tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/giving-tuesday-45025/articlesGiving Tuesday – The Conversation2023-02-07T13:35:41Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1989772023-02-07T13:35:41Z2023-02-07T13:35:41ZOn the first-ever India Giving Day, the highest-earning ethnic group in the US gets a chance to step up and help their homeland<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507970/original/file-20230202-14351-1p6zzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=107%2C71%2C5883%2C3502&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Microsoft CEO and Chairman Satya Nadella is one of the most prominent Indian Americans. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/satya-nadela-speaks-on-stage-at-the-a-conversation-with-news-photo/1186121279?adppopup=true">Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Members of the Indian diaspora living in the U.S. are being urged to step up and channel money back to the homeland during a 24-hour charitable drive.</p>
<p>On March 2, 2023, the first <a href="https://www.indiagivingday.org/">India Giving Day</a> will take place. The plan is to encourage U.S.-based donors, especially the nation’s <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/indian-immigrants-united-states">2.7 million Indian immigrants</a> and the roughly <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/09/social-realities-of-indian-americans-results-from-2020-indian-american-attitudes-survey-pub-84667">1.3 million U.S.-born Americans of Indian origin</a>, to give to Indian causes in unison. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=a8EwKzoAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar interested in the role that charitable donations</a> play in international development, I expect this fundraising drive to raise millions of dollars for India-supporting nonprofits. </p>
<p>The campaign’s organizers will raise money to fund projects that will improve education, health care and gender equality and meet other important needs in a country with <a href="https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/hdp-document/2022mpireportenpdf.pdf">228.9 million</a> people living in poverty, according to the 2022 <a href="https://ophi.org.uk/multidimensional-poverty-index/">Global Multidimensional Poverty Index</a> – more than anywhere else in the world.</p>
<h2>A nonprofit alliance</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.indiaphilanthropyalliance.org/">India Philanthropy Alliance</a>, a coalition of 14 U.S. nonprofits that fund development and humanitarian projects in India, is coordinating the event. Its members already raise a total of almost <a href="https://www.indiaphilanthropyalliance.org/">US$60 million annually</a> in the U.S. Their goal is to amass more funding collectively by holding an annual single-day push.</p>
<p>Although the alliance will welcome donations from anywhere and anyone, its main focus is to encourage Indian Americans and Indian immigrants who live in the U.S. to support its members, such as <a href="https://www.cryamerica.org/">CRY America</a>, a children’s rights nonprofit, and <a href="https://www.smsfoundation.org/about-us/">Sehgal Foundation</a>, an organization promoting rural development in India. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/india-philanthropy-alliance-begins-countdown-for-the-first-ever-india-giving-day-celebrating-contributions-by-americans-to-india-301721192.html">Giving days</a>, 24-hour campaigns to raise awareness and donations for specific organizations and causes, have become more common in the U.S. over the past 15 years. There are many for <a href="https://info.givegab.com/giving-days/">schools, hospitals and many other kinds of organizations</a> but <a href="https://www.givingtuesday.org/">Giving Tuesday</a> is the most popular. Held on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, it <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/givingtuesday-record-donations-holidays-2022/">raised over $3 billion</a> for a wide array of causes in 2022. </p>
<p>All told, Indian Americans give an <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/indian-americans-donate-1-bn-a-year-one-third-of-their-giving-potential-survey/articleshow/65033075.cms">estimated $1 billion annually</a> to charity. </p>
<p>There is the <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/indian-americans-donate-1-bn-a-year-one-third-of-their-giving-potential-survey/articleshow/65033075.cms">potential for even higher sums</a> being raised from the many very rich Indian Americans – a long list that includes actress Mindy Kaling, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, economist Amartya Sen, Microsoft CEO and Chairman Satya Nadella – and the entire Indian American community.</p>
<p>That’s because <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-americans/">Indian Americans</a> are the nation’s <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/indians-are-highest-earning-ethnic-group-in-usa-harsh-goenka-explains-why-11673748104413.html">highest-earning ethnic group</a>, and yet <a href="https://indiaspora.org/indian-american-community-engagement-survey/">they give away a smaller share of their income</a> than the U.S. average.</p>
<p>The alliance aims to see Indian American giving <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/future-of-indian-american-philanthropy-trends/">triple to $3 billion</a>, with some of that total funding development and humanitarian projects in India. <a href="https://www.alliancemagazine.org/feature/whither-indian-diaspora-philanthropy/">India’s government</a> has also been vocal about wanting Indian Americans to contribute more toward India’s development. </p>
<h2>Giving to the homeland</h2>
<p>India Giving Day is an example of <a href="https://www.alliancemagazine.org/feature/complexities-diaspora-giving/">diaspora philanthropy</a> – giving back to one’s homeland, often by pooling resources with others who share the same heritage. This giving can be in the form of money, or time spent volunteering for a cause. It has also been called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21632324.2015.1053305">homeland philanthropy, migrant philanthropy</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399719890311">refugee philanthropy</a>. </p>
<p>A common way that immigrants and people whose parents or grandparents immigrated to the U.S. <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/76-remittances.htm">send money back to their homelands is through remittances</a> – dispatching money across international lines to family and friends to help them get by. Total remittances globally <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/11/30/remittances-grow-5-percent-2022">grew 5% in 2022 to $626 billion</a>. The flows to India increased much more sharply, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/96025878.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst.">shooting up 12% to $100 billion</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.alliancemagazine.org/feature/whats-difference-philanthropy-remittances/">Diaspora philanthropy</a> can be characterized as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23322103">collective remittances</a> for development and humanitarian projects. Diaspora communities are motivated to collectively give because of their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-016-9755-7">shared identity and sense of responsibility</a> to their countries of origin. </p>
<p>There is currently no way to <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1805/24144">estimate diaspora philanthropy’s scale</a>. One reason for that is that funding is channeled through countless intermediaries, from <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003241003-10/beyond-north%E2%80%93south-dyad-susan-appe?context=ubx&refId=e5ee5cb1-ba61-4855-9a44-99a024d32864">diaspora-led organizations</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0012-155X.2004.00380.x">hometown associations</a> to <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1805/23421">universities</a>. </p>
<p>While India is of <a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2022/05/14/india-is-likely-to-be-the-worlds-fastest-growing-big-economy-this-year">one of the world’s fastest-growing economies</a>, it also has daunting needs when it comes to addressing poverty in its lowest-income regions.</p>
<p>For that reason, I believe any drive to encourage the flow of charitable dollars to India is to be welcomed. The cash raised through the India Giving Day campaign will help fund an array of projects, such as nutritional programs for children and expectant mothers, educational centers for child laborers and efforts to supply sewing machines for women’s cooperatives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198977/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Appe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Indian American donors will have an opportunity to collectively fund improvements in education, health care and gender equality in India on March 2, 2023.Susan Appe, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, University at Albany, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1415182021-02-25T13:25:35Z2021-02-25T13:25:35ZGiving while female: Women are more likely to donate to charities than men of equal means<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386180/original/file-20210224-22-a8jjpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=93%2C167%2C2498%2C1389&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women who are collectively donating to an all-girls school in Peru discuss their charitable giving in a Vienna, Virginia dining room.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dinner-for-nearly-two-dozen-at-the-dining-for-women-potluck-news-photo/691054828">Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The American poet <a href="http://dd.pangyre.org/p/">Ambrose Bierce</a> wrote in 1906 that a philanthropist is “a rich (and usually bald) old gentleman who has trained himself to grin while his conscience is picking his pocket.”</p>
<p>While this satirical description may have resonated at the time, it no longer rings true today – in terms of the physical description if not the <a href="https://theconversation.com/my-students-see-giving-money-away-as-a-good-thing-but-theyre-getting-leery-of-billionaire-donors-116627">metaphorical critique</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-25-billion-the-biggest-us-donors-gave-in-2020-says-about-high-dollar-charity-today-154466">Major donors</a>, people who give away massive sums of money, are becoming more diverse. <a href="https://theconversation.com/mackenzie-bezoss-17-billion-pledge-tops-a-growing-list-of-women-giving-big-117964">More are women</a> and <a href="https://www.pgdc.com/pgdc/giving-trends-younger-donors">50 years old or younger</a>.</p>
<p>As scholars of <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/people-directory/skidmore-tessa.html">how women give</a> and <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/people-directory/sellen-charles.html">global philanthropy</a>, we’ve learned that <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/how-why-give.html">women overall are more likely to give, and give more, than men</a>, and these differences can be seen in a variety of ways.</p>
<h2>Single or married, women give</h2>
<p><a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/give-more.html">Gender differences in giving</a> are especially notable among single women and single men. Holding factors like income and wealth constant, about 51% of single women indicated they would give to charity, compared with 41% of single men. Women are also more likely than men to give to charity as their income rises.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-mackenzie-scotts-5-8-billion-commitment-to-social-and-economic-justice-is-a-model-for-other-donors-152206">MacKenzie Scott</a> – who <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-25-billion-the-biggest-us-donors-gave-in-2020-says-about-high-dollar-charity-today-154466">donated US$5.7 billion in 2020</a>, more than any other American except for her ex-husband, Jeff Bezos – and other rich American women are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/30/style/mackenzie-scott-prisclila-chan-zuckerberg-melinda-gates-philanthropy.html">challenging traditional notions of who can be a philanthropist</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://givingpledge.org/Pledger.aspx?id=393">Scott is among</a> nearly a dozen single female billionaires who have <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-window-into-the-hearts-and-minds-of-billionaire-donors-139161">signed the Giving Pledge</a>, a commitment to give more than half of their fortune to charity during their lifetime. Others include <a href="https://www.globalgiving.org/redbackpackfund/">Spanx founder Sara Blakely</a> and <a href="https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/judy-faulkner-to-donate-99-of-her-wealth/400849/">Judith Faulkner, a software entrepreneur</a>. </p>
<p>Married women of means are also among today’s most prominent philanthropists.</p>
