…and this is a 
The Richard Dawkins Foundation supports DonorsChoose
Category: Academics
Posted on: October 19, 2007 1:00 AM, by PZ Myers
I am pleased to announce that the Richard Dawkins Foundation has contributed over $2000 to the freethinkers challenge to support science education in American public schools. That brings us close to meeting our goal of $20,000, so we just need a few more of you to sign on.
If you take a look at the leaderboard, you'll notice that one of the columns lists the dollars donated, but the next column lists the number of donors. We're again leading the pack, with 152, but I'd really like to be able to say that 200 pharyngula readers were willing to give a few bucks to teachers. 300 would be even better. Donating even a token ten dollars would add up and allow us to say that we godless few could stand up together in our numbers and make a difference.
We've had several big donors whose efforts are deeply appreciated. Now lets have everyone else chip in and make those donor numbers spin!
Europeans, Asians, Africans, Canadians, South Americans, Australians, Central Americans, and you scattered few residents of Antarctica: yes, you can donate! We got instructions from a DonorsChoose representative:
non-citizens living abroad can surely donate. When entering their addresses they simply need to enter their city, country, and post code in the "CITY" field, then select "New York" as their "STATE" and enter five zeroes for their "ZIP CODE".
Note also I mistakenly said you could donate just a dollar; I was wrong, the minimum donation is $10. I know, there go the poor grad students to whom that is a week's worth of ramen, but the rest of you can cough up a little bit, right? There are still proposals looking for funding!
Comments
I tried. They don't seem to like us people from Foreign. :-(
Posted by: jerith | October 19, 2007 5:39 AM
Yes, $20k is fine, but how does that compare with the televangelists?
And I don't mean the gimmick of running on TV screen a "counter" that has nothing to do with incoming donations. How much do they make in real life?
Posted by: Lassi Hippeläinen | October 19, 2007 7:15 AM
I don't see how this compares to televangelism. Those guys ask for your money in return for their personal message "to God" on your behalf, or some other schlock like that. It's a sham, preying upon the desperate. This is just a charitable donation to an educational organization...
Posted by: Greg | October 19, 2007 8:47 AM
"DonorsChoose.org cannot accept donations from non-U.S. citizens."
Well, I tried... seems this challenge is only open to you yanks.
Posted by: Martin | October 19, 2007 9:50 AM
I was wondering when Dawkin would start sharing his millions. I remembered his TED talk on atheism and that if his books sold as well as Hawkins he would donate/give more to the rational-thinking programs.
Posted by: HelioTheos | October 19, 2007 10:01 AM
There is a $10 minimum donation as well. When will the web learn to embrace micro-payments!
Posted by: nickythegreek | October 19, 2007 10:10 AM
Dagnabbit - is there a similar program that can?
*laugh* Starting to get the sense that you have quite a few foreign readers? :)
Posted by: Ritchie Annand | October 19, 2007 10:36 AM
HAHA, I just did the $54 that pushed us to exactly $20K. I win, I win! Um, I mean, the kids win, the kids win!
Posted by: Mike | October 19, 2007 11:09 AM
I tried, but I'm not permitted due to my accident of birth. Since RDF has made a donation, I'll donate to them, seems like the best compromise.
Posted by: Mod | October 19, 2007 11:25 AM
Finished out the frog dissection request. I fondly remember anatomy lessons in high school and college. Hopefully it will inspire a future surgeon...
Posted by: Tom_23 | October 19, 2007 11:30 AM
Erm, yeah, I lied. I am actually a US Citizen who just happens to be living abroad. It turns out that under this classification I am able to donate.
Posted by: Mod | October 19, 2007 12:34 PM
"I don't see how this compares to televangelism."
I wasn't comparing DonorsChoose to televangelism, I was comparing the amounts of money. As an old skool engineer who learned to compute with a slide rule (and keep a mental tab on decimal point) I have a pretty good head for numbers. And comparing $20k for education vs. millions for bullshit just makes me sad.
Maybe there is something to be learned from the televangelists. What kind of TV show could raise millions for science? That framing issue once again...
Posted by: Lassi Hippeläinen | October 20, 2007 9:13 AM