Let's talk about donations.

When I was a child, I was the most enthusiastic volunteer for charity. During the Wenchuan earthquake, I donated all my savings and New Year's money, about 100 yuan, which was a huge amount for me at that time.

But now when I see donations, I generally can't be forced to donate. Unless I can personally witness the donations being put to use, I assume that whatever amount I donate is just spending money to buy a conscience, and it won't actually be put to use.

There are two main events that have led to my current mindset:

The first was a fundraising event during university when our counselor called on the entire grade to donate money to a classmate whose mother was seriously ill and living in the countryside.

At that time, I was writing as a side job to earn manuscript fees. Because I couldn't find suitable submission resources, it was extremely difficult to earn money. I often stayed up late for a week to revise a manuscript just to meet the requirements, and I only got 200 yuan for one piece. I stayed up late for more than a month and earned 600 yuan, and that stupid editor still owes me 400 yuan that he hasn't given me to this day.

I took the 600 yuan I earned with great difficulty and saw that a classmate in the adjacent class was having difficulties at home. So without a second thought, I donated all of my 600 yuan manuscript fee to her and left a message encouraging her to work hard and not to be discouraged.

A few days later, I met this classmate in a professional class, using an iPhone and a MacBook. This had a huge impact on me at that time.

In my heart, I generally believe that only when one is completely out of resources and living in poverty would one resort to fundraising. However, that classmate has a new model iPhone and laptop, which could easily sell for several thousand to ten thousand in the second-hand market, yet the total amount she raised was only 100,000 yuan.

After this incident, I basically stopped donating, even when classmates from the same grade in the neighboring class were raising funds, there were so many hidden agendas. Let alone various charity projects being conducted who knows where far away.

The second thing that made me completely determined not to donate again was what happened last year.

Last year the market was good, I made some money trading coins, and I decided to use my own money to sponsor a sum for the kids in my hometown who can't afford to go to school.

At that time, I knew a president of our hometown association in Tianjin. He would organize donations from fellow townspeople in Tianjin to poor students in our hometown every year, and he would personally go to the school. I thought he was a very serious and reliable person, and I was considering that donating through this channel should be effective.

Later, I communicated with my mom about this matter, because my mom is a teacher at a middle school in our hometown. She told me it's best not to donate. I asked my mom why, as I saw that the president of the hometown association often sponsors impoverished students at the school. Could this president also be embezzling?

My mom said that the president is a good person and not corrupt, but the donation funds are generally implemented by the school leaders and the class teachers. The donated funds are usually distributed to their own relatives and juniors by these people. So if I really want to donate, my mom can help me select to ensure that the funds actually go to the right people.

After learning about this, I have gained a deeper understanding of the tricks behind charitable donations. Even when I want to donate to my classmates or fellow townsfolk, whom I know fairly well, I face numerous difficulties in getting the money into the right hands. So, for the various charitable projects online, how can you even supervise them? How much can actually be implemented?

Therefore, when I do charity now, I either personally seek suitable recipients for point-to-point donations, or I simply do not donate at all. I generally consider various daily donation actions as spending money to earn a clear conscience, which can express my goodwill, but how much of it actually reaches the hands of those in need is hard to say.