Today, along with about 80 other people, I was verbally assaulted. This is something of a routine experience on New York City subway trains: non-consensual berating dressed up as preaching, guilt-riddled fundraising pitches, and appeals for charity. They’re incredibly loud, they’re manipulative, and they all begin with the lyingest lie that’s ever been lied: “I’m […]
Save the date: Give Out Day 2017
All day on Thursday, April 20, 2017, LGBTQIA organizations across the US will participate in an annual 24-hour philanthropy campaign called Give OUT Day. This giving event is hosted by the Horizons Foundation, and is now in its fourth year. It allows the nonprofits that are part of the LGBTQIA movement to showcase their work, […]
Take action: An update on #NODAPL
Kandi Mossett of the Indigenous Earth Network shared a live update from Standing Rock today. She describes the way the National Guard, police from five states, Energy Transfer Partners, and the Dakota Access corporation have corralled indigenous people in camps near DA Pipeline construction. And she calls for trans-ethnic solidarity. [These states are] sending their […]
Invest in the NMAAHC
After just four years of construction, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture has opened! A weekend-long arts festival accompanies the opening, and thousands of visitors from around the world are crossing its threshold over the next few days. I became a charter member of the museum earlier this year, and have encouraged two […]
Why the greatest good can lose out to potato salad
I shared a MarketWatch article on charitable giving yesterday. The writers explain how much donors give based on emotional connection rather than whether our gifts are a “great deal” financially. They also make another point that goes to the psychology we bring to our efforts to help others. As internet-based crowdfunding started booming last decade, I wondered why some kinds of […]
Investments and charitable giving
Investing and charitable giving are two different ways for someone with resources to contribute to an organization or cause. I’ve conflated them in the past, but recently read an article advising people not to. In Market Watch, Berman, Barasch, Levine, and Small explain that people give when they feel emotionally connected to a cause, not necessarily because […]
