The giving standard: conditional cooperation in the case of charitable giving

• In this study, we make a first attempt to investigate the mechanisms of conditional cooperation in giving outside experiments, using retrospective survey data on charitable giving (the Giving the Netherlands Panel Study 2005 (GINPS05, 2005 ; N = 1474)). Our results show that in the case of door‐to‐door donations, social information affects perceived social norms for giving and, through this perception, influences the level of actual donations. The effect of social information on actual door‐to‐door donations is fully mediated by perceived social norms for giving. Furthermore, we found empirical support for the giving standard hypothesis. People in different income categories donate roughly the same amounts in separate instances (they use the same social information), and as a result people in lower income households donate a higher percentage of their income to charitable organizations.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gender differences in charitable giving

This paper examines the mechanisms for giving by investigating the psychological and values differences between men and women's motivations for giving. We explored two of the eight mechanisms for giving developed by Bekkers and Wiepking as a framework for why people give—principle of care and empathic concern. Are there differences in these motives for giving by gender, and can these differences in values and the psychological benefits that people receive when making donations explain gender differences in charitable giving? Are women more likely to give and give more than men because of their higher levels of empathic concern and principle of care? We used two US national data sets to test our hypotheses. Our results for both data sets indicate significant differences in motives by gender, as well as differences in the probability of giving and amount given by gender, even after controlling for empathic concern and principle of care measures. Our findings are discussed in terms of the importance of viewing charitable giving through a gender lens as well as practical implications for practitioners. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategic giving and the nursing shortage

• Health care organizations in the United States face a significant nursing shortage, which seriously impacts the quality and availability of health care. Confronting this challenge requires involvement from organizations beyond the public sector. This paper explores an initiative by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, exemplifying the concept of ‘strategic philanthropy,’ to contribute their financial resources and strong institutional ties to respond to the current and future shortage of nurses in Florida. Through this intervention, the company and partnering organizations hope to benefit the health care sector, the public, and themselves from the outcomes associated with the generation of a greater supply of nurses.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gift giving: an interdisciplinary review

• The issue of why individuals choose to support charity has been the focus of considerable research in the disciplines of economics, psychology, social psychology, sociology, anthropology and more recently, management and marketing. This paper draws together extant work, developing a content model of giving behavior that fundraisers may use to inform their professional practice. A number of specific propositions are developed from the literature to assist in this goal. The paper provides summary tables of existing empirical studies categorized by the dimensions of the model, explores ambiguity in research findings, and concludes by highlighting opportunities for further research

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What research tells us about planned giving

The transformation of fundraising from an ‘emerging profession’ to a ‘true profession’ is contingent on the development of ‘a formal body of knowledge based on theory and research’. To advance that goal, this paper reviews several research studies and makes recommendations for practice by fundraising professionals. The paper identifies indicators of philanthropic tendencies in very wealthy individuals and a research basis for donor cultivation activities. It also looks at giving by bequest, charitable remainder trust and charitable gift annuities and recommends the marketing segments and channels best suited to each as defined by research. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

The fallacy of giving advice

Have you ever been micro-managed? Have you ever been told ‘to the letter’ what to do in a given situation? Or maybe as a leader you have also fallen into the trap of giving advice? We challenge the assumption that leaders should have the answer for everything. Occasionally, directing works, however, do it too often and at one point, it will turn out to be bad advice. The logical consequence is that leaders work on and increase the quality of the advice they give. We showcase that the alternative to leaders giving ‘bad’ advice is to not give advice at all. We shed light on the concept of leaders acting as coaches and how leaders can empower others to find their own answers. Specifically, we highlight four mind shifts in which leaders can engage if they want to use a coaching style: from ignoring emotions to empathy, from directing to empowering, from problem-focused to solution-focused and from weakness to strengths.     

Charitable giving and cognitive ability

• This paper presents the first detailed examination of the relationship between cognitive ability and charitable giving using both cross‐sectional and longitudinal analysis. Data from a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of U.S. adults over age 50 indicated that higher cognitive ability—measured through a variety of cognitive tests—was associated with a higher probability of charitable giving, even after controlling for such intervening mechanisms as age, income, wealth, health, and education. This was true in comparisons both across different people at one point in time and within the same persons at different points in time. Understanding this relationship may affect the content and timing of appropriate charitable marketing approaches and help to explain other associations found in previous research on charitable giving.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Payroll giving in the UK: donor incentives and influences on giving behaviour

Payroll giving became tax effective in 1987. Since then, it has grown steadily, but has never reached the success of payroll giving in the USA, where it accounts for the highest yielding and lowest cost form of fundraising. This paper looks at payroll giving in the UK and reports the findings of a large scale survey of payroll givers. It also examines tax reliefs in encouraging giving through the payroll, and the role of stakeholders in such charities, companies and agency charities. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications     

Does giving make us prosperous?

Nonprofit economists have always assumed that income is a precursor to giving. In contrast, many philosophical and religious teachings have asserted that it is giving that leads to prosperity. This article seeks to test the non-economic hypothesis, using data from the 2000 Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey. It identifies strong evidence that money giving does, in fact, influence income. This is consistent with extant psychology research which clearly shows that volunteering leads to positive mental and physical health outcomes. The implication of these findings for researchers and managers is that the value of charity is not limited to those who receive the services that giving makes possible. On the contrary, charity unleashes substantial benefits to the givers themselves.     

Gallup charity survey shows giving patterns

The Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations undertook this survey to broaden understanding of contribution habits. The results provide a rich source of knowledge about giving patterns and insight into America's giving habits.     