<p>It’s become more common and increasingly visible among the world’s richest couples for women to <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/women-give16.html">be equal partners in decisions about charitable giving</a> and to champion causes of their own, like gender equality and criminal justice reform. Prominent examples include <a href="https://time.com/5690596/melinda-gates-empowering-women/">Melinda Gates</a>, who is married to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/laura-arnold-billionaire-philanthropist-parole-system-jay-z-meek-mill-2019-8">Laura Arnold</a>, the wife of hedge fund investor John Arnold.</p>
<p>Some women who are married to billionaires appear to be taking the lead on the couple’s philanthropy. Examples include <a href="https://www.openphilanthropy.org/about/team/cari-tuna">Cari Tuna</a>, a former Wall Street Journal reporter married to Dustin Moscowitz, co-founder of Facebook and Asana, and <a href="https://www.medalofphilanthropy.org/mellody-hobson-and-george-lucas/">Mellody Hobson</a>, the businesswoman who chairs the Starbucks board of directors and is married to “Star Wars” filmmaker George Lucas.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385611/original/file-20210222-13-2lgn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4647%2C2988&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Businesswoman Mellody Hobson and her husband, filmmaker George Lucas" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385611/original/file-20210222-13-2lgn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4647%2C2988&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385611/original/file-20210222-13-2lgn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385611/original/file-20210222-13-2lgn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385611/original/file-20210222-13-2lgn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385611/original/file-20210222-13-2lgn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385611/original/file-20210222-13-2lgn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385611/original/file-20210222-13-2lgn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Businesswoman Mellody Hobson, married to filmmaker George Lucas, has taken a leading role in the couple’s philanthropy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/LAPremiereofBlackPanther/388588e78cbb4ddcb81cb10cda2b209c/photo?boardId=37be9465fcce45d283d5431cccb20a6a&st=boards&mediaType=audio,photo,video,graphic&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=68&currentItemNo=2">Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP</a></span>
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<h2>How women give</h2>
<p>Of course, no one needs to be wealthy to be charitable.</p>
<p>And women, whether they’re rich, poor or somewhere in between, are perhaps more likely than men to <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/women-give19.html">think about giving in broad terms</a>, participating in a variety of charitable activities.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/women-men-pandemic-disasters-help.html">During crises</a> and otherwise women seem especially likely to give by volunteering their <a href="https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/gifts-time-talent-and-treasure">time and talents</a>, in addition to donating money to support causes they care about. Women are also likely to contribute in other ways, such as <a href="https://www.aspenleadershipgroup.com/broader-definition-of-philanthropy-by-women/">providing their own testimony</a> by engaging in advocacy and leveraging their social networks on behalf of these causes.</p>
<p>Research has shown that <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/covid.html">people who are younger</a> and <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/women-give19.html">from communities of color are also likely to view giving broadly</a> and engage in less traditional forms of philanthropy, a trend that appears to have accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-coronavirus-pandemic-7b1d14f25ab717c2a29ceafd40364b6e">mutual aid societies</a>, which were originally established in Black communities in the 1700s, have reemerged to help individuals care for one another. </p>
<p>A study on <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/covid.html">charitable giving during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic</a> that one of us (Skidmore) led showed that <a href="https://theconversation.com/giving-in-the-pandemic-more-than-half-of-americans-have-found-ways-to-help-those-hit-by-covid-19-hardship-146517">younger Americans were significantly more likely to participate</a> in unconventional forms of giving, like making a special effort to order takeout to support local restaurants.</p>
<h2>Women are more likely to give together</h2>
<p>Women also show a greater preference for collective giving and other collaborative charitable efforts than men. <a href="https://johnsoncenter.org/resource/the-landscape-of-giving-circles-collective-giving-groups-in-the-u-s/">Most people who take part in giving circles are women</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://johnsoncenter.org/collectivegiving/">Giving circles</a>, in which donors pool and decide together how to allocate money to charitable causes, have grown significantly in recent decades. A <a href="https://johnsoncenter.org/resource/the-landscape-of-giving-circles-collective-giving-groups-in-the-u-s/">2016 study identified more than 1,000 independent giving circles</a> across the U.S. – approximately three times the number that existed in 2007. </p>
<p><a href="https://johnsoncenter.org/resource/giving-circles-around-the-world-webinar/">Giving circles have become a global phenomenon</a> as well, with more than 400 operating outside the U.S., including in Canada, Asia, the Pacific Islands and Europe.</p>
<p>In the U.S. and other countries, human services, education and women and girls are the <a href="https://johnsoncenter.org/resource/the-landscape-of-giving-circles-collective-giving-groups-in-the-u-s/">top three causes that giving circles support</a>.</p>
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<h2>Women are more likely to give online</h2>
<p>Interestingly, our colleagues at the Women’s Philanthropy Institute found in reviewing data from 2016 to 2019 that women give far more money online than men.</p>
<p>In particular, the researchers found that women gave about <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/women-give20.html">two-thirds of the money raised</a> through the annual <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-nonprofits-raised-2-5-billion-on-giving-tuesday-in-2020-151902">Giving Tuesday</a> charity campaign, which happens on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. </p>
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<h2>Women everywhere are generous</h2>
<p>There are many examples of affluent women giving generously elsewhere in the world too.</p>
<p>British author J.K. Rowling reportedly <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/forbes-billionaire-list-rowling_n_1347176">dropped off the Forbes list of billionaires because she gave so much money away</a> through the <a href="https://www.philanthropy-impact.org/inspiration/personal-stories/jk-rowling-obe">Volant Charitable Trust</a>. The creator of the Harry Potter franchise established it in 2000 largely to <a href="https://www.volanttrust.org/what-we-fund/">fight poverty and help women and children</a>.</p>
<p>In China, the landscaping entrepreneur <a href="https://projectpengyou.org/happy-international-womens-day-2018/">He Qiaonü</a> pledged $1.5 billion for <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-12/beijing-philanthropist-he-qiaonv-commits-1-5-billion-to-conservation">biodiversity conservation</a> in 2017. That marked the biggest donation ever made for an environmental cause in any country at that point.</p>
<p>Liliane Bettencourt, who inherited the L’Oréal cosmetics and hair care fortune, established the <a href="https://www.fondationbs.org/en">Bettencourt Schueller Foundation</a>, France’s largest foundation. It primarily supports <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/advertorials/fondation-bettencourt-schueller-funding-science-transform-society">life sciences and the arts</a> through prestigious prizes.</p>
<p>Japan’s <a href="https://www.amazonswatchmagazine.com/others/impact-inspire/the-philanthropic-pledge-the-story-of-japans-first-self-made-woman-billionaire/">first self-made woman billionaire</a>, Yoshiko Shinohara, recently retired to concentrate on philanthropy by funding scholarships for aspiring nurses, social workers or day care staff.</p>
<p>One reason women are able to give more money away today is that <a href="https://www.credit-suisse.com/about-us-news/en/articles/news-and-expertise/global-wealth-report-2018-women-hold-40-percent-of-global-wealth-201810.html">they have more of it</a>. The total amount of <a href="https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/managing-next-decade-women-wealth">wealth owned by women around the world could total $81 trillion in 2023</a>, by one estimate, up from $34 trillion in 2010.</p>
<p>So, contrary to Ambrose Bierce’s take from a century ago, people don’t need to be wealthy or male to be philanthropists.</p>
<p>[<em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141518/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tessa Skidmore is employed by the Women's Philanthropy Institute, which receives funding from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She also serves as Vice President of the Indiana Evaluation Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Sellen has received funding from Indiana University and from the Franco-American Fulbright Commission to conduct research on philanthropy. He is currently a visiting researcher at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.</span></em></p>Whether they are single or married, giving as a group or on their own, women express their generosity in distinct ways.Tessa Skidmore, Research Associate of Philanthropy, Women's Philanthropy Institute; Doctoral student of Philanthropy, IUPUICharles Sellen, Global Philanthropy Fellow, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, IUPUILicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1519022020-12-17T13:24:22Z2020-12-17T13:24:22ZUS nonprofits raised $2.5 billion on Giving Tuesday in 2020<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374907/original/file-20201214-17-15y7q9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=90%2C362%2C5180%2C3138&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Quarterback Patrick Mahomes gave $5,000 to the Dick's Sporting Goods Sports Matter program on Giving on Tuesday in 2018.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/DICKSSportingGoodsHolidayShoppingEventGivingTuesday/0773bb7537554590a73c5d41f7d3aaeb/photo?Query=%22giving%20tuesday%22&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=69&currentItemNo=9">Colin Braley/AP Images for DICK'S Sporting Goods</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374928/original/file-20201214-19-1yhkq0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374928/original/file-20201214-19-1yhkq0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374928/original/file-20201214-19-1yhkq0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374928/original/file-20201214-19-1yhkq0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374928/original/file-20201214-19-1yhkq0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374928/original/file-20201214-19-1yhkq0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374928/original/file-20201214-19-1yhkq0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374928/original/file-20201214-19-1yhkq0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Some 35 million Americans gave a total of <a href="http://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/givingtuesday-2020-raises-an-estimated-2.47-billion-in-u.s">US$2.5 billon on Giving Tuesday</a> to causes of all kinds, including $808 million in donations made online. </p>
<p>Donations increased overall by 25% from the total raised during this event in 2019 – the first year when the campaign began to calculate donations made offline, such as by sending a check or giving cash, in addition to online contributions.</p>
<p>This good news came as a relief to some of the nonprofit leaders who had voiced concerns that <a href="https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/insights/how-donors-plan-to-approach-giving-at-2020-year-end.html">donors who had given more than usual</a> throughout 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic distress might avoid this yearly show of support for charities. For example, an earlier event, <a href="http://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/givingtuesdaynow-raised-503-million-online-for-covid-19-relief">#GivingTuesdayNow</a>, raised more than $503 million in May for pandemic relief. </p>
<p>Giving Tuesday happens on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, which fell on Dec. 1 in 2020. </p>
