Patrons and Donors

There are two ways to fund a project, voluntary and non-voluntary. Voluntary means giving without coercion. Non-voluntary is funding by means of theft or force. Funding through taxes is non-voluntary. If you choose not to pay your taxes, the government will take your money or property by force.

We should limit the use of force by government. Therefore government should perform the minimum tasks necessary so that taxes will be as low as possible. This will minimize government intrusion in the lives of citizens.

However there is a class of activities that are best performed by government but are not necessary and essential activities. National Defense is essential. Diplomacy is essential. Agricultural subsidies are not. Energy research is not. Those functions that are not essential but belong to government, I call semi-government. Semi-government activity should not be funded by taxes.

How should semi-government be funded? It should be funded by voluntary contributions. Those voluntary contributions can be divided into two types, donors and patrons.

Donors
Donors are people who choose to give time, money or material to a cause. A donor is convinced by the people interested in a cause to donate one time to that cause. A repeat donor may give to a cause more than one time.

Patrons
A patron chooses to give to a cause on a regular basis. This may be weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly. A patron can be counted upon to give steady support to a cause.

Examples
Red Cross, March of Dimes, United Way, Salvation Army, Combined Federal Campaign