Countdown to The Spud: Donors! They're Just Like Us!

Even donors procrastinate: New data from software company Convio shows that during the last week of 2008, the average online donation size was close to 60 percent larger than the weekly average during the rest of the year. On December 31st, charities raised over 20 times more money than they did on a typical day.

Countdown to The Spud: When 1 > 1 (aka the Funny Math of Giving)

According to one experiment, people are more willing to pay for a water-treatment facility that would save 4,500 lives in a refugee camp of 11,000 over one that would save the same number of lives in a camp of 250,000.

Countdown to The Spud: Compassion Fatigue?

The writer Annie Dillard on "compassion fatigue": "At what number do other individuals blur for me?" — poignantly recalled by Paul Slovic, University of Oregon

Countdown to The Spud: The Art of Giving

"Another satisfaction in philanthropy is expressed by a word that you don't hear very much but means a lot to us. Intentionality. It's the art of doing things purposefully." — Charles Bronfman and Jeffrey R. Solomon, The Art of Giving

Countdown to The Spud: Happy Giving!

The Spud wishes you a happy holiday + happy giving! 

Countdown to The Spud: Selfish/Selfless

“Altruism creates its own selfish reward. Or, to put it another way, nobody gains more selfish pleasure than those who act selflessly.” — Nicholas Kristof, Outside

Countdown to The Spud: Modest Means to the Rescue

A recent Chronicle of Philanthropy poll shows that while a third of charities expect donations during the crucial end-of-year giving season to decline, there’s a bright spot: Charities have fared better at persuading more people of modest means to give.

Countdown to The Spud: Do People Give Rationally?

According to one study, more people are willing to help one child facing starvation over three million children facing the same plight.

Countdown to The Spud: Why we Love the Potato

Why we love the potato: It nourishes more people more quickly, on less land, and in harsher climates than any other major food crop. It encapsulates the power of small.