<p><iframe id="I6bKF" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/I6bKF/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Giving Tuesday was <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21727010/giving-tuesday-explained-charity-nonprofits">launched in 2012</a> by the 92nd Street Y in New York City and the United Nations Foundation. It has grown into a global generosity movement spanning not just the <a href="https://www.givingtuesday.org/givingtuesday-across-us">United States</a> but more than <a href="https://www.givingtuesday.org/global">70 other countries</a>.</p>
<p>A dozen nations, including Chile, Ghana and Ireland, had their <a href="https://hq.givingtuesday.org/after-year-of-global-crisis-millions-respond-with-massive-swell-of-generosity-and-shared-humanity-on-givingtuesday-2020/">first Giving Tuesday campaigns</a> in 2020.</p>
<p>Theoretically, it costs nothing to raise donations online using social media. However, that’s not necessarily true in practice. <a href="https://theconversation.com/posting-on-facebook-is-helping-nonprofits-of-all-sizes-raise-money-122002">Research I conducted with a colleague</a> suggests that groups with a larger social media presence tend to get more donations in online giving days.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151902/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abhishek Bhati does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Even after donors boosted their charitable giving at other times of the year, people donated 25% more than in 2019 through the annual campaign.Abhishek Bhati, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Bowling Green State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1266562019-11-25T15:12:19Z2019-11-25T15:12:19ZDonors need to stop pressuring nonprofits to pinch pennies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302917/original/file-20191121-479-15ml4t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rewarding charities that scrimp is less strategic than it sounds.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/jar-full-coins-isolated-on-white-100936090">Allison Herreid/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The end of the year is a popular time to give to charity.</p>
<p>Historically, Americans have made 30% of their annual donations <a href="https://nonprofitssource.com/online-giving-statistics/">in December</a>. Many of them get a head start on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving during the global online fundraising campaign known as <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/27/18106481/giving-tuesday-2018-charity-donations-news-updates">Giving Tuesday</a>.</p>
<p>But no matter what time of year it is, donors want help deciding which charity to support. </p>
<p>Because I conduct research about <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=nFNWlb4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">nonprofit evaluation methods</a>, I’ve been studying the approach of ranking charities depending on how much of their budgets they spend on everything from <a href="https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/misunderstanding-">paperclips to insurance</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302486/original/file-20191119-111663-1n891oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302486/original/file-20191119-111663-1n891oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302486/original/file-20191119-111663-1n891oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302486/original/file-20191119-111663-1n891oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302486/original/file-20191119-111663-1n891oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302486/original/file-20191119-111663-1n891oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302486/original/file-20191119-111663-1n891oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302486/original/file-20191119-111663-1n891oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">At some point, being too thrifty at the office can undercut your work.</span>
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<h2>A dangerous obsession</h2>
<p>Known as the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/overhead-ratio.asp">overhead ratio</a>, this metric encompasses expenditures that might appear to be unrelated to work that advances a charity’s mission. Such money, the argument for low overhead ratios goes, might be wasted.</p>
<p>Nonprofits typically have overhead ratios of around 20%, meaning that they spend about 1 out of every 5 dollars on fundraising expenses, accounting, publicity and everything else <a href="https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/misunderstanding-overhead">needed to operate</a>. Some salary and benefits expenditures count as well, depending on what the employee does.</p>
<p>Pressure from donors, charity watchdogs, the media and even lawmakers to keep overhead costs low can conspire to deprive nonprofits of the money they need to run smoothly. In some cases, pressure to keep overhead low can <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_nonprofit_starvation_cycle">depress pay and bring about skimpy staffing and benefits</a>, making it harder for charities to <a href="https://ccss.jhu.edu/publications-findings/?did=261">hire strong job candidates</a> and keep their best employees on board.</p>
<p>Scholars and other experts call the unintended damage caused by donors who want to see their money support the groups with the lowest relative overhead the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0899764014527175">nonprofit starvation cycle</a>.”</p>
<p><iframe id="tmOvK" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/tmOvK/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>To be sure, watchdogs and regulators may find monitoring overhead ratios worthwhile because it may help them flag charities that are perhaps being wasteful – or even worse, <a href="https://theconversation.com/fraud-can-scuttle-nonprofits-but-the-bigger-and-older-ones-fare-better-101018">carrying out scams</a>.</p>
<p>But when donors use their influence to insist on restricting overhead costs, it can be counterproductive.</p>
<p>Fortunately, five large <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/5-CEOs-of-Big-Foundations/247063">foundations have realized</a> this. The Ford Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Open Society and the Packard Foundation said that they found that the charities they support, even well-known organizations, weren’t getting enough money to cover the cost of their operations. They are taking corrective action to increase the amount of their funding that nonprofits may spend on overhead.</p>
<h2>A widespread problem</h2>
<p>Those foundations give away millions of dollars every year. But I have seen how much smaller-scale donors use overhead ratios to guide their decisions about which charities to support.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2017.11.003">In a study</a> I conducted with economist <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/javiereportillo/home">Javier Portillo</a> we told participants to choose between two similar charities. The charity they chose would receive a donation of $100. Their choices varied according to how much their donation went to overhead.</p>
<p>The share who chose the first charity fell from 66% to less than 30% when the study’s participants heard that some of the donations they directed would be covering overhead expenses. This pattern held regardless of whether 20% or 50% of the donation went to overhead costs, and whether that overhead cost went to fundraising, salaries or both.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e-vOerHZqxz2_NImEaOhHN4l9o-RvUbP/view">follow-up study</a>, I found that this feeling is quite strong. Participants donated their own money, and around 40% of them were willing to give up money so as to withhold donations from a charity with a higher overhead ratio.</p>
<p>And I’m finding that lower overhead ratios <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QNKCVZ-JceE3IQ8l_f9IkdV6k0ggfp81/view">lead to fewer donations and assets</a>, providing further evidence of how the nonprofit starvation cycle harms charities.</p>
<h2>Better alternatives</h2>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/initiatives/pay-what-it-takes-philanthropy/the-nonprofit-starvation-cycle">years of research</a> pointing out the drawbacks of relying on overhead ratios as a way to see which charities are the best ones to support, the temptation to keep using them remains strong.</p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=35">charity evaluation firms</a>, such as Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and Give.org, still <a href="https://www.charitywatch.org/our-charity-rating-process">use</a> them as <a href="http://www.give.org/for-donors/the-care-we-put-into-our-reports/">metrics</a> for <a href="https://learn.guidestar.org/about-us">evaluation</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, mounting <a href="https://giving-evidence.com/2013/05/02/admin-data/">evidence suggests</a> that organizations with higher overhead ratios can actually be <a href="http://freakonomics.com/2011/06/09/why-ranking-charities-by-administrative-expenses-is-a-bad-idea/">more effective</a> at accomplishing their mission.</p>
<p>Some scholars are working on <a href="https://theconversation.com/nonprofits-that-scrimp-on-overhead-arent-necessarily-better-than-those-spending-more-111700">better ways to evaluate nonprofits</a>, but so far they are more helpful for foundations and other big donors than for average givers. </p>
<p>In the meantime, I believe it would be wise for donors to stop using overhead ratios as a way to choose which charities they’ll support. </p>
<p>If you are in the giving spirit this holiday season, by all mean support causes you are passionate about. To reduce the risk of your money being squandered, check with the <a href="https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/how-donate-wisely-and-avoid-charity-scams#research">charity evaluators</a> to see if they’ve had <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-donors-can-help-make-nonprofits-more-accountable-85927">problems with fraud</a>.</p>
<p>Many evaluators also provide <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=1093">accountability and transparency ratings</a>, which measure whether nonprofits are open about their finances. It’s a more meaningful signal than overhead ratios.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126656/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Stinn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trying too hard to keep spending low can make organizations struggle and take a toll on their staff.Joseph Stinn, Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1269952019-11-25T15:12:16Z2019-11-25T15:12:16ZCalling donors to thank them doesn’t make them more likely to give again<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302224/original/file-20191118-66925-m08b4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Even if the thought counts, the effort might not be worth it.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/getting-call-say-thanks-retro-red-502663696">karen roach/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Donors gave <a href="https://nonprofitssource.com/online-giving-statistics/giving-tuesday/">US$380 million</a> to nonprofits during 2018’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/27/18106481/giving-tuesday-2018-charity-donations-news-updates">Giving Tuesday</a> donation drive.</p>
<p>Many of the groups getting donations like those follow up by calling donors to thank them, leaving a voicemail if nobody picks up the phone.</p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PVj6uMYAAAAJ&hl=en">behavioral economist</a>, and I study the <a href="http://spihub.org/">effectiveness of fundraising practices</a>. I wanted to see if these calls made people more likely to support a charity again.</p>
<h2>Half a million</h2>
<p>To find out, I teamed up with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chucklongfield/">Chuck Longfield</a>, who recently retired from <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40520117/why-inbox-inundation-may-be-the-best-fundraising-tactic-for-nonprofits">a cloud software company</a> that has many nonprofit clients.</p>
<p>For <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3371327">our study</a>, we partnered with nearly 70 public television stations and one large national nonprofit. They sent us lists of half a million new donors from 2011 through 2016. The average size of a first donation was $150 for the public TV stations and $70 for the nonprofit.</p>
<p>We randomly assigned some of the donors to get thank-you calls – which can cost the charities about $1 each to <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/04/the-economics-of-charity-telemarketing">outsource</a>. The rest didn’t get calls.</p>
<p>The calls were personal, emphasized the impact of the gift and didn’t ask for another donation. </p>
<h2>Believe what I do, not what I say I do</h2>
<p>Google “thank-you call” and you’ll get over 50 million results, including <a href="https://clairification.com/2016/04/26/6-keys-rock-thank-calls-retain-donors/">loads of advice</a> about how to make them more likely to <a href="https://www.networkforgood.com/nonprofitblog/thank-you-calls-as-a-donor-retention-tool-6-steps-to-success/">keep donors on board</a>. </p>
