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Comment by kjjjjjjjjjjjjjj | Hacker News Reader

I strongly disagree with this. If I were donating a large sum to a non-profit that helps poor children, I would absolutely earmark it with a stipulation that it must be used to help poor children who grew up as I did (poor, no opportunities for other aid/scholarships because, well we all know why).

In any nonprofit or mentorship situation, I always make sure to reach the children who grew up like me because they truly have no means of assistance.

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Aren't you already choosing to donate to a non-profit that is focused on this mission? If they're mission-focused, they presumably know how to best spend their money to support that mission.

No, because there are literally no organizations that would have helped children like me. Not a single one.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but I wonder if such a donation will be purely to satisfy one's ego. We give donation because we believe in the cause and feel good by donating. When I give donation, I give it unrestricted and sometimes even if it is not tax deductible.

From the outside, it really looks like it's more about you than it is about helping anyone else.

But the end recipients are getting the money, so who cares?

Are they? Or is it sitting there in an account labelled "children named Tom who live in a town of between 10,000 and 11,000 people and got a C in math in 2003"?

Because the charity knows how best to spend it, not you (as explained in the essay).

They don't though, they just think they do. Their goals are largely motivated by current politics.

I would agree with this. In my youth experience as well, politics in relation to non profits determined if you were housed/fed.

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