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A DONATION HAS BEEN MADE IN YOUR NAME

ALLISON SCHRAGER | THE MICROPHILANTHROPIST | January 7th 2008

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When making holiday gifts, we spend small sums of money to buy shows of affection. But find a mechanism by which others can benefit from the transaction, and we have, with luck, increased the sum of human happiness ...

Special to MORE INTELLIGENT LIFE

My Christmas gifts included a charitable donation made in my name, which got me thinking: in what sense was this a gift to me? I don't encourage gifts and I'm not in serious need of anything that anyone might give me. Of course I can see it is more efficient for the money to go to a good cause, rather than to something I do not want or need. However, the cynical side of me was tempted, while writing my thank you note, to add "I am glad my gift could also contribute to your tax write-off."

I have unwittingly forgone a gift, for the benefit a charity of the giver's choosing. Something about this feels presumptuous. Much as I appreciate the gesture, I sense an imposition. I believe the intention of my benefactor--beyond supporting the charity--is to give me an awareness of the favoured cause, thus inspiring future voluntary donations. But this has not happened; I have been left feeling even a touch resentful, and with no greater knowledge of the cause. The card gave little enough information about the charity, beyond the amount donated in my name. What would have been a more effective way to achieve the goal?

One of the ways a microphilanthropist can be most effective, is by maximising the positive externalities from giving. Suppose you can only spare $100 a year. That may not be a life-changing donation. But if your support encourages your friends to give generously too, that $100 becomes more meaningful. Encouraging the people in your life to give to the causes you care about means striking a fine balance. You may do more harm than good if you boast about your generosity, preach to your friends, and impose your cause on them. When I encounter this behaviour, I am liable to react against the cause.

So what might be a more appealing and effective way of substituting donations for personal gifts? A better model might be one in which the prospective recipient suggests to the prospective gift-giver that, instead of buying a conventional gift, the giver makes a donation in in the recipient's name to the recipient's preferred charity. That forces the giver to seek out the charity, visit its web site, and in so doing learn more about what it does. Perhaps it inspires the giver to adopt the charity as one of his own favourite causes, perhaps even introduces him to the habit of charitable giving in general.

It also sets an example that others can easily follow. Many "givers", having been made party to such an arrangement, would surely suggest a reciprocal arrangement, taking care of the other half of the conventional exchange of gifts. The practice could spread easily within a family or an office, with or without a bit of encouragement. That way it becomes a strategy for raising awareness of multiple causes and potentially generating more donations for them.

In sum, the holiday season often inspires goodwill. Our job as microphilanthropists is to find ways of leveraging that goodwill. Gift giving provides the perfect ritual. People are resigned to expending small sums of money in exchange for affection. Find them a mechanism by which others can benefit too, and we have, with luck, increased the sum of human happiness.