Recently an anonymous donor gave $100,000,000 to CAMH. As much as this sparked good news, it also sparked a lot of conversation around Hilborn about the different reasons why a donor might choose to be anonymous. That may sound surprising but here are five great reasons + a bonus reason why someone might want to remain anonymous.

1. Personal safety is paramount. Nothing says, "I have a lot of money, come burglarize my house" like making a huge donation. In fact, it is common for wealthy people to have personal security, including their own body guards. If you worry that your picture might appear on flyers posted all over town with "Missing" on them, you might decide that being an anonymous donor is a great choice.
2. What my family doesn't know, won't hurt them. One issue some wealthy people can face are family members who may not feel that giving money to a charity is the best use of their inheritance. By making an anonymous gift, the donor can support the organization they want and not have to face family members reading about it in the news.
3. Required to give by the court. It can be the case that a court will require a company to make a donation to a charity but, as a condition of the ruling, the corporation may not disclose the donor's name. This can happen when a company has caused harm to a large number of people and there is no way that they can track them all down to refund their money.
4. It is better to give than receive recognition. In some faith traditions, it is considered a very high form of giving to be an anonymous donor. In my own religion, Judaism, the sage Maimonides taught that anonymous giving is an important idea. Many religious Christians quietly tithe by giving 10% of their money to charity. 
5. Prevent the charity floodgates. What's the first thing that happens when a big gift is announced? We add them to our prospect list. Or a Board member comes to us and says, "can we get a gift from that person?" One way that a donor can reduce the number of charities knocking at their door is to remain anonymous.

Bonus reason | Privacy. In the case of CAMH, the gift is going to a mental health charity. It is still the case that there is stigma associated with mental illness. It may be the case that the donor has personal, or family, experience with mental illness but doesn't want to share that with the public.

There are many good reasons why a donor may choose to be anonymous for personal, family, religious, or legal reasons. If you have more ideas, please add them in the comments below. If you know of other faith-based reasons for remaining anonymous, please also add those.

Ann Rosenfield, MBA, CFRE is the Editor of Hilborn Charity eNews and is the Principal for Charitably Speaking. Her current project is getting a major gifts program up and running at a religious institution.