Is it hard to conceive of agreeing to something behind closed doors and donating anonymously to hide the tracks?
Comment on Donors
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Dafuq? If it’s anonymous, how is it exerting influence?
Coldcell@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Is it hard to suggest that in a less condescending manner?
solsangraal@lemmy.zip 5 weeks ago
“i’ll give you 100 million dollars on the condition that $X of it be spent on ______” is how it’s exerting influence
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
But if it’s actually anonymous, how is that communicated?
Coldcell@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
Letter, fax, pager, smoke signal, Morse code, tin cans with string, eye blinking code, using the first letter of each word in a New York times obituary, carrier pigeon, skywriting… hmm… wait couldn’t they just say it out loud to each other? In person?
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Good to know you’re remaining as condescending as possible.
solsangraal@lemmy.zip 5 weeks ago
lol there is one person in this whole thread who’s getting mad, but it’s not me
and yes, as someone else said, it’s no big deal for someone to contact the business office of an institution and offer money on the condition of anonymity and other conditions. and the business people say okay, forms are filled out and signed, and money is transferred. they want to be anonymous because they don’t want all the other institutions calling them asking for money too. and/or they don’t want the world to know they’re the ones influencing the school’s spending
no one wants donors to be able to influence whoever they’re donating to. but that’s how reality works
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Yeah, Coldcell is having a real hissy fit.
If the identity is known, it’s not anonymous, it’s undisclosed. That would be an entirely different thing.
Cypher@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Are you really that braindead? An anonymous donation can mean the donor requested their name not be made public, it doesn’t necessarily stop the University from know where the money came from.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Then it’s not anonymous, it’s undisclosed. Do you not understand what “anonymous” means?
Aceticon@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
It sounds like the university called it “anonymous donor” for PR reasons whilst it is in fact “undisclosed donor”.
Your point only makes sense if indeed the donor was genuinelly anonymous (I.e. even the University had no idea who they were) rather than merely described as anonymous by the University for the purpose of divulging it to the outside world.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
So my only mistake was not assuming that the university was lying.
Entheon@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
It’s only anonymous to the public. I imagine the donor and the university are in frequent direct contact.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Are they, or is it just your imagination?
Entheon@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Have you never donated to a “charitable” cause before? You can usually talk to them and ask to not have your name released. There’s no legal requirement for name disclosure so it’s up to the institution’s policy.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Yes, I’ve donated plenty, and typically anonymously, since I’m not trying to use others to advance a personal agenda.
Non-disclosure would be something quite different from anonymity.