People only donate because they feel guilty or they want to feel pious.

If they feel guilty, donating will make them feel less guilty, but people rarely donate as much as they theoretically could. They will generally donate just enough to leave themselves with as much guilt as they can stomach. Generally, people know they can always donate more, and not doing so leaves a bit of residual guilt. Dont donate, feel guilty. Do donate anything but the maximum, feel less guilty. In this situation, not feeling guilty in the first place leaves them better off.

Some people will donate less than the maximum and feel no guilt. They must feel that the people recieving the donation don’t really deserve any more and should be happy with the little that they recieve. This is borderline antisocial.

If they want to feel pious they will donate, but the first criteria for being in this group requires that they dont feel any initial guilt. How many people would this describe in reality? If they dont feel any guilt, could they be considered self-centered and arrogant?

Being in this group also requires that they donate an amount less than the maximum possible and feel no residual guilt. Again the personality this describes is hardly one to aspire to have.

So you can see why people try to avoid donation collectors: avoiding the collectors means avoiding the guilt, leaving a normal person better off. Being in anything other than this group makes you an asshole.

People know this. They know that, really, the only reason they donate is to make themselves feel good. So they avoid feeling bad in the first place. It makes perfect sense to me.

What better than alleviating yourself from guilt? Not feeling guilty in the first place.