My place puts the donation tabs right on the ticket, from $100 to $50k. Not kidding. I base my donation on the president's speech, if he or she makes eye contact and it's entertaining and makes me laugh at least one, I'm in. The dullards reading off a notecard, zip. Plenty of other ways I can donate to the cause.
But to Ragu's point, I was raised strict conservative: no driving on the holiday, no writing, no telephones. Yet in keeping with the true chinese menu of the faith ('I'll take this and this but not that, okay, some of that but not so much of this...') we'd sneak into my grandmother's shul because my parents refused to spend money on something they could get for free. We also kept kosher, but with a set of plates for shrimp and/or anything with accidental bacon bits.
But to Ragu's point, I was raised strict conservative: no driving on the holiday, no writing, no telephones. Yet in keeping with the true chinese menu of the faith ('I'll take this and this but not that, okay, some of that but not so much of this...') we'd sneak into my grandmother's shul because my parents refused to spend money on something they could get for free. We also kept kosher, but with a set of plates for shrimp and/or anything with accidental bacon bits.