<p>The evidence offered is largely anecdotal. This makes sense to me, because I often encounter fundraisers who say something like, “We know calls work, because when I called to thank Ruth she said she appreciated the call and wanted to give again.”</p>
<p>Sometimes, nonprofits pose this question to their donors – most of whom say the thank-you calls can make a big difference.</p>
<p>The problem is that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10683-007-9194-9">what people say often doesn’t match what they do</a>. That applies in many situations, including charitable giving.</p>
<p>Of the several hundred nonprofits I’ve surveyed, <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3371327">80% said they make thank you calls at least some of the time</a>. </p>
<p>One big reason for the calls is to encourage donors, especially new ones, to give again. Fewer than half of all <a href="http://afpfep.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018-Fundraising-Effectiveness-Survey-Report.pdf">donors do that</a>.</p>
<p>We also surveyed <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3371327">fundraising experts and the general public</a> about what they believe should be the impact of thank-you calls as we conducted them. Both groups believed that thank-you calls would increase the probability that someone would donate again within 12 months by 50%.</p>
<h2>Why bother?</h2>
<p>As the data rolled in, we began to see a pattern that surprised us. Making thank-you calls made no difference at all.</p>
<p>About 28% of the donors to the public TV stations who got thank you calls gave to the same charity within the next year. And 28% of the donors who didn’t get the calls did as well. </p>
<p>Likewise, about 31% of the donors to the national nonprofit gave to that group again, whether or not someone called to thank them for their first donation.</p>
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<p>We had a few more findings that strike us as significant. For example, the size of a donor’s future donation did not change based on whether someone thanked them for supporting a charity.</p>
<p>What’s more, we determined that these calls made no difference not just for the next year but for the next five years following the study.</p>
<h2>No secret agenda</h2>
<p>Based on the initial responses I’ve been getting from an <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3371327">academic paper</a> we published on this study, I want to be clear that I wasn’t out to get the fundraising industry.</p>
<p>My initial hypothesis, based on theories from behavioral economics and the prevalence of these calls, was that thank-you calls would work. I was excited about having a chance to measure their effectiveness.</p>
<p>But I have to report what the data says. And it says that routine thank-you calls to donors don’t help with nonprofit fundraising.</p>
<p>At the same time, charities might wish to make calls out of a belief that making them is the right thing to do. In that case, I can see a rationale for them to stick with this tradition.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126995/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anya Samek has received funding from Blackbaud, Inc. and the Templeton Foundation.</span></em></p>Like any personal touch, there’s a chance this common fundraising step makes people feel warm and fuzzy inside. But a five-year research project found that it doesn’t make donors more generous.Anya Samek, Associate Professor (Research) of Economics, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1220022019-09-30T11:24:15Z2019-09-30T11:24:15ZPosting on Facebook is helping nonprofits of all sizes raise money<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294241/original/file-20190925-51405-z1czqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More and more fundraising happens online.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/giving-money-online-closeup-keyboard-teal-523765876">karen roach/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Online giving, donations for charities made <a href="https://www.blackbaud.com/newsroom/article/2019/02/20/blackbaud-institute-releases-2018-charitable-giving-report">through websites and apps</a>, is growing quickly. It rose 17% between 2016 and 2018 to over US$34 billion. Some 8.5% of <a href="https://theconversation.com/american-giving-lost-some-ground-in-2018-amid-tax-changes-and-stock-market-losses-118892">all U.S. charitable donations</a>, including grants from foundations and gifts from people and companies, are made through websites <a href="https://outreach.com/blog/best-church-online-giving-platforms/">and apps</a>. </p>
<p>While researching what works best in fundraising in the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=heN16qUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">United States</a> and the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=TaR1F1QAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">United Kingdom</a>, we have become intrigued by the proliferation of <a href="https://www.nptechforgood.com/2018/12/03/2019-cause-awareness-giving-day-calendar-for-nonprofits/">giving days</a> – typically 24-hour-long online <a href="https://www.givegab.com/blog/what-is-a-giving-day/">fundraising campaigns</a>.</p>
<p>Among other things, we want to see whether heavily <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0899764019868849">using social media</a> platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were able to help nonprofits raise more money from more people during giving days.</p>
<p><iframe id="Szm4A" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Szm4A/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Giving days</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.givingtuesday.org/blog/2018/11/givingtuesday-2018-surpasses-billion-dollars-online-donations-its-inception-most">Giving Tuesday</a>, which is held on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/26/18098840/when-is-giving-tuesday">originated in 2012</a>. A wide array of nonprofits have raised an estimated total of $1 billion for everything from <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/giving-tuesday-where-donate-100000949.html">Alzheimer’s research to the Sierra Club</a> through this event in its first six years.</p>
<p>Others include Seattle’s <a href="https://www.givebig2019.org/">GiveBig</a>, which raised $11.4 million in 2019 and campaigns to raise money for specific schools. For example, <a href="https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2019/Q2/purdue-day-of-giving-leaps-to-41.6-million,-reaches-six-year-total-of-146.9-million.html">Purdue University</a> raised $41.6 million on its 2019 giving day in April and has amassed a total of nearly $150 million through these events over the past six years.</p>
<p>Many communities and specific causes, have created their own smaller-scale <a href="https://www.givegab.com/blog/what-is-a-giving-day/">giving days</a>.</p>
<p>For example, since 2013 <a href="https://www.omaha.com/news/metro/million-is-raised-during--hour-omaha-gives-charity-drive/article_36a1654a-a806-521f-8989-293aaff28b67.html">Omaha Gives</a> in Nebraska has raised a total of more than $50 million supporting more than <a href="https://www.omahagives.org/nonprofits">1,000 local nonprofits</a>. The organizations that take part in this campaign range from small animal and environment groups with annual budgets of less than $100,000 to large nonprofits with annual budgets of $100 million or more.</p>
<p>A recent study one of us co-authored looked into <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334573425_Growth_of_Community_Based_Giving_Days_in_the_United_States_The_Landscape_and_Effects">what motivates the donors</a> who take part in giving days. Its findings indicate that these people tend to be emotionally connected to the places where they live now and where they have spent time in the past.</p>
<p>We believe that this same emotional connection, along with nostalgia, explains the rise of giving days at colleges and universities. According to a recent survey conducted by <a href="https://www.case.org/">Council for Advancement and Support of Education</a>, 8% of the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Giving-Days-Gain-Traction-in/243953">alumni from 140 participating schools</a> donated on university giving days in 2017.</p>
<p>In 2018, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, raised $1.5 million in its third annual <a href="https://www.givetomiamioh.org/s/916/16/interior-flah.aspx?sid=916&gid=1&calcid=21723&calpgid=276&pgid=14683&crid=0">#MoveinMiami</a> giving day.</p>
<p>Other countries like <a href="https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2019/09/push-to-bring-giving-tuesday-to-australia-steps-up/">Australia</a> and developing countries such as <a href="https://daanutsav.org/">India</a> are emulating this model now. </p>
<h2>Social media</h2>
<p>Because giving days are relatively new, there’s little research about them. Hardly any scholars have looked into the role social media plays when they’re underway.</p>
<p>For our study, which we published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0899764019868849">Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly</a>, an academic journal, we collected up to a year’s worth of Facebook data for each of the 704 nonprofits that participated in Omaha’s 2015 giving day – a good example of these campaigns.</p>
<p>We took into account the number of likes on an organization’s Facebook page, the number of its posts referring to the Omaha Gives campaign and the number of times these posts were shared. We also obtained data on the size of these groups, information about their purpose – such as animal welfare or helping the poor – and how long they had been around.</p>
<p>Once we pooled all this data, evidence emerged that using social media tends to make nonprofits better at online fundraising.</p>
<p>For instance, we observed that a 10% increase in the number of likes on organizations’ Facebook page is associated with a 1% increase in the number of donations it gets. Similarly, we saw that a 10% increase in the number of Facebook posts a nonprofit made in the year before the Omaha Gives day in 2015 was associated with it raising 2.6% more money during that campaign.</p>
<h2>Size makes a difference</h2>
<p>Many fundraisers and nonprofit professionals see social media as an easy and perhaps cheap way to <a href="https://good360.org/blog-posts/7-ways-to-leverage-social-media-for-nonprofit-fundraising/">solicit donations</a>. We have heard the belief expressed that it has the potential to help organizations that operate on yearly budgets of up to $250,000, which can’t afford to advertise on radio or TV, to ratchet up their spending.</p>
<p>But we found that an organization’s size plays a major role in online fundraising. Omaha’s largest nonprofits, which have budgets of $1 million or more, raised three times as much money from three times as many donors than organizations with small budgets of less than $250,000, regardless of how frequently they used Facebook, which we used as a proxy for all social media.</p>
<p>That is, it doesn’t look like small organizations are likely to raise enough money to get much bigger just through being adept at using social media. We believe that because large organizations have larger budgets, they can afford to do a better job with their online fundraising campaigns and do more social media outreach.</p>
<p>In short, it does look like using social media can help nonprofits raise more money on giving days and that organizations of all sizes can expect the same proportional increase in donations when they use social media. </p>
<p>As most of the organizations in our sample were already using Facebook, we were unable to compare their fundraising performance to nonprofits that solely relied on more traditional outreach methods, such as mailings and phone calls. </p>
<p>We didn’t answer a related question: Does taking advantage of social media to fundraise merely engage people who already support your cause or does it attract new donors? But scholars are already tackling this important issue, and <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.15195/v3.a11">emerging findings</a> suggest that nonprofits need to spend heavily on social media before those efforts generate new donors.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122002/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Because large organizations have bigger budgets, they can more easily afford to excel at online fundraising through social media.Abhishek Bhati, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Bowling Green State UniversityDiarmuid McDonnell, Third Sector Research Centre Research Fellow, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1076042018-11-28T11:43:51Z2018-11-28T11:43:51ZHow the Salvation Army’s red kettles became a Christmas tradition<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247557/original/file-20181127-76752-1qd5p5t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Salvation Army is among the top few U.S. charities.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/55015963@N05/5162833707/">CityOfFortWorth</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tinseled trees and snowy landscapes are not the only signs of the upcoming holiday season. Red kettles, staffed by men and women in street clothes, Santa suits and Salvation Army uniforms, also telegraph Christmastime. </p>
