And this is why all my personal donations are in cash and anonymous. It's no one else's business, I'm not going to be pretentious about it, and receiving "services" from an organization will not be predicated on how much I give.

I think there's value in giving money away publicly if it makes other people more generous.

How do you know it wouldn't have the reverse effect, and make others think, "Oh, now I don't need to bother, Gate's has this..."?

I don't have the source handy, but I remember reading about when Gates and Buffet went to Germany with their giving pledge. One of the German billionaires they approach replied something to the effect of: "Why should I give money to support life-saving research or to feed the poor? Isn't that the job of the government? If I give the money on my own, then that removes the incentive for government to figure out how to take care of societies ills."

It seems unlikely that by giving $X we reduce the government's giving by even 1/4 $X. There's a huge amount of room for funding, and I don't think the apparent need the government sees decreases much as private charity increases.

How could you possibly know what he did or didn't do with his money?

What fucking business is that of yours?

The old adage on HN is that you shouldn't say something that you wouldn't say in person. In that respect, your comment is spot on.