That’s A Good Question
With the unprecedented rate that donations have been coming in to my Fang Fund, I’ve been asked what I’ll do if they exceed the total dental bill. At first, I didn’t know what to say.
When I initially asked for donations, I felt so awkward and ashamed. Asking for help, receiving help or even admitting to financial difficulties are all very hard for me. It’s a pride thing, and until this week I thought that was good.
Not only are you working a miracle, you’ve taught me that asking for and receiving help has nothing to do with pride. It has to do with faith in others — that they won’t spurn or berate you, that they are good-hearted and willing to care. To have experienced this lesson is profound, and I will never be the same again.
I knew it would take a miracle to afford this dental bill, but I didn’t know that such a miracle could happen in my life. As you may have seen by watching the Fang Fund tracker snake on the sidebar, thanks to all of you throughout the blogosphere — bloggers and readers alike — I am now three-fourths of the way there! All that, in just two days. I never, ever could have imagined this happening.
Given all of this, I realize that I really do need to give some thought to handling any excess donations. It wouldn’t be right for me to keep them.
So, in the event there are excess donations, I am going to return the donor’s money via whatever method they used to send it. (i.e., PayPal refund, returning a check, etc.)
In the event that someone declines the refund, I’ll be donating the excess in their name to Operation Gratitude, which not only bears a perfectly suited title but is a very worthy cause.
UPDATE: A few folks find the Fang Fund snake hard to read. I wish I could’ve found a snake-themed meter to record the donations. But as of 12:12 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 6, the fund is at $5,708… and I am still so very astonished!
That is a great idea. You could add a second snake thermometer to show the overage too! Excellent idea.
Oh…and Kate, I think that is why people want to help you. We know that you asking for help would never be for personal gain. You are wysiwyg all the way and people can trust you.
Operation Gratitude is an excellent program to support with any overages.
OH…but don’t forget…if your orthodontist scrimped on anything to knock the price down…down scrimp! Get all that you need.
Operation Gratitude is a fine organization, but wouldn’t Operation Smile be more appropriate?
Also, Kate, you might ask your dentist about future follow-ups that will be needed. I’m sure with that amount of work there’ll be a few of them. So, consider holding back a few bucks to cover that. Your choice of donating excess funds is fine with me, and you’ve chosen a good place to do it, but make sure you’re taken care of, too.
I second ThirdWaveDave’s point – you’re going to need follow-up care, and since you’ve already used the available insurance benefit, make sure you keep enough to cover it. Lord knows, the last thing you need is getting everything done, and having to have something ELSE taken care of without having the resources to do so.
I’d suggest just monitoring it closely – once you reach the max, take the donation button off your site, and post something saying you’ve reached the total, nothing further is needed, and if anybody wants their money back to say so. The money’s being given to you as a gift – think of it as being a side effect of just being Very Cool.
Slublog, you’re probably right but there’s a reason I chose Operation Gratitude: they sent care packages when Sgt. Hook, a friend and fellow blogger (who’s on hiatus right now), was stationed in Afghanistan. I remember him telling me just how very appreciative his troops were when those packages arrived.
Since then, I’ve supported Operation Gratitude whenever I can.
I’ll definitely take the Donation button off my site when I hit the max, but I still don’t think it’s my place to decide whether to keep any excess donations or not. Regardless of whether there are future costs or not, I asked for help to pay only this bill, and it just doesn’t seem right for me to decide unilaterally what to do with any excess funds.
That’s why I said I’d return the donations to the donors, but if/when that time comes I’ll be sure to let them know why it’s being returned (i.e., that the Fund is full). At that point, it’s their call what to do with it.
I’d feel best handling it by doing what I think is right.
Nope. Sorry. You’ll feel better if you do what we think is right, so there. :p
Well, since the overage would probably also cover my training wheels suggestion :O
I’d second the Operation Smile idea – I’ve met some of those folks, they are doing absolutely miraculous things. Aside from just working hands on fixing kids with some pretty profound birth defects, they’re also teaching local doctors the skills necessary to continue the efforts in their absence – so it’s a lot more than a ’swoop into town, patch em up, drink some mai-tais, then jet back home’ sort of effort.
My advice: Don’t you dare give a single penny of it back, nor donate it elsewhere.
Have you considered that these donations are INCOME as far as the IRS and likely your state are concerned? Your tax bill is going to increase with every paym..er…”donation”. Or you can just pretend that you don’t have to pay taxes on it and ignore it at tax time – and deal with the IRS when they find out about it later.
I could be wrong. I suppose that as a former attorney you may have tricks up your sleeve that someone like myself isn’t aware of, but I hope that you’re at least taking this into consideration when you determine the true cost of your expenses in this matter.