<p>The Salvation Army is among America’s top-grossing charities. In 2018, its 25,000 <a href="https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/story/the-salvation-armys-2018-holiday-fundraising-season-raises-4337-million/">bell-ringers helped raise</a> US$142.7 million. That was part of the charity’s $3.8 billion year-end revenue from bequests, grants, sales, in-kind donations and investments as well as direct contributions.</p>
<p>William Booth, an English evangelist, <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/activists/william-booth.html">founded the Salvation Army</a> in 1878 as a religious outreach to London’s poor. How a British evangelical church became an American icon is an <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003965">ongoing interest</a> of mine. </p>
<h2>Entry into the United States</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247609/original/file-20181127-76770-1yhn1zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247609/original/file-20181127-76770-1yhn1zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247609/original/file-20181127-76770-1yhn1zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247609/original/file-20181127-76770-1yhn1zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247609/original/file-20181127-76770-1yhn1zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247609/original/file-20181127-76770-1yhn1zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247609/original/file-20181127-76770-1yhn1zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-England-WILLIAM-BOOTH/918d8477b3e6da11af9f0014c2589dfb/1/0">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Booth, who called himself “The General,” fashioned his army on Britain’s military. From the start, his “soldiers” wore uniforms, and they described their mission in martial terms. Salvationists <a href="http://the-east-end.co.uk/">marched through the streets of London’s East End</a>, a neighborhood of poor immigrants, with brass bands and female preachers. Booth and his followers also pursued “sinners” and frequently preached in bars, brothels and theaters. </p>
<p>Booth’s plan was to send his army worldwide, and his first stop was the United States. One of his early recruits had migrated to Philadelphia and <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003965">wrote to Booth</a> about the residents’ need for salvation. In 1880, a small party of British Salvationists <a href="http://www.castlegarden.org/">debarked at Castle Garden</a>, New York’s first immigration center. The group immediately started singing hymns set to popular melodies and marching through lower Manhattan. </p>
<p>During the next few days, the <a href="http://creatingdigitalhistory.wikidot.com/harry-hill-s">English “soldiers” tacked up posters</a>, similar to ads for commercial entertainment, for a prayer service at Harry Hill’s, a popular dance hall, theater and saloon. Not only was the venue thick with drunkards, prostitutes and pleasure seekers; its unlikeliness as a religious meeting place <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003965">guaranteed press attention</a>. </p>
<p>Such unexpected behavior did bring the Salvation Army to the public’s attention. Their boisterousness, even in service of saving souls, was criticized by New York’s clergy and <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003965">ridiculed in newspapers and magazines</a>. That the Salvation Army featured female preachers at a time when most Protestant groups did not ordain women only added to its notoriety. </p>
<p>But the army did not surrender. Pressing their “invasion” beyond New York City, the soldiers traveled first to Philadelphia and later nationwide. Their exuberance attracted young people and women to the cause. </p>
<p>Young people liked the notion of a military crusade for religious purposes, and women joined because the Salvation Army <a href="https://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Books/W/Women-in-God-s-Army">offered them positions of leadership and authority</a>. In fact, <a href="https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/people/booth-maud-ballington">William Booth’s daughter-in-law, Maud Ballington,</a> followed by his two daughters, <a href="http://www.newfrontierchronicle.org/emma-booth-tucker-the-consul/">Emma</a> and <a href="https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/booth-evangeline">Evangeline</a>, headed the American Salvation Army from 1887 to 1950. </p>
<h2>Kettles for Christmas dinner</h2>
<p>In both Britain and the U.S., Salvationists saw their mission as twofold: converting sinners and assisting the needy. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003965">In the Salvation Army’s perspective</a>, the two went hand in hand, which is why members opened shelters for addicts, alcoholics and prostitutes. Yet they also sought to aid “down and outers,” their name for the needy. Among their early outreaches were Christmas dinners for the urban poor. But finding funds for food and gifts was difficult.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247560/original/file-20181127-76764-1jt5lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247560/original/file-20181127-76764-1jt5lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247560/original/file-20181127-76764-1jt5lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247560/original/file-20181127-76764-1jt5lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247560/original/file-20181127-76764-1jt5lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247560/original/file-20181127-76764-1jt5lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247560/original/file-20181127-76764-1jt5lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Salvation Army mini Red Kettle and bell at Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/130946855@N03/24815413578/in/photolist-DNRtUf-DN3nKL-H196PR-21T3LGJ-q38Vgg-pSoPmx-ZAgYZg-GZfFQk-21T3SNS-GZfGDV-tEy6R-dBpJiW-GZgphP-ZQraxh-DN3kim-H18NqT-21RLYbC-21VTJNH-ZAgSyv-21T4Ncq-21RM7J9-ZzsKtx-ZQrHmN-ZzsEZT-DN3juC-DN1JuL-H19eXp-DNRw7G-21QWDKq-91w3jw-aYjpPz-aYjqsZ-aXp7uB-aYjqAv-aYjprF-aYjpFc-aYjqQP-21QW69y-21VUPKe-DN2JyS-ZQqV9s-H19d7a-DNRhf3-21VSKB8-ZztVya-GZfozt-GZgmZn-DN1KCs-21WLJ1P-H18PC2">Robin Wendell/Flickr.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By 1891, Salvationists had outposts nationwide. In San Francisco, Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee was eager to serve a Christmas feast for a thousand of the city’s poorest residents. Frustrated by his lack of success, <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003965">he decided to improvise</a>. Grabbing a crab pot from the local wharf, he hung it from a tripod at a busy intersection. Above the pot was a sign: “Fill the Pot for the Poor – Free Dinner on Christmas Day.” McFee’s campaign was a success. </p>
<p>Word spread and the kettles soon <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003965">provided Christmas dinners</a> for thousands nationwide. </p>
<p>The kettle also helped <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003965">rehabilitate the Salvation Army’s image</a>. Instead of seeing Salvationists as an unruly pack of religious rebels, many Americans recognized their work with the poor. At a time when neither state nor federal governments provided a social safety net, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Marching_to_Glory.html?id=-YjZAAAAMAAJ">the Salvation Army offered</a> meals, beds, work and medical facilities to destitute men and women. </p>
<p>But it was the Salvationists’ service in World War I that sealed the deal. Eager to support the American war effort, Salvation Army leaders sent “Sallies,” the popular nickname for army women, to the French front. The Sallies set up huts where they <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/donut-girls-wwi-helped-fill-soldiers-bellies-and-get-women-vote-180962864/">fried donuts</a>, sewed buttons, wrote letters and otherwise “mothered” the troops.</p>
<p>The women’s faith, fortitude and friendship touched many young soldiers. <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003965">One wrote in his letter home:</a> </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“These good women create an atmosphere that reminds us of home, and out of the millions of men over there not one ever dreams of offering the slightest sign of disrespect or lack of consideration to these wonderful women.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>By the war’s end, the Salvation Army had become a symbol of American humanitarianism, and fundraising was much easier. But after the 1920s, the army’s evangelical crusade took a back seat to social service delivery, at least in their public relations. It was easier to raise money for helping the poor than for converting them. </p>
<h2>Despite challenges, an American icon</h2>
<p>Today, many contributors do not realize the <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=806872">Salvation Army is a church</a>, a fact that has caused many Salvation Army leaders consternation. </p>
<p>And, much like other churches, its growth has stalled. Since 2000, it only has <a href="http://www.startribune.com/salvation-army-s-good-deeds-grow-from-little-known-church/466176253/">approximately 90,000 members</a>. Nonetheless, it continues to deliver social services nationwide. <a href="https://salvationarmyannualreport.org/static/36845fa7755ec36c180bbe6779224317.pdf">In 2017</a>, according to its own records, the army served over 50 million meals, operated 141 rehabilitation centers and provided shelter for almost 10 million people. It also provided adult and child day care, job assistance, disaster relief, medical care and community centers. </p>
<p>But like any other long-established institution, the Salvation Army has its challenges. Most recently, LGBT groups <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/nyclu-sues-salvation-army-religious-discrimination-against-employees-government-funded-social">alleged</a> <a href="https://www.advocate.com/religion/2017/12/08/salvation-army-we-meet-human-need-without-discrimination">discrimination</a> in service provision and in hiring. </p>
<p>The Salvation Army has <a href="https://salvationarmynorth.org/about-us/what-we-believe/lgbt-statement/">responded</a> with its own statements of how it is “open and inclusive to all people.” </p>
<p>It also faces new problems, ranging from a <a href="http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/salvation-army-concerned-by-lack-of-bell-ringers">shortage</a> of bell ringers in some cities to <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois/articles/2017-12-25/salvation-army-looks-to-update-to-cashless-kettles">fewer kettle contributions</a> as <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois/articles/2017-12-25/salvation-army-looks-to-update-to-cashless-kettles">people carry less cash</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247562/original/file-20181127-76758-1caufn4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247562/original/file-20181127-76758-1caufn4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247562/original/file-20181127-76758-1caufn4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247562/original/file-20181127-76758-1caufn4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247562/original/file-20181127-76758-1caufn4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247562/original/file-20181127-76758-1caufn4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247562/original/file-20181127-76758-1caufn4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Guys and Dolls’ musical.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/poughkeepsiedayschool/6482386599/in/photolist-aSPVGc-7kQFev-7kQCbX-aT36yv-7kQAZr-7kUC9Q-29cx2TY-38h3vN-dMAC6f-Yi851X-9JXvvk-29cx6Yb-9JXVLv-F9LLDg-28UZwhx-EcoB8K-F7sBX7-F1zFar-EGcgWJ-EcoUGc-Ec4nC7-9JXWBc-F1A17K-EcoTbX-2ahY7jv-F7t8MN-Ec4TSW-F9Mgtk-EcpgJT-F1AmWF-EYhTxE-F1Ajo4-F7tfY1-9JXS7n-9JXYcP-5kQ9cN-27xcfum-Ex1RyM-5p3ZD1-5kQ9TW-9JXSM8-9JXSAc-9K1M2d-aT35aK-5C7K2E-5kQ9EG-9JXxsg-9K1jmL-9JXtQZ-9K1tZC">Poughkeepsie Day School/Flickr.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet the Salvation Army remains a familiar symbol for religious and philanthropic outreach. Each year, when high school and college actors perform “Guys and Dolls,” the Salvation Army graces American stages. This popular musical, inspired by a real-life Salvationist, <a href="http://www.youngsalvationist.org/2015/06/01/the-angel-of-broadway/">captures the missionaries’ zealous dedication</a>. And this holiday season, Grammy-award nomimated singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding <a href="https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/story/ellie-goulding-to-kick-off-129th-salvation-army-red-kettle-campaign/">kicked off the 2019 Red Kettle Campaign</a> during the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day game halftime show. </p>
