On Fri, Jun 06, 2003 at 11:49:15AM -0400, Susan Hogarth wrote: > Speaking as the director of a very small but very active charity, I can tell > you that we tend to have *quite high* time preferences. Possibly some of that > is bleedover from the personality of the founder (that would be gotta-have-it- > now me:) but I honestly believe that for most small groups working in > conditions where the need is always in far excess of resources available, this > time preference exists.
My original post was more about charitable giving targeted at human beings not animals, so I was talking about the time preferences of the end recipient rather than of the charitable organization. But since you bring it up... Do you prefer to rescue two beagles ten years from now, or one beagle today? Now I realize that your time preference for funding does not directly correspond to your time preference for the rescue of beagles, because you're competing with other charities (i.e., if you don't get the money now some other charity might get it instead). But the incentives are more straightforward for the donor. If he prefers the former he should hold on to the money and give it to a beagle rescue organization ten years from now (assuming he expects a 100% return on his ten-year investment).
