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Comment by mdaniel | Hacker News Reader

I realize this might sound like a First World Problem, but I typically donate to my charities and organizations early in the year. Then things like this pop up and I have to weigh the opportunity cost of not donating while my power will be doubled against the feeling that I've already given a chunk of change.

I guess in the end, I'll probably cave and donate again because I think the EFF is very important, but I wonder what thoughts others have on this situation?

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givewell has an article on how lots of donation matching is actually closer to a restructuring of a large donation from another donor http://blog.givewell.org/2011/12/15/why-you-shouldnt-let-don...

This looks like it fits that category -- donations are matched up to $118,569 which really just means someone is donating $118,569 and using that donation to attract more donations. If you think it's going to hit that cap without you, you haven't given anything up. And if you don't, you still might not have given anything up, since the donor still might give the $118,569 they were willing to give anyway.

Yeah, matching is really a psychological trick, which is very well illustrated on a more personal level if you volunteer to answer phones at a public radio pledge drive. Someone in the room full of phone answerers will say "oh, I haven't made my own personal donation yet...I plan to donate $100. Can you announce that the next $100 caller will be matched?" You then get $200 worth of donations that you might have gotten either way, but both parties get to feel great -- one person for having their donation "doubled" and the other person for feeling like they spurred someone else to donate.

Thank you for your reply; I hadn't thought of it that way. I realized after reading your response that I also conflated this particular match with the ones I hear on NPR advertised as "conditional matches": if we receive $W in X time, Y will contribute $Z. Some of them are also conditional on the number of participants, which is also strange.

This situation is a result of two things:

* Businesses want to get spending in before the end of the year for tax & budget reasons.

* Customs surrounding holiday giving and charity, with disposable income from holiday bonuses.

So this is the best time of year for donation drives & matching programs.

If it works with your budget, you should plan on donating at the end of the year. Most non-profits have their most important fundraising drives during December, where schemes like this are often seen.

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