Hey, wait. I just noticed this Discussion comment thread you started just before making this post:
they're just doing it wrong. The way to maximize karma by donating is to make a top-level post talking about your donation, and encouraging others to donate. Comments are small potatoes karma wise
Well, at least drethelin is testing his beliefs.
The recent top level post encouraging people to donate in support of Luke had a lot of a comments saying that it helped remind them to donate at all, simply by bringing it to their attention. I think this is a useful function, and the more people that publicly state that they are donating the stronger the peer pressure on people to donate. I have a recurring monthly donation of 500 dollars, and recently donated 2000 in support of lukeprog and because it is currently getting doubled. Please, if you are willing, comment on this post with donation amounts! Any amount is useful to talk about, even if you think it's less than what other people are donating, because for every person that can donate a large amount there is a large amount of people that can donate a small amount. We should encourage and reinforce donation behavior at all levels.