The 1,000 Dollar Donation

Published on Mar 1, 2008 (updated Apr 29, 2023), filed under misc. (Share this post, e.g., on Mastodon or on Bluesky.)

A few minutes ago, I donated the 1,000 US dollars I offered in the 1,000 Dollar Comment Game. I rounded the 1,000 dollars to 700 euros and transferred the money to “Selbsthilfe für Wohnungslose e.V.”, Hanover—400 euros directly to the aid group, 300 euros to a voluntary employee so as to pay extra work.

The motivation for this measure is simple to explain: Both the 1,000 Dollar Comment Game and its predecessor, the 100 Dollar Comment Game, well, flopped, and donating the money made more sense than waiting until 2009. I did not give the money to an international organization because I think that in a world moving together, local support becomes even more important, and it’s easier to tell what’s being done with the money. (I don’t generally mistrust international aid institutions though, as a forthcoming project will show.)

Regardless, many thanks again to the 1,000 Dollar Comment Game sponsors, Mathias Ziegler of Triplemind/Unterkunft.de and Tom Müller of SUP4U, who, thankfully, agreed to this donation. So I hope that we all enjoyed the experiment (whose development still puzzles me) and are also glad that we could help a few people in need.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager at various companies, including Google; I’m an open-source developer and a contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG); and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also with respect to politics and philosophy. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my experiences and perspectives. (Please share feedback—interpret charitably, keep it friendly, but do be critical.)