I find most of the motivations that marketers attribute to donors irrelevant. Gaining appreciation, recognition, a legacy, a warm and fuzzy feeling, an ego boost, a thank-you note, a friend – I don’t give a crap about any of it.

A great illustration of what does drive me to give was written today, by an Ohio State fan. I have the same relationship to malaria and diarrhea – and generally, to the problems a species this brilliant and productive still hasn’t solved – that he has to Florida.