American Go E-Journal

Go Non-spotting: In Praise of the AGF

Monday April 18, 2022

By Ze-Li Dou

My friend and colleague Scott Nollet is a long-time donor to the American Go Foundation. In our email exchanges in March the topic came up, and below are the relevant passages from Scott.

“Once Covid hit, I stopped getting requests to contribute to the American Go Foundation and wondered if the organization might have folded. But now I got a request in December, and they said that they simply had had lower needs (I imagine because the Go tournaments were done over Zoom). It’s pretty nice that they didn’t ask for money when they didn’t need it! 

“I give quite a bit to charities, and the usual practice is that once $500 is given, immediately $600 is asked for next. So the AGF behavior was a pleasant surprise. I gave them double my usual donation.”

I am fortunate enough to have been supported by the AGF before. It is heartening that it has distinguished itself among the many organizations that depend on donor support—I am glad to add that the honesty is paying off, too! The leaders of AGF deserve praise from all go players. Bravo!