I tried to donate at Red Cross website

[SHRED]

You would think they would have more server capacity, wouldn't you?

I am wondering if it even made it through. Kept getting the hourglass symbol.
Are they are losing donations due to their technical incompetance?

[mattclearing]

1. Incompetence? Maybe they should have bought more servers?

Give me a break. They probably had a week of notice. How could they know they were going to have this kind of volume? I'm sure they'll beef up their IT infrastructure if they are losing donations. But to say that they could have predicted this (unlike Dubya, who was handed a report saying this was incredibly likely to happen), and should have gotten more servers, is ridiculous.

[SHRED]

2. Maybe so, that is why I asked

I thought they would be ready for this, or any kind of magnitude.
Isn't a big part of their existence geared toward receiving donations?
Whatever.

[mattclearing]

3. It's incredibly expensive to invest in IT.

Especially for charities. When forced to choose between providing emergency services and buying a new computer, they often choose the former. This kind of donation volume only happens once every few years, at most.

[Patiod]

4. So write them a check

and quit bitching, it's wildly unattractive right now.