A lot of great stuff here again...thanks =) I'll try to be brief ;P

• correct, we were thinking poets would donate the author reward for the post (that's the right term, not the post's payout...thanks)...I understand now what you mean and really like the idea of having to commit a small amount to enter
• Thanks for elaborating on your secret vote idea...I like it...we could create a suggestion post to gather the initial list of charities :)
• I also like your idea of opening it up to be less strict since it's not really a contest, in a sense, any more...Perhaps we need to create a new tag #spumostcharitable or something that anyone can use on any poem posted during the contest period...but also committing them to either donating their highest author rewards or, perhaps only if they're a winner (top 3 highest valued, tagged post), they'd then donate...what do you think?