I just had to turn down another batch of fundraiser requests. They were all asking for books, and offering to be tax deductions, but...I just paid my tax bill, and as an independent creator, it was BAD. Like...real bad.
Postage costs money. Shipping materials cost money. If it's not already in the budget, I can't really swing it right now, not even for the best cause in the entire world.
When authors say "I'm sorry, I can't" to fundraiser requests, please remember that we're all ducks here: we may look serene, but we're paddling as fast as we can to keep our heads above water. We don't say "no" because we want to swim in our money vaults. We do it so we can eat.
