It is becoming common for the payment machines at retailers to ask customers to donate to various causes. We use our debt card for many purchases and are often given the option of making a donation. Those retail sales appeals are generally imprecise when it comes to giving details of the donations. A few months ago, a grocery store clerk asked me if I wanted to donate to cancer. I commented that I was generally opposed to cancer and might be more inclined to donate to cancer research to which the clerk said, “Yea, that’s what it is.” The clerk, however, didn’t know what organization was receiving the donations. I’ve been asked to support veterans, contribute to neutering pets, help hungry people, and support law enforcement, all while shopping for everyday items.

There is a local bookstore that has a cause each month for “round up,” in which customers are asked to round up their payment to the next highest dollar with the proceeds going to a different cause each month. I am friends with the bookstore owners and we happen to agree on a lot of things, and the causes seeking donations are often ones that I already support. Sometimes I agree to round up my purchase.

Then again, I’ve been known to give cash to a stranger who approaches me in a parking lot with a story of an immediate need. I don’t check the veracity of the stranger’s story. I don’t check to see if they are misusing funds. I’m pretty sure that giving that kind of support isn’t efficient and generally doesn’t solve any problems long term.

The cause at the drug store and the grocery store this week is hurricane relief. I can see why. The news coverage of the devastation of back-to-back hurricanes with associated flooding and tornadoes demonstrates significant need of disaster relief. Real people are suffering and in need of help. Despite attempts to use natural disaster for political gain and some truly dangerous lies that have been circulated in the aftermath of the recent hurricanes, disaster response is one place where government works. Taxpayer dollars go to work quickly following a disaster and help bring some relief to those who have lost so much.

Most of the mail I receive are invitations to donate. In the past couple of weeks I have received at least two notices that my membership has expired in organizations to which I don’t think I have ever belonged. A veterans organization that is new to me asked, “Please consider extending your gift by automatic payment.” I don’t think I’ve ever made a donation to that organization.

I don’t read all of the appeals for donations that come my way. Some end up in the recycling bin without being opened. However, I am not opposed to donating to worthy causes. Life has been good to me and I have enjoyed privilege. Part of the responsibility of someone in my situation is sharing with others who have needs greater than my own. I’ve done a lot of fund raising over the span of my career. I’ve asked people to donate to church organizations, arts organizations, housing projects, food banks, youth shelters, and a host of other organizations. One of my general “rules” for all of that is that I tried to never ask anyone to donate to a cause unless I had already made a donation myself. I’ve served on the boards of many different nonprofit corporations over the years and I’ve made contributions to each of them.

It is pretty clear that giving patterns are shifting. More people are making online donations than was the case in the past. When making appeals, most organizations are set up to receive electronic payments. Sending checks in the mail is no longer the major way donations are made. I am aware of this in part because we have shifted how we make donations as we have entered the retired phase of our life. We are required to make mandatory withdrawals from our IRA account and there is a tax advantage to making donations directly from those accounts. While we once paid our church pledge monthly out of our income, we now make an annual gift from our retirement funds.

I have always tried to plan giving so that I support the causes and organizations in which I believe. While I have no objection to impulse giving when the donor can afford the gift and the cause is worthy, it seems to me to be less efficient. Rather than donating a few pennies or a couple of dollars at the checkout in the store, I prefer to donate to the special appeals from our church for many causes.

This journal entry was inspired in part by my sorting through stacks of paper on my desk. Among the items I have are appeals for donations that somehow I didn’t place in the recycling bin, but also have not yet made a donation. Most of them are causes that either I will not be supporting or that I will support by making a donation through a different channel. Only one or two will result in my making a gift at this time. Sorting through those appeals, I wonder why I kept them and put off making a decision. I don’t want to become callous to the suffering of others. I do want to be generous. But I am not as impulsive as once was the case. I like to think that my gifts make a difference. I want to be thoughtful in my giving. And I don’t control large amounts of money. I’m a small player when it comes to finances. There is a nonprofit hospital in our region with an annual budget in the billions. I haven’t donated to it. I believe in nonprofit medical care, but it doesn’t seem like my donation makes any difference at all in the operation of that particular corporation. I don’t have billions, or even millions to give.

I end up being a bit confused. I suspect that my skills as a fund-raiser have eroded over time. I don’t really know how to inspire giving in others any more. So I keep moving donation requests from pile to pile. I try to be thoughtful. And I cling to the hope that sometimes I am able to make a gift that genuinely helps someone.