Charitable giving expenditures and the faith factor

Using a permanent income hypothesis approach and an income-giving status interaction effect, a double hurdle model provides evidence of significant differences from the impact of household income and various household characteristics on both a household's likelihood of giving and its level of giving to religion, charity, education, others outside the household, and politics. An analysis of resulting income elasticity estimates revealed that households consider religious giving a necessity good at all levels of income, while other categories of giving are generally found to be luxury goods. Further, those who gave to religion were found to give more to education and charity then those not giving to religion, and higher education households were more likely to give to religion than households with less education. This analysis suggests that there may be more to religious giving behavior than has been assumed in prior studies and underscores the need for further research into the motivation for religious giving. Specifically, these findings point to an enduring, internal motivation for giving rather than an external, “What do I get for what I give,” motive.     

Corporate giving: Targeting the likely donor

Recent years have seen a major change in corporate attitudes to giving. There are many accounts in the literature of a move away from a purely philanthropic motive for charity support, to an opportunity-based paradigm where companies seek some tangible benefits in exchange for their donations. This paper reports the findings of a detailed survey of corporate givers undertaken in the county of Devon. The aim of the research was to determine the primary motivations for giving among the business community and the criteria most commonly used to select charities for support. The results clearly indicate that the primary motivation for giving remains a purely philanthropic one. The majority of businesses presently do not look for any gain to accrue from their charitable support and therefore do not monitor the success of their relationships with the charity sector.     

Discussing the intriguing relation between unemployment and giving practices

This research attempts to provide responses to the question “Does unemployment make people less likely to give?” by developing a theoretical model based on consumer choice and labor supply and using data from the World Giving Index, collected for 153 countries from 2010 to 2015. The results from panel data and from ordered probit estimations revealed that countries with higher unemployment rates (especially male and female youth unemployment) are associated with values related to a less generous profile on the part of respondents. Our results were obtained while controlling for a convenient set of variables, and the estimated coefficients generated an extension of this discussion toward the models of welfare states and the giving practices worldwide.     

Giving USA qualifies bank study projections of giving

Giving USA, perhaps the most respected annual report of philanthropy, takes exception to some of the conclusions drawn by the Chemical Bank study. All non-profits are winners in their eyes.     

The coming of age of major giving

The beginning of the 21st century may well usher in a golden age of major gifts. Not only are those donors born at the beginning of the twentieth century distributing their wealth, but ‘Baby boomers’ and ‘Generation X’ are accumulating significant assets at much younger ages. Each generation appears able and willing to make larger donations to charities. By rethinking major gifts strategy charities can benefit from the increasing wealth and affluence.Copyright © 2000 Henry Stewart Publications.     

San Francisco success story: merging hospitals and increasing giving

Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center and Children's Hospital of San Francisco not only pulled off a major merger but they raised total annual giving by nearly 20 percent to $9.4 million.     

Turning data into donations: A predictive model for individual giving

This paper describes a predictive model developed by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) for the evaluation of donor management strategies. The high cost of acquiring new donors means that effective donor management is essential throughout the charity sector. Early RNID analysis of donor behaviour used conventional sector approaches. This led to the development of a predictive model that uses a statistically determined segmentation system for current donors with responses of the donor base described by a Markov model. The model is used primarily to evaluate the expected rate of return of possible campaign strategies, but there are many other ways in which the approach is of value, both to the RNID and to the charity sector as a whole.     

Developing planned giving at the Salvation Army Southern Territory

The Salvation Army operates internationally and is an evangelical part of the universal church, they provided help to over 30 million individuals in 2008. Their main focus is to build community, provide fellowship, rebuild lives, and provide comfort and support to those in need. They also provide disaster relief, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and activities for the elderly, among many other social services. The international headquarters, the administration centre, is based in London. The Salvation Army USA, based in Virginia, has a national commander and national chief secretary who work to coordinate the national efforts. There are 4 geographical territories, south, east, west and central and each territory is a separately registered nonprofit entity. The southern territory is further divided into 9 divisions and has historically been very successful at planned giving fundraising. Planned giving success had been attributed to the territories personal approach. However, with the noticeable changes in the attitudes of seniors the planned giving has significantly declined in 2008/2009. Seniors, who had been considered the most suitable donor prospects had developed a sense of fear and distrust of the government and the banking system. They were resisting personal meetings with planned giving staff that had been so successful for the Salvation Army. As a consequence the planned giving strategy had to be adapted. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motivations and forms of corporate giving behaviour: insights from Australia

• Although corporate support for many nonprofit organisations (NPOs) represents only a relatively small component of their overall income its importance is growing. As a consequence, the need to understand corporate giving behaviour in a way that supports the development of strategically targeted and successful marketing campaigns is of growing importance to marketing managers in many NPOs around the globe.
• This paper presents the findings of a study into the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of corporate giving behaviour in Australia. In the seven case studies examined, there was no strong evidence that Australian corporations give for other than strategic profit maximisation or political reasons. In contrast to the literature, altruistic and managerial utility did not emerge as strong motivational factors.
• This study also found that corporations are likely to have a number of corporate giving programmes each with its own underlying motivation and strategic purpose which network together to form a hierarchy of corporate giving programmes.
• The paper concludes by discussing the implications of this research for NPO managers attempting to increase their level of corporate support.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Donor recognition: A double-edged sword in charitable giving

Previous studies discover confounding results on how donor recognition affects individual charitable giving. To answer the questions of how different donor recognition schemes affect individual giving and what type is more effective as a marketing strategy to meet different fundraising goals, we conducted a field experiment in China with three donor recognition types: voluntary, involuntary, and mandatory donor recognition. We used social media to recognize donors and verified the field experiment results with naturally occurring data. We observed similar behavioral patterns in both samples. The results of this study explain the mixed results from previous studies, suggesting that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for recognizing donors. Decision makers of nonprofit organizations need to select the appropriate type of donor recognition based on their fundraising goals.