I’ve been receiving a lot of mail lately asking for donation. I’m a bit annoyed at the volume of the mail (who sold my name and contact information?), and found some of the mail unprofessional - giving me gifts so I’d feel guilty to have to donate. I’d rather have receive some mail with clear information of their objective, what they do, and how they would use my money. Instead, I feel that I’m getting a whole lot of paper waste.

But they got me thinking about donation. I was about to write a few checks and was faced with the question of how much to give. According to the non-profit group, Independent Sector, 89% of households donated to charities in 2000, and the average contributions of these households is about $1620 - or 3.1% of their income (”Giving and Volunteering in the United States 2001“). The total charitable giving in 2005 was $260 billion. A surprisingly large number to me, I can’t think of anyone I know who gives more than $1000 each year to charities.

Not that this is an absolute number that we must abide by (I’ve read elsewhere that 10% is the recommended percentage). You give what you can, and it’s always hard to part with something that we earn with such hard work. But to help others in need, without sacrificing so much of our lives, is something that we as moral beings should do. At one point of my life I thought that no matter what I do or donate would make any difference, because a richer guy can write one check and it’ll be a much larger sum than what I can offer for my whole life. That was a stupid thought. Warren Buffet announced this year that he’s giving away 85% of his fortune - which comes out to a whopping $37 billion (based on current values of his Berkshire Hathaway shares). That sure is a lot more money than we will ever earn - but there are a lot more of us in this world than there are the Buffets, and that $37 billion headline news this year is only 14% of what we collectively have been giving each year.

So this year, instead of spending so much on holiday gifts, I will be thinking about my contribution to the charities. Now I just have to figure who they are.