

• Choire Sicha: $40, to a friend’s fundraiser.
‪LS‬: How did you decide on $40?
‪CS‬: I never know how much to give. $20 seemed cheap, $50 seems too much. Then I was like “okay I went to the grocery store yesterday, how much did I spend? And it was like $40, so I was like, okay, well I could spend that much on food, so.

• Bennett Madison: My little sister is an elementary school special ed teacher and she asked people to donate money for her classroom supplies using one of those Kickstarter-type things that isn’t Kickstarter. I donated last week and gave a hundred dollars!
LS: YES.
BM: I probably would have donated less but I was slightly drunk.

• Adam Frucci: I last donated to CLL Global, which is a charity that aims to help cure Chronic Lympocytic Leukemia, which my dad is currently in remission with. I donated $250, which was about what I could afford without it affecting my budget/making life more difficult.
‪LS: ‬THAT IS A LOT OF MONEY.
AF: It’s a shitty cancer!
LS: is that something you had done before
‪AF: It’s ‬been a while. I’ve done it a handful of times.
‪LS‬: Do you budget for it or you just get and urge and do it?
‪AF‬: Just get an urge and do it. I should probably budget it and do it at regular intervals but I don’t.

• Mallory Ortberg: THREE DOLLARS at the Safeway to fight MS because the little credit card machine asked me if I wanted to make a donation, and it was the second cheapest option.

• Jane Hu: Um, I gave 30 dollars for my little brother’s music program fundraising thing. But I got some chocolate almonds in return.
LS: WHy did you choose $30?
JH: I’m not sure! It seemed a happy amount above a 20 dollar bill. DO you always feel a little weird giving a 20 dollar bill? It feels impersonal. It’s what little kids give one another for birthdays when they don’t have time to buy a present.

• Matt Powers: I gave to the Human Rights Campaign, because I was stopped by someone on the street and I gave them all the money in my wallet, which was five dollars. And now they email me every week.
LS: THX.
MP: Oh I guess I donated to my friend’s kickstarter more recently, but that seems less charitable.My friend was filming his webseries at his former high school in Detroit and needed money for equipment, editing, dist, food for the cast, etc.
LS: How much did you give and why?
MP: $10. I think web series are twice as important as gay rights.

• ‪Lauren‬ Rodrigue: I gave $25 to The School Fund, an NGO my friend helped start. I always give $25, never more.
LS: Why is that?
LR: It’s just like the lowest socially acceptable amount. Like you buy people gift certificates for 25 dollars. It’s just a number. It seems like enough.

• Jeff Winkler: We never had “extra” money growing up, and I have even less money now. For many years, my family rang the bells for the Salvation Army during Christmas. But I was taught to give what I can. Often, it’s just a buck or a couple ciggies to the bum on the street.

• ‪Edith‬ Zimmerman: $19 to Obama. I think every like 15 emails they wear me down
‪LS‬: Do you always give 19 dollars?
‪EZ‬: Yeah. One time I gave $50.
‪LS‬: Any significance for $19?
‪EZ‬: That’s one of the ones they offer — 9, 19, 29, etc. It’s a one-click donation.
LS: Ooooh.
EZ: I see SOMEone never donated to Obama

E TU?????????!!!!!!!!

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