I once paid for a woman's $120 grocery bill because she was taking too long finding her checkbook at the grocer and I only had three items worth under $10. I told the cashier to scan my stuff and then swiped my card. Of course, this caused even more confusion, then satisfaction, then gratitude that took up even more time, but I figured if she was in such a state that she couldn't even keep track of her money or finances she was already at her wit's end about something else. And she was, she had three kids, one of which was a teen that had left home recently and was not at "her father's" which made the woman distressed. I do require/request that all my charity be done anonymously. This is mostly because I don't want to ever be contacted for charity again, I don't want family and friends to know, and I don't want someone defending me like people do Buffet and Gates because of their donations. I sometimes wonder if Jobs actually gave to charity, but just kept it a secret from his friends and family like I do.
It's weird because I think I'm a charity addict sometimes. I probably have given away 15-20% of my net pay this year, but it's always trying to do more and more bizarre things, like when I gave 1 ounce of silver to each of a dozen campaign staff workers over Christmas or when I donated the full amount to some random kid's [Charity | Water](http://www.charitywater.org/) event where he was trying to "raise $250", then linked to it on Reddit and he ended up raising about $2,500 in total. I'm constantly trying to figure out how to top the last one. And I think that's the whole point. I feel like I'm compelled to do the [Improv Anywhere](http://improveverywhere.com/) for charity. Hope this info helps!
There are worse things to be addicted to. 15-20% is exceptional. Hell, that's more than Romney paid in taxes. Hope this info helps! -It does, all the responses here have given me some insight in to the psychological motivation behind "giving". There seem to be a number of differences but the common them is that each person feels compelled to do so in the first place.