By Amy Amatangelo

In addition to my writing career, I have a long history of working in the nonprofit world.  Social justice issues, particularly those concerning children, have always been important to me.

Also, I am someone who loves to save money – I use coupons, wait for sales, and always search for discount codes. I hate it when I realize after the fact I spent more money than I needed to.

That being said – within minutes of learning there was a Kickstarter campaign to make a Veronica Mars movie, I donated. Not crazy money, enough to get me a t-shirt and the shooting script. I’ve never given to a Kickstarter campaign before but I loved Veronica Mars. The show was cancelled too soon. And I love the fact that six years after the show ended, Kristen Bell and Rob Thomas want to make a movie happen. They like the show as much as we do and you know that is not always the case. To be totally honest, I already feel like I got my money’s worth just from the little video created to promote the project. (Can you put a price on a smoldering Logan?)

But even as I gave my money, I thought to myself, “I’m giving money to people who have money.” And I understand the uproar of wouldn’t it be nice if we could all mobilize to donate money to underfunded schools or third-world countries not to major movie studios. And yes ,obviously, that would be wonderful.

But every day I make decisions to spend my money on less than altruistic ways – I buy myself an overpriced coffee or an outfit that’s way too expensive or a $23 movie ticket so I can sit in the comfy seats. (Even with coupons an overpriced outfit is still overpriced).

We all have causes we support and that’s important (and, even within those causes, there’s a hierarchy). But every day I spend money on entertainment from my Internet and cable bill to my eBooks and magazine subscriptions. To say that the money raised for the Veronica Mars movie could have been put to better use is way too simplistic an argument. My money could probably almost always be put to better use.

The Kickstarter campaign is not that much different than fans sending peanuts to save the television show Jericho or similar “Save Our Show” campaigns. It shows those in charge, who have the real money, that there’s a consumer demand for the product.

Do I wish that the people giving thousands of dollars could see some sort of return? Of course. Do I think it’s a little weird that one of the rewards is having Kristen Bell and Rob Thomas follow you on Twitter? Absolutely. But really I’m mostly downright giddy at the prospect of a Veronica Mars movie and positively delighted to support the project. How about you?