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Political Donation or Charity?

Published February 20th, 2008 in Personal

I’m torn between what’s the greater “net good”… donating to a political candidate that I think could affect public policy positively, or donating to a charity where my proceeds will go to improve a cause.

That last sentence is a little vague because I don’t want to get bogged down in the definitions of things like “better” or “public good”… I also don’t want to get bogged down in a political debate of which candidate will have a better effect on public policy…

Maybe this question can’t be answered in a vacuum outside of specific details, but when I feel the urge to donate to a political candidate that I strongly support, should I just donate to my favorite charity instead?

Right now, I’m leaning towards the charity. But, I know if every one of my peers made the same choice, then the political candidate I support would surely lose due to lack of funds. Should I alter my judgment based on what I hope the group would decide when faced with the same decision?

4 Responses to “Political Donation or Charity?”  

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  1. 1 Corey Feb 20th, 2008 at 2:24 pm

    You could use something like this and secretly do the reverse of your suggestion: https://www.thepoint.com/ (not sure why it defaults to https)

    And am I missing something or why not split your donation? I mean, unless we’re talking about the kind of money that will get you political pull or a museum wing donated.

    40% of Obama voters donated less than $25: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/us/politics/20obama.html?ex=1361250000&en=25a3a6b51cbb331f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

  2. 2 Andrew Parker Feb 20th, 2008 at 2:44 pm

    First off, great site. I hope that ThePoint itself reaches a tipping point. Could be an interesting way to motivate both public policy and economic action.

    Second, I could split the donation, but that’s kind of a dodge. Regardless of the size of my donation, where am I doing a greater public service? Donating to beneficially reform public policy by contributing to a candidate, or donating to help a cause via a charity.

  3. 3 phil Feb 20th, 2008 at 3:11 pm

    charity!

  4. 4 jeremy Feb 20th, 2008 at 4:47 pm

    youre describing the classic “roll call” game. this situation is a bit more complex, but its still a sequential game so you have the advantage of knowing what everyone does who acts before your turn.

    you can always wait for fundraising announcements to see how they are doing before you make your decision.

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