Have you heard of the organization “Charidy?”

I did today for the first time.  I received an email from an organization I like to support. The organization I support is using the “expertise” of the Charidy website to raise a large sum of money.

The idea is that three big donors agree to match the donations of members in order to reach a certain money goal. For every dollar donated by a member, a big donor delivers three times that amount.

If the goal is not reached in 24 hours, the donors’ monies are returned. The charity website charges the organization a 2.9 percent fee only if the fundraising campaign is successful.  It all sounds great. The charity organization says that by putting a 24-hour time limit on the campaign, it increases donations by an average of 49 percent.

I was bitten by the Charidy bug.  I even wrote a memo to my wife, reminding us to talk about how much money we would donate to the campaign. To us, $100 sounded like a proper amount of money to donate.  I clicked on the email’s link to the donation website.  Right there was a list of all the donors and the amounts that they donated.

Wait a minute!

Right there I had a BIG problem.  I was looking for the box to check that says we want to remain anonymous. None. I didn't want my hundred dollars to be placed in competition with others in my organization. I don't care that on their website they claim: “For the benefit of the success of the campaign, we do not allow ‘anonymous’ donations. But don't worry because we can work together on finding creative ways to present these matchers.”

Matchers Spatchers!  What about us little donors? How about finding creative ways for us to remain anonymous?

I went from a high of wanting to give even more than my wife wanted to give, to a low of realizing that I didn't want to give at all because I couldn't remain anonymous. I am determined to give my hundred dollars after the campaign is over, and I don't have to have my name plastered on a website for other people to see.  There, I feel a better.

Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertebsen@hotmail.com