Tostan has told me the total donations by people who listed my post as an inspiration, and wow that is a fun number to hear. I have moved more money through writing than I did through donating directly, even counting my employer matching. But it is also an underestimate, because I know some people have donated without telling Tostan why. These people include my parents (who are generally pro-saying-nice-things-about-me) and a couple that wrote me personally to tell me they were donating who I know didn’t list me on the donation form because the size of their donation exceeds the last total Tostan gave me. This number also excludes any employer matching.
This lets me fantasize about an almost unlimited amount of donations that might be due to me. In the interests of getting a more accurate number, would people who donated to Tostan because of me please fill out this poll? Obviously this is not a perfect measure, since not everyone who read my post reads my blog, and of those who do not all will fill out the form. But this will provide me with both happiness and a better estimate of how much time I should invest in this kind of work in the future.
Update on my personal donation: Morgan Stanley still hasn’t finished giving my stock to Tostan, but as of Friday they swore it was in progress. I took a best guess at what the stock was worth at time of transfer and donated the remainder by credit card.
Aceso Under Glass 