<p>Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee’s legacy lives on – providing inspiration to millions of Americans, whether they care about religion or not. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-salvation-armys-red-kettles-became-a-christmas-tradition-107604">piece first published</a> on November 28, 2018.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107604/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diane Winston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Around this time of the year, the Salvation Army’s red kettles become visible as part of holiday giving. How this British evangelical organization came to the US is interesting history.Diane Winston, Associate Professor and Knight Center Chair in Media & Religion, USC Annenberg School for Communication and JournalismLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1067522018-11-19T19:40:26Z2018-11-19T19:40:26ZNot everyone wants their donations touted on Facebook or plastered on walls<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245975/original/file-20181116-194503-zbwsl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Social media is one avenue for proclaiming generosity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/give-aid-charity-support-welfare-concept-387653227">Rawpixel/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I recently made a donation on a friend’s GoFundMe page. I paused over the box to hide my name before clicking it. Then as I finished up, the website asked me if I wanted to share my donation on Facebook. I clicked “skip.” </p>
<p>I also have a team in the <a href="http://act.alz.org/site/PageServer?pagename=walk_website_help">Walk to End Alzheimer’s</a> in honor of my mother. Every time I donate online, the website prompts me to announce my gift on social media. I’ll share our team’s fundraising page on Facebook but not my own donation. Most people who donate to my team don’t share their donations on social media either.</p>
<p>Although these requests to flaunt donations are becoming extremely common, not all donations are trumpeted on Facebook or Twitter or heralded in programs for concerts and school reunions. Some are completely anonymous.</p>
<p>I <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=ZiM25AcAAAAJ">study how someone’s identity affects their charitable giving</a>. The twinge of self-consciousness I feel when asked to publicize my donation on social media or have my name revealed made me wonder why some donors broadcast their good deeds while others remain silent. </p>
<h2>Moral identities</h2>
<p>I often consider the role of what consumer psychologists call “<a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2002-08203-015">moral identity</a>” – the extent to which someone values moral traits, such as kindness, generosity, fairness, tenacity and honesty, in themselves as well as in how others see them.</p>
<p>So while some people may feel good just knowing they helped someone even if no one else knows, others feel that they are a kind, giving person only when others find out about their good acts. </p>
<p>When fundraisers offer to list donors’ names in a school graduation program, prominently place them on the wall of a new building or mention them on a website, it gets easier to reach the people in the second group.</p>
<h2>Getting recognized</h2>
<p>To <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1509/jm.11.0477">study this phenomenon</a>, I teamed up with two other marketing scholars, <a href="https://business.rice.edu/person/vikas-mittal">Vikas Mittal</a> at Rice University and <a href="https://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Faculty/People/Faculty_Members/Aquino_Karl">Karl Aquino</a> at the University of British Columbia.</p>
<p>We conducted an online survey of 197 people. Just as they were finishing another survey on a different topic, we asked people to tell us how important traits like compassion and helpfulness are to them personally and in their daily activities that are visible to others. People also answered a variety of other questions on another topic.</p>
<p>We then asked them to volunteer five minutes of their time to complete a survey for an educational nonprofit. Half were told that in exchange for completing the survey, their name would be listed on the nonprofit’s website. The other half weren’t told this. </p>
<h2>Some people respond differently</h2>
<p>People can donate their time or money, as well as items like clothes or food. Anything that helps others can make givers feel like they are the kind, caring person they desire to be or want others to see.</p>
<p>The prospect of being recognized for taking five minutes out of their days to do something voluntarily made a subset of participants more likely to volunteer: those who said their everyday hobbies and interests show traits like kindness and fairness.</p>
<p>For these individuals, 21 percent volunteered when they knew their name would be listed on the nonprofit’s website. Only 6 percent volunteered when they were not told about this recognition. </p>
<p>Of those who place a lot of importance on being moral, 21 percent gave their time when they didn’t know they could have their name listed on the website. When these people knew recognition was an option, their likelihood of volunteering only increased slightly, to 24 percent. </p>
<p>This told us that only those people who want their moral traits to be expressed to others care about whether their donations can be seen. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, a smaller share of those who did not think it was important to be caring – only 13 percent – volunteered to take the survey.</p>
<p><iframe id="cYaK4" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/cYaK4/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Catering to a minority</h2>
<p>We estimated that only one in five people cares about showing generosity to others without feeling these characteristics really matter to themselves. They are more likely to donate when they can be recognized as generous. What about the other 80 percent? </p>
<p>About 50 percent tend to place a high enough internal value on being moral to consider donating regardless of whether others hear about it. The remaining 30 percent aren’t inclined to donate no matter what.</p>
<p>So should nonprofits cater to this minority and offer ways for donors to be recognized for giving? I’d say yes. </p>
<p>Otherwise, they could lose out on donations from these donors, who are approximately 20 percent of all people but constitute a bigger share of potential givers. </p>
<p>At the same time, I believe charities should not presume that most donors want or welcome this opportunity to be recognized every time they support a cause.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106752/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Winterich does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some people are more inclined to give when they know their friends will find out.Karen Winterich, Professor of Marketing, Frank and Mary Smeal Research Fellow, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/882062017-11-28T11:25:08Z2017-11-28T11:25:08ZWhy faith inspires people to give<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196542/original/file-20171127-2042-1eel48y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tsausawest/4328999644/in/photolist-94hgHS-7prA1z-94hgJ3-b3V7Wi-8MkzLV-7pk2ML-7mtz4G-7mt5TE-7mtmFG-7mCQty-7mpdye-7mtpwC-7msYE1-7mpyHr-7AxeH1-7msYRQ-7mCU8J-7mCTab-7mz1xF-7mCTsL-91sV3x-5Hherf-7myYT4-5HcW44-5HhesL-7AxfLU-PstfXf-PvC2bv-Ng589h-NXb22w-Ng5dgb-Ng5riJ-NXbdEb-5HcYgM-94hgHW-5HcW6K-91w3jw-5HcW5g-7mCW9A-9218Si">Salvation Army USA West</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After Thanksgiving, Americans turn their attention to shopping with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday as well as holidays such as Hanukkah and Christmas. However, this is also the time for giving.</p>
<p>In recent years, nonprofits have sought to capitalize on this attention both on shopping and giving with <a href="https://www.givingtuesday.org/about">Giving Tuesday</a>. Last year, this global day of giving raised over <a href="https://www.givingtuesday.org/data-project">US$177 million online</a>. <a href="https://www.neoncrm.com/10-year-end-giving-statistics-every-fundraiser-should-know/">The bulk of all giving – about 31 percent – comes at the end of the year</a>, and individuals are likely to receive scores of requests on Giving Tuesday and through the end of the year.</p>
<p>How do donors make decisions about their giving?</p>
<p>For the majority of Americans, it turns out that faith plays a leading role in their desire to give and serve. This is where I focus my research.</p>
<h2>Philanthropy and religion</h2>
<p>Let’s first look at available data to understand how much giving is tied to one’s faith.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://givingusa.org/giving-usa-2017-total-charitable-donations-rise-to-new-high-of-390-05-billion/">Giving USA</a>, the leading annual report of philanthropy in America, <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/news-events/insights-newsletter/2017-issues/june-2017-issue1.html">religious contributions</a>, narrowly defined as giving to houses of worship, denominations, missionary societies and religious media, made up 32 percent of all giving in America in 2016. </p>
<p><iframe id="Nyf6a" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Nyf6a/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Another study found that 73 percent of all American giving went to a <a href="http://connectedtogive.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ConnectedToGive_FaithCommunities_Jumpstart2014_v1.3.pdf">house of worship or a religiously identified organization</a>. </p>
<p>Many of these organizations make up the world’s largest NGOs. For example, three of the top 10 biggest charities by total revenue last year, the Catholic Charities, Salvation Army and National Christian Foundation, are explicitly religious. Religious agencies make up <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Fidelity-Charitable-Knocks/238167">13 of the top 50</a> charities in the U.S.</p>
<p>It is true that factors such as wealth, income, education and marital status are all predictors of giving. But religious belief and practice are one of the best predictors. </p>
<p>Overall, religious Americans volunteer more, give more and give more often, not only to religious but secular causes as well. Among Americans who give to any cause, <a href="http://connectedtogive.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ConnectedToGive_FaithCommunities_PressRelease_Jumpstart_Nov25_2013.pdf">55 percent</a> claim religious values as an important motivator for giving. </p>
<h2>What religions tell us</h2>
<p>These values of giving are deeply rooted in the texts, traditions and <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=186270">practices of many faiths</a>. Take, for example, the messages within the three Abrahamic faiths. </p>
<p>In Judaism, the Hebrew Scriptures refer to “tzedakah,” literally meaning justice. <a href="http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/jps/9780827607743/">Tzedakah is considered</a> a commandment and a moral obligation that all Jews should follow. The commitment to justice places a priority on their giving to help the poor. Beyond giving just time and money, rabbis even spoke of “gemilut chasadim,” literally meaning loving-kindness, or focusing on right relationship with one another as the prerogative of religious giving. </p>
<p>Even more broadly, an ancient Jewish phrase, “tikkun olam,” meaning to repair or heal the world, has been <a href="http://jcpa.org/article/place-tikkun-olam-american-jewish-life1/">adopted by many religious and secular causes</a>. <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/The-tikkun-olam-president">Barack Obama</a>, when he was president, would often refer to the phrase. So <a href="http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2016/10/this-is-tikkun-olam-bill-clinton-tells-jews-in-pembroke-pines-about-election.html">did past President Bill Clinton</a> and 2016 presidential candidate <a href="https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/statements/2016/09/30/hillary-clinton-statement-on-the-jewish-high-holidays/">Hillary Clinton</a>. President George W. Bush <a href="http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0105/bush_tikkun_olam.php3">hinted at a vision</a> of tikkun olam in his second inaugural address. </p>
<p>Similarly, the Christian tradition has considered giving a key religious practice. Many Christians still look to the Hebrew Bible and the tithe, which involves giving one-tenth of an individual’s income, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+18%3A26-29&version=NRSV">as God’s commandment</a>. </p>
<p>In the New Testament, Jesus not only spoke of giving a tithe but challenged followers to give far beyond it. For instance, in the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2019:16-22">Gospel of Matthew</a> Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all his possessions. Pursuing those values, a long monastic tradition has seen men and women taking vows of poverty to <a href="http://abbey.suscopts.org/index.php/MONASTIC-LIBRARY/poverty.html">give themselves to the work of their faith</a>. Today, while the tithe might not be practiced by a majority of Christians, most understand the practice of giving as a <a href="http://www.wjkbooks.com/Products/066426235X/beyond-the-offering-plate.aspx">central part of their faith</a>.</p>
