If you want to donate, then donate. You don’t need a thousand notes to tell you the amount you want to donate. If you really want to help, then help. You don’t need to announce that you’re helping. You certainly don’t need to promote your personal blog while you’re helping.

I don’t want to hear that you’re “raising awareness” or giving people the “opportunity” to act. You can raise awareness by writing about it, talking about it, etc. You don’t need the “for every reblog” clause for news like that to spread.

There are also many avenues for people to act. If they really cared, they wouldn’t mind doing more than liking or reblogging a post. They wouldn’t mind donating their own money. They wouldn’t mind getting out of tumblr for a few minutes to find out that all they need to do is text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan and tsunami throughout the Pacific. It didn’t even take me a minute to find that.

I could write about the misconception of equating helping with donating money, or how people think throwing money at problem would be a fine solution. I could also write about the people who post “pray for…” like it’s actually going to help. But no. The “for every reblog” clause is the one that bothered me the most today.

Your intentions may be good, and your actions might ultimately help whatever cause you’re donating to… but it is better to see those giving without getting anything in return, even if that return is a bit of promotion for a personal blog or website.