In my HerrBertArt Etsy Shop, I promise that I’ll donate all profit to a sea rescue organization and I kept that promise. I actually donated way more than the profits but let’s go step by step.
The Etsy Shop Income and Donations in 2020
My HerrBertArt Etsy Shop Income in 2020: 309.99€
For the ease of it I’ll not use the income instead of the profit. So I pledged to donate 309.99€.
My donations to sea rescue organizations in 2020:
– OpenArms.es: 650€
– Sea-Watch.org: 250€
That’s 900€ in donations to sea rescue, and I think I can say I kept my promise of donating the shop’s profits.
Many thanks to everyone who bought a pendant and supported not only my passion for creating art but also our human obligation of solidarity and support to those less fortunate than us.
Make the state pay for sea rescue via your tax savings for donations!
At first glance that might make me look cheap, but here’s the deal: As I live and pay taxes in Spain, I donated most of the money to a Spanish NGO because that’s how I can make the state pay something for sea rescue as well. This is how my donations will get much more. The state pays part of it in taxes I save, and what I save I’ll donate again. Ok, it’s a bit of an overly optimistic view, but it’s at least something. So I am looking forward to my tax savings/ additional donations to make in 2021.
Who would have thought that one day I’ll be happily doing my tax? 😉
Other donations in 2020
It was a year with many possibilities for donations. Even projects I thought were somewhat financially stable had to ask for support, and it was even harder than usual to choose what, where, whom to support. All projects deserved support, all projects are also the people and existences behind them, and I felt random and helpless. Anyway here are some other projects I donated to:
- Salary: First of all I did cut back my working hours from 40h/ week to 35h/week with the corresponding salary cut to support the company I am working for by lowering the fixed costs for employees. It turned out that this wasn’t really needed to support the company as they are doing ok, but I kept it that way because working fewer hours did help me keep my sanity.
- Amadeu Antonio Stiftung
- Médecins Sans Frontières
- Hafenklang
- Hamburger Gabenzaun e.V.
- Mensch Mensch Mensch e.V.
- Hinz & Kunzt
- Change.org
Support that is technically not a donation - Patreon
- Kiva
- Tickets for virtual gigs
- Virtual drawing classes
- Soli T-Shirts which I would usually not have bought as I have enough clothes
I donated 1/12 of my income in 2020
Well, that’s awesome, and I am happy and proud of myself.
What’s next?
Here’s the point: I think it’s ok to pad myself on the back for the donations and the engagement in 2020 AND with that smile on my face I am going to do more. This requires several steps:
- Keep up the good work!
- Engage more
- Focus more
- and get comfortable with needing less.
This last point is crucial because it requires me not to compare myself with anyone. Not with people who have way more or way less, but only focus on my own real needs. There’s so much comfort, safety and freedom in knowing what you really need and being content with that.
If I compare myself with people who have less, I feel shame and guilt and that not helping them nor giving me the energy to work towards a more just wealth distribution.
If I compare myself to people who have more I easily fall into the trap of thinking “if they keep up the senseless consumption and sick salaries why should I cut back and look like a naive idealist” and then I’ll stay in the rat race until they stop? Well, I don’t think that’s going to change the world for the better either.
I need to find my own path. I do now or don’t do many things anymore seemed unthinkable many years ago, but here we are, and I’ll keep going.
So well done AND let’s keep going further.