<p>For Muslims, giving is one of the five pillars of Islam. “Zakat” (meaning to grow in purity) is an annual payment of 2.5 percent of one’s assets, considered by many as the minimum obligation of their religious giving. A majority of Muslims worldwide <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-2-religious-commitment/">make their annual zakat payments as a central faith practice</a>.</p>
<p>Above and beyond the required zakat, many Muslims make additional gifts (referred to broadly as “sadaqa”). Interestingly, the word shares the same root as the Jewish “tzedakah,” meaning justice. <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/news-events/insights-newsletter/2017-issues/june-2017-issue2.html">Muslim giving</a> also focuses primarily on the poor. </p>
<p>Of course, charitable giving is not just for the rich. For those with no money to give, the Prophet Muhammad considered even the <a href="http://www.islamicstudies.info/subjects/fiqh/fiqh_us_sunnah/fus3_48.html">simple act of smiling</a> to be charity, a gift to another.</p>
<h2>Building a community</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182619/original/file-20170818-22783-1obdqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182619/original/file-20170818-22783-1obdqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182619/original/file-20170818-22783-1obdqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182619/original/file-20170818-22783-1obdqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182619/original/file-20170818-22783-1obdqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182619/original/file-20170818-22783-1obdqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182619/original/file-20170818-22783-1obdqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An aid worker in Addis Ababa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/breadfortheworld/5187575465/in/photolist-8UpFsi-7wqkAe-9vnwcd-58ZVXE-58ZUCC-58ZST7-dixp6x-SZokhs-nJP4Tz-foxCWR-r99n4B-T69LL2-fPxGqz-TyftgN-6pqCDS-gM3gv-WwPogJ-2TxbYk-jxpBYJ-UVxQum-6rNQU2-d9uAvN-ab95jd-4bStWc-mjJct2-9uyTSw-mjKr4C-VAFFgp-dLxjv5-ThFtj3-hPx4Qs-S66Mw4-8FrUjL-dtMUhV-6rSZ2W-7zfeMo-T8n8tP-dRsLkh-dNQu1v-dbAvSy-7GJ7JC-dbAvXG-dbAu6F-S5o87F-7xxjaz-9VDjbu-58ZYgf-ab95jy-pKPMsT-cp4c1Q">Bread for the World</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Religious traditions are clear that the value of giving does not simply rest with those receiving the gift. Givers themselves benefit. As sociologist <a href="http://sociology.nd.edu/people/christian-smith/">Christian Smith</a> makes clear, there is a <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-paradox-of-generosity-9780199394906?cc=us&lang=en&">paradox to generosity</a> – in giving we receive and in grasping we lose. </p>
<p>At the same time, the goal of religious giving is not just about what it brings to individuals. Rather, it is more a focus on human interaction and a vision of community.</p>
<p>Perhaps most famously, the 12th-century Rabbi Maimonides outlined <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/eight-levels-of-charitable-giving">eight levels of giving</a> – the lowest being giving grudgingly and the highest to sustain, but also to empower a person to no longer need charity. </p>
<p>Maimonides made clear it is not so much the amount of giving but how one gives that is important in establishing a relationship between the giver and the recipient. Giving should avoid humiliation, superiority and dependence. </p>
<p>When it comes to much of humanitarian work and social services, religion is often the greatest asset. Whether fighting AIDS, malaria or poverty, the development and nonprofit community has realized that the success of local programs so often turns on <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTDEVDIALOGUE/Resources/Development_Faith.pdf">the support of the local faith community</a>. The engagement of the local religious leader and a willingness to interact with his or her religious vernacular is essential.</p>
<p>Just a few years ago, the humanitarian industry was convinced of the truth of this view when it found that a majority of the health care workers left on the ground in the midst of the <a href="https://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/pagans-and-christians/">Ebola crises were missionaries</a>. Faith is the chief motivator for those both funding and serving at home and in some of the most difficult parts of the world. </p>
<h2>Connecting with values</h2>
<p>In working through the mandate of various religious traditions toward the healing of the world and individual motivations to give, people might understand that they have more in common than perhaps they realize. </p>
<p>This could also help them reflect more intentionally on their contributions at the end of this year. Instead of simply giving as part of their routine this December, perhaps people should take account how their faith and values motivate their giving and the work of the nonprofits that they support.</p>
<p>In doing so, many might find their giving and connection to their faith, the faith of others and the work to which they have given acquire more meaning for them – at this time of the year and in the years to come.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article <a href="http://theconversation.com/how-religion-motivates-people-to-give-and-serve-81662">originally published on Aug. 19, 2017</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88206/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David King does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As Americans make decisions about year-end giving, how much of it will be influenced by their faith?David King, Assistant Professor of Philanthropic Studies, IUPUILicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/878012017-11-26T23:47:18Z2017-11-26T23:47:18Z5 reasons why people give their money away – plus 1 why they don’t<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195758/original/file-20171121-6027-1lhgmnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Charitable donors may share some common traits.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Hunger-NY/aae5067abb674717b7d532562bd64a2d/16/0">AP Photo/Mike Groll</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Do you wish you had more money?</p>
<p>Most people do. And even though people work hard to earn their money, many give some of it away, often to help strangers. In fact, <a href="http://generosityforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Overall-Giving-10.5.17-jb-CJC.pdf">55.5 percent of American households</a> say that they give to charity.</p>
<p>As experts on giving-related topics in our respective disciplines of psychology and economics, we wanted to understand why people choose to spend their money on other people, rather than themselves – that is, what’s behind the urge to donate.</p>
<h2>The power of asking</h2>
<p>We are not the first to try to figure this out. The Dutch scholars Rene Bekkers and Pamala Wiepking published a paper six years ago that drew from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764010380927">500 other papers</a> on this topic to identify the key factors that drive giving.</p>
<p>What they found is that for more than 85 percent of charitable donations, people gave because someone asked them to. Yet that doesn’t solve the question of how donors who are approached by many causes choose which ones they will support.</p>
<p>Most people give to causes that affirm important values, including compassion for those in need. Donors are also more likely to give when they think that their donation will make a difference. But donors don’t give only from the heart, Bekkers and Wiepking found. They also consider the costs and benefits of giving, and the benefits to themselves such as feeling good or looking good to others.</p>
<p>But there are very few ways to measure what motivates people to give to charity (or not). While asking thousands of donors why they give for our research, we have rarely encountered anyone who confessed to giving simply because someone asked them to. </p>
<p>Instead, they describe internal triggers. People often say things like they feel bad for people who do not have homes or it makes them feel good to help others. </p>
<p>That’s why we believe it’s best to simply ask donors why they give. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195705/original/file-20171121-6035-ug3ckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195705/original/file-20171121-6035-ug3ckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195705/original/file-20171121-6035-ug3ckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195705/original/file-20171121-6035-ug3ckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195705/original/file-20171121-6035-ug3ckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195705/original/file-20171121-6035-ug3ckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195705/original/file-20171121-6035-ug3ckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195705/original/file-20171121-6035-ug3ckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Givers tend to have a ‘taste’ for generosity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/feed-poor-concept-giant-fork-food-524152222">Lightspring/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A ‘TASTE’ for charitable giving</h2>
<p>In a study detailed in an article soon to be published in <a href="https://www.ipearlab.org/media/publications/donor_motives_paper_10.20.2017_final_draft.pdf">Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly</a>, we recruited 819 Americans who reported that they had given to charity in the past. They filled out a detailed online survey that included 54 statements about many different reasons that people give such as “I donate because I feel compassion toward people in need.” We drew from previous research to develop these statements, which participants rated according to how strongly they agreed with them.</p>
<p>Based on the patterns we observed in these initial responses, we whittled the 54 down to 18 statements in six categories that measured the most common reasons for giving (or not). This is how we came up with our <a href="https://www.ipearlab.org/media/publications/donor_motives_paper_10.20.2017_final_draft.pdf">motives to donate</a> scale, which highlights five key motivations for charitable giving and one common barrier. </p>
<p>From most important to least they were: altruism, trust, social, (financial) constraints, egoism and taxes. Because “ATSCET” is hard to remember, we chose the handy acronym TASTE for Charity. </p>
<p><strong>Trust</strong></p>
<p>People are more likely to give to nonprofits that they trust will use their donated money to make a difference.</p>
<p><strong>Altruism</strong></p>
<p>Donors tell us again and again that they find it important to help others in need. This reinforces earlier findings by other scholars like <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1516">Gil Clary, Mark Snyder and their colleagues</a> that find that the most important reason for volunteering is altruistic concern for others.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195745/original/file-20171121-6055-1ck0o0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195745/original/file-20171121-6055-1ck0o0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195745/original/file-20171121-6055-1ck0o0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195745/original/file-20171121-6055-1ck0o0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195745/original/file-20171121-6055-1ck0o0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195745/original/file-20171121-6055-1ck0o0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195745/original/file-20171121-6055-1ck0o0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195745/original/file-20171121-6055-1ck0o0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Buying cookies for the armed forces from the Girl Scout next door because you know her is a sign that social motivations shape your charitable giving.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/irvine-ca-january-07-2014-girl-279827126">Sheila Fitzgerald/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Social</strong></p>
<p>Many donors say that they give because their donations matter to someone they know and care about. For example, <a href="https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/1805/6337/women_give_2010_report.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">many married couples often make charitable donation decisions together</a>. People who know someone who has a disease or who has died from one may make a donation to charity that promotes research for that disease. Or people may invite friends to a fundraiser for one of their favorite charities or just directly ask for a contribution – something that millions of <a href="https://consumerist.com/2008/01/31/girl-scout-cookies-are-tax-deductible-sort-of/">Girl Scouts</a> do when they ring their neighbors’ doorbells with their cookie forms in hand. </p>
<p><strong>Taxes</strong></p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-congress-should-let-everyone-deduct-charitable-gifts-from-their-taxes-78323">tax breaks</a> many people get in exchange for their gifts to charity are another motivating factor for giving.</p>
<p><strong>Egoism</strong></p>
