Identity motives in charitable giving: Explanations for charity preferences from a global donor survey

Millions of charities compete for donor dollars, yet why people prefer to give to particular charities remains poorly understood. Informed by the social identity approach, and using mixed methods, we analyzed open-ended responses from a global donor survey (N = 1,849 from 117 countries) to understand why participants see their favorite charity as important, and how identities influence charity preferences. Nine subthemes were generated under two overarching themes: Self and Other. Theme prevalence and charity category were not independent: donors were more likely to explain giving to religious and research charities in relation to the self, but to explain giving to social service, animal, or international charities in relation to the other. We also present an inventory of the identities that consumers use to inform their giving. Together, findings show the importance of identities in charitable giving and demonstrate how consumer motives depend on the cause or beneficiary.