The 1,000 Dollar Donation
Post from March 1, 2008 (âť August 29, 2022), filed under Everything Else (feed).
A few minutes ago, I donated the 1,000 US dollars I offered in the 1,000 Dollar Comment Game. I rounded the 1,000 dollars to 700 euros and transferred the money to âSelbsthilfe fĂźr Wohnungslose e.V.â, Hanoverâ400 euros directly to the aid group, 300 euros to a voluntary employee so as to pay extra work.

The motivation for this measure is simple to explain: Both the 1,000 Dollar Comment Game and its predecessor, the 100 Dollar Comment Game, well, flopped, and donating the money made more sense than waiting until 2009. I did not give the money to an international organization because I think that in a world moving together, local support becomes even more important, and itâs easier to tell whatâs being done with the money. (I donât generally mistrust international aid institutions though, as a forthcoming project will show.)
Regardless, many thanks again to the 1,000 Dollar Comment Game sponsors, Mathias Ziegler of Triplemind/Unterkunft.de and Tom MĂźller of SUP4U, who, thankfully, agreed to this donation. So I hope that we all enjoyed the experiment (whose development still puzzles me) and are also glad that we could help a few people in need.
About Me

Iâm Jens, and Iâm an engineering lead and author. Iâve worked as a technical lead for Google, Iâm close to W3C and WHATWG, and I write and review books for OâReilly. I love trying things, sometimes including philosophy, art, and adventure. Here on meiert.com I share some of my views and experiences.
If you have a question or suggestion about what I write, please leave a comment (if available) or a message. Thank you!
Comments (Closed)
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On March 3, 2008, 10:40 CET, Lazar said:
So, what was the experiment?
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On March 3, 2008, 11:03 CET, Jens Oliver Meiert said:
Hi Lazar, well, Iâve just been curious đ
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On March 3, 2008, 11:35 CET, Lazar said:
Iâve tried to stimulate people with money once ($100) to submit enlightening videos, but enthusiasm was not very high! All they had to do is submit a video with a thoughtful comment (well, and to figure out an odd diamond like rating scale!).
In my experiment there was no ‘game theoryâ involved. Only the quality of comment/video would decide the winnerâŚ
I am actually surprised that the number of comments in your game didnât reach close to hundred. If the game is still on, I think I can mobilize a few people with one email and your game will end within few days!
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On March 3, 2008, 23:13 CET, Robert Bienert said:
Well, what is the conclusion of the two games: Do bloggers already have enough money so that they donât bother about some âtipâ, some âsilly bucksâ?
And since the interest of earning 100 and even 1,000$ has decreased more and more, I think you did the right decission to donate the money for a good cause.
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On March 4, 2008, 9:23 CET, helmdach said:
Nice touch jens đ
Btw, the link to the charity organization is not very useful đ
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