<p>Egoism is when people give in order to receive some personal benefit, such as feeling good or looking good to others. Our respondents also cited this motivation.</p>
<p><strong>Financial constraints</strong></p>
<p>In addition to those five motivating factors, we found one reason why people balk at giving to charity: They feel like they can’t afford it.</p>
<p><iframe id="fofCe" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/fofCe/6/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>What we know and what we don’t</h2>
<p>So far, we know that people seem to be more motivated by how they can help others when they give, rather than what they can get back.</p>
<p>But we are not yet sure if we would find this same pattern in larger-scale studies. Our participants did not reflect U.S. demographics in terms of gender, age and race or ethnicity. The number of women who took part outnumbered the men, for example, which might have made donors look <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.94.1.100">more altruistic</a> than they would have with gender parity.</p>
<p>So, at this point we don’t know what motivates Americans from all different backgrounds to give. We aim to learn more about that in future studies. </p>
<p>Also, we are multicultural scientists: One of us is a citizen of Canada and Germany while also being a U.S. green card holder, and the other was born in India and is both a U.S. and Canadian citizen. Given our own global perspectives, we don’t expect motivations to be the same across cultures and we can’t help but wonder what drives giving across cultures.</p>
<p>We would like to explore those differences too.</p>
<p>You can take the motives to donate survey yourself to see how your motives compare to people in our studies, by visiting our website at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/motives2donate">tinyurl.com/motives2donate</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87801/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Konrath receives funding from the John Templeton Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. She serves on the advisory board of the Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana (<a href="http://www.ypin.org">http://www.ypin.org</a>).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Femida Handy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Donors who support charitable causes have a ‘taste’ for giving, researchers found.Sara Konrath, Associate Professor, Indiana University, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, IUPUIFemida Handy, Professor of Social Policy at the School of Social Policy and Practice, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/859272017-11-02T02:52:56Z2017-11-02T02:52:56ZHow donors can help make nonprofits more accountable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192241/original/file-20171027-13327-6dnk6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wasteful and fake charities are usually harder to spot than this.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-man-holding-briefcase-money-spilling-133129220">jefftakespics2/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the devastating 2017 hurricane season got underway, the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/beware-of-fake-charity-scams-relating-to-hurricane-harvey">Internal Revenue Service</a> warned Americans to watch out for scammers asking for donations to nonexistent charities.</p>
<p>But, especially as <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/what-nonprofits-need-to-know-about-annual-fund-campaigns-2501792">fundraising pitches</a> pile up in their inboxes and mailboxes during the final months of the year, donors need to do more than avoid fake nonprofits, because contributions to seemingly legitimate charities can also be a waste of money.</p>
<p>A good example is <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/article/part-1-dirty-secrets-of-the-worst-charities/">Project Cure</a>. The Florida-based nonprofit was spending little of the millions it had raised on its official mission – lobbying Congress about alternative treatments for cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease – when it got the dubious distinction of making the “<a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/nation/americas-50-worst-charities-rake-in-nearly-1-billion-for-corporate/2339540">America’s Worst Charities</a>” list compiled by the Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting and published in their 2013 expose.</p>
<p>What’s perhaps even more troubling is that donors can continue to give to these unworthy causes after their outrages come to light. Project Cure, which is not affiliated with similarly named groups in Colorado and Ohio, still drew more than <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521317559">US$5.5 million in donations</a> in 2015, two years after becoming known as a textbook example of a bad charity, according to the most recent information available. According to IRS records, it continues to operate. </p>
<h2>Donor beware</h2>
<p>As political scientists who do extensive research on nonprofits, we would like to see more donors look into the charities they support. Since Americans tend to grow more generous as the year winds down, making more than 20 percent of their online charitable donations <a href="https://institute.blackbaud.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2016-Charitable-Giving-Report.pdf">in December</a>, this is an ideal season for donors to step up their scrutiny.</p>
<p>On average, the charities that made the “50 Worst” list were channeling less than 4 percent of the money they raised into work tied to their missions in 2013. More donor scrutiny would, we believe, cut down on this kind of opportunism that takes place, in part, because official crackdowns are rare.</p>
<p>One exception came in 2015. That’s when every state attorney general joined the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/are-you-donating-to-charity-or-lining-someones-pockets/393725/">Federal Trade Commission</a>, an agency charged with monitoring and protecting consumers from anti-competitive, deceptive or unfair business practices, in disciplining four cancer charities operating as runaway gravy trains. </p>
<p>The agency probed James Reynolds Sr., his ex-wife Rose Perkins, his son James Reynolds Jr. and business associate Kyle Effler. The four of them managed the Cancer Fund of America, Cancer Support Services, the Children’s Cancer Fund of America and the Breast Cancer Society – charities the FTC said squandered $187 million in donations.</p>
<p>Instead of using the money to help people with cancer, the funds paid for fancy cars and trips, cruises, college tuition and other personal benefits like memberships to gyms and dating sites, along with exorbitant salaries for the friends and relatives of the nonprofits’ leaders.</p>
<p>Eventually, all four reached settlements in which they agreed to <a href="http://www.ftclaw.com/tag/kyle-effler/">stop doing charity work</a> and <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/160929cfajudgment.pdf">pay steep fines</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RHE60GQ23BQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">CNN’s Drew Griffin reports on a federal crackdown on people accused of using money donated to four cancer charities under false pretenses to finance their luxury lifestyles.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Presumed good intentions</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, not enough U.S. donors do any research about the nonprofits they’re supporting before clicking that “donate” button. According to a 2011 study – the most recent research available – fewer than <a href="http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1163&context=spp_papers">one in four donors</a> review information published by charity watchdogs before making donations.</p>
<p>We believe this lack of due diligence, despite the evidence that many charities aren’t trustworthy, reflects a widespread presumption that nonprofits and the people who run them <a href="http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100369430">toil selflessly for the public good</a>.</p>
<p>This faith makes some sense, especially in contrast with the private sector. The legal obligation to <a href="https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/business-law/small-business-law/fiduciary-responsibilities-corporations.html">maximize benefits for shareholders</a> – like earning big profits – may cause companies to do things that damage the environment or harm society.</p>
<p>Nonprofits, in contrast, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/796089?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">can’t legally distribute any profits</a> they earn to the people who support them financially. </p>
<h2>Underwhelming oversight</h2>
<p>Partly due to this notion of nonprofit virtue, the government and donors conduct little formal oversight of nonprofits. That creates opportunities for people who abuse this trust. </p>
<p>Besides their apparent trustworthiness, nonprofits are vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse because it’s easy to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11077-007-9043-x">establish and run them</a> as long as <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-irs-targeting-scandal-was-fake-but-irs-budget-woes-are-a-real-problem-85310">the IRS determines</a> that they are legitimate. </p>
<p>New charities spending less than $50,000 a year are currently eligible for <a href="https://www.501c3.org/eligible-file-form-1023-ez/">automatic tax-exempt status</a> that the IRS may rescind later.</p>
<p>Nonprofits are required, however, to report once a year to the IRS about their finances, including what they pay their highest-paid staff. This information is in the public domain. <a href="https://sunlightfoundation.com/2016/06/16/irs-opens-up-form-990-data-ushering-nonprofit-sector-into-the-age-of-transparency/">Since 2016</a>, locating this information has been as easy as <a href="http://foundationcenter.org/find-funding/990-finder">searching the internet</a> for a group’s <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-990">990 form</a>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, states establish their own regulations and have enforcement authority over charities operating within their own borders. State attorneys general, for example, can investigate and sue over infractions. However, the extent of this oversight <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/84161/2000925-State-Regulation-and-Enforcement-in-the-Charitable-Sector.pdf">varies widely</a>, according to a study conducted by the Charities Regulation and Oversight Project at Columbia Law School and the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute.</p>
<p>Dedicated staffing is limited in most states – few employ more than 10 people to administer and enforce charity laws and regulations.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192243/original/file-20171027-13378-1fmoicv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192243/original/file-20171027-13378-1fmoicv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192243/original/file-20171027-13378-1fmoicv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192243/original/file-20171027-13378-1fmoicv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192243/original/file-20171027-13378-1fmoicv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192243/original/file-20171027-13378-1fmoicv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192243/original/file-20171027-13378-1fmoicv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192243/original/file-20171027-13378-1fmoicv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nonprofit oversight can be puzzling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/fill-gap-words-on-puzzle-piece-260058641?src=CWeTolu6Q8yYpyoGa8EkyA-2-7">iQoncept/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The Federal Trade Commission can always start a probe or lawsuit against a charity that it deems to be involved in fraudulent activities, as can state attorneys general. But such FTC actions are rare.</p>
<h2>Finding information</h2>
<p>Given the gaps in official oversight, individual donors have an important role to play in preventing nonprofit waste, fraud and abuse. </p>
<p>One way donors can do their share is to seek out independent sources of important information about how well nonprofits are spending their money. Watchdogs such as <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/">Charity Navigator</a>, which evaluate and rate nonprofit performance, are good sources to consult before making donations.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"922523128387063813"}"></div></p>
<p>In addition, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/puar.12539/full">private certification</a> systems are emerging. For example, the Better Business Bureau’s <a href="http://www.give.org/">Wise Giving Alliance</a> has established a <a href="http://www.give.org/for-charities/How-We-Accredit-Charities/">charity accreditation system</a>.</p>
<p>The good news is that many nonprofits are <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-5991.2009.01067.x/full">welcoming this unofficial external scrutiny</a>. These groups find that telegraