
EFF has 2x matching donations until Dec 17th - yincrash
https://supporters.eff.org/donate/power-up-2013
======
tofof
This is not 2x matching. This is just plain and simple matching. You donate
50, they get a total of 100 - 50 from you, and 50 from the donor.

Yes, the total amount they receive is 2x, but the matched amount is 1x.

I sound pedantic but it's because this is in stark contrast to the Internet
Archive's "3x matching" through the end of the month, in which if you donate
50 they receive a total of 200, because the matching amount is triple - 3x -
what you donate.

~~~
heyitsnick
Agree, but you're only criticising the submitter, not EFF. There's no mention
of "2x matching" on the page; it only says "you receive a 2x powerup," which
is accurate. There's no ambiguity and the page clearly says "donate x, with
matching EFF will receive 2x" on the form.

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airlocksoftware
Very cool of the people doing the matching donations. I'm always happy to do
anything I can to help the EFF. But now, more than ever, it feels like they
might be our best chance to avoid dystopia.

But considering the size of the tech industry and the amount of money the
internet / technology is making all of us, I'm sometimes surprised by how
small the EFF is. Does anyone have any thoughts on why the EFF isn't larger
and better funded like most other industry groups?

~~~
rkuykendall-com
Also, why doesn't anyone seem to rally around them when an issue comes up?

As far as I can tell the EFF have been handling all the issues of the day
well, but all the attention goes to upstart one-off groups that are formed and
forgotten within weeks.

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mdaniel
I realize this might sound like a First World Problem, but I typically donate
to my charities and organizations early in the year. Then things like this pop
up and I have to weigh the opportunity cost of not donating while my power
will be doubled against the feeling that I've already given a chunk of change.

I guess in the end, I'll probably cave and donate again because I think the
EFF is very important, but I wonder what thoughts others have on this
situation?

~~~
furyofantares
givewell has an article on how lots of donation matching is actually closer to
a restructuring of a large donation from another donor
[http://blog.givewell.org/2011/12/15/why-you-shouldnt-let-
don...](http://blog.givewell.org/2011/12/15/why-you-shouldnt-let-donation-
matching-affect-your-giving/)

This looks like it fits that category -- donations are matched up to $118,569
which really just means someone is donating $118,569 and using that donation
to attract more donations. If you think it's going to hit that cap without
you, you haven't given anything up. And if you don't, you still might not have
given anything up, since the donor still might give the $118,569 they were
willing to give anyway.

~~~
hamburglar
Yeah, matching is really a psychological trick, which is very well illustrated
on a more personal level if you volunteer to answer phones at a public radio
pledge drive. Someone in the room full of phone answerers will say "oh, I
haven't made my own personal donation yet...I plan to donate $100. Can you
announce that the next $100 caller will be matched?" You then get $200 worth
of donations that you might have gotten either way, but both parties get to
feel great -- one person for having their donation "doubled" and the other
person for feeling like they spurred someone else to donate.

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diminoten
I wish there were more options besides the EFF who supported the myriad of
causes the EFF works towards.

Their treatment of CISPA was not, however, something I can stand to support,
and for this reason I can't justify giving them money until they soften their
hardline stance substantially.

Their "call to arms" press release was rife with doublespeak and inaccurate
interpretations of the proposed bill, and it felt like there was some kind of
ulterior motive at play for them to never be satisfied with concessions and
changes to the bill text.

I get this sense that the EFF basically says, "no!" to every bill coming from
congress that has anything at all to do with the Internet, and that's just not
a useful way to run an advocacy group.

I support a free and open Internet (seriously, who doesn't around here?) but I
would rather codify that in US law than sit around and wait for the FCC to
fine Comcast. If congress can't touch the Internet, then they can't protect
it, and I'm afraid the EFF would find itself on the wrong side of an open
Internet if congress tried.

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01Michael10
I have donated to them indirectly many times over the years but this Xmas
going to become an official EFF member. F*ck you NSA!

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kfarzaneh
This is great! Too bad they sold 2,800 of their 3,500 BTC in 2011:
[http://philanthropy.com/article/Can-Nonprofits-Benefit-
From/...](http://philanthropy.com/article/Can-Nonprofits-Benefit-From/139625)

~~~
schoen
Hi, EFF employee who worked on our acceptance of Bitcoin here.

The linked article simplifies the history somewhat. In fact, we attempted to
give away _all_ of our BTC to the Bitcoin Faucet because of legal uncertainty
surrounding Bitcoin.

When we decided to start accepting Bitcoin donations again, the developer who
runs the Faucet offered to return the remaining value to us. Because of
increases in the price of bitcoins in the interim, EFF was able to sell the
BTC that came back to us from the Faucet for about $95,000.

[https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/thank-you-bitcoin-
comm...](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/thank-you-bitcoin-community)

By my calculations (using contemporary market depth data), that's
coincidentally just about the same amount of U.S. currency that EFF would have
realized if we'd sold all of those bitcoins at the time that we donated them
to the Faucet. I'm glad that that value was eventually able to be used for
EFF's purposes as the donors originally intended.

Since deciding to accept Bitcoin again, EFF has used a payment processor to
sell all bitcoins as soon as they're donated, so we never possess them and
never make individual decisions about when to sell or hold them. (That's what
will happen if you donate in BTC today.)

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susi22
I know my comment has little to do with EFF, but if you feel generous also
consider donating to Give Directly. Goodventures will match every dollar for
them until Jan 31st:

[http://www.goodventures.org/research-and-ideas/blog/our-
givi...](http://www.goodventures.org/research-and-ideas/blog/our-giving-
season-plans)

------
terrik
Donated. This is a great way to help the EFF, and even a small donation can go
a long way.

You can also help the EFF non-financially at their Action Center:
[https://www.eff.org/action](https://www.eff.org/action)

------
vinhboy
Donating with my bitcoins! I hope they remember to send me a t-shirt this
year.

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AlisdairO
I realised recently that while I have strongly held opinions on the erosion of
civil liberties, I was doing functionally nothing to support them apart from
getting angry and debating with people on message boards.

So, anyway, I've just donated to this and a couple of other important
organisations. If people with decent jobs and no kids (which I imagine
comprises a noticeable fraction of this site) can't act to support our
beliefs, how can we seriously expect change?

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abraxasz
I know that it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, and that given
the awesome work they are doing, this is worth the hassle. But I'd like to
make a comment concerning the payment method. Last week I make my very first
donation to Wikipedia. How did it happen? I saw the usual banner, and then,
one of the payment options was Amazon. So I entered an amount, clicked the
"pay with amazon", and was done. No entering my credit card, filling out
forms, or anything. Zero friction. Amazon style. At this moment I realized
that the reason why I hadn't donated before isn't that I didn't think the
cause was worthy, but simply that the perceived hassle outweighed my desire to
give. They removed that friction, they got my money.

So again, given the work they are doing, that's no excuse for not donating.
But still, I wonder if that would boost the donations..

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notdarkyet
Maybe I am missing something but who is doing the matching? Is it the group of
people on the bottom right?

~~~
schoen
That's correct -- the people in the box starting "EFF would like to extend a
heartfelt thanks to...".

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sspiff
Does this also apply to already existing monthly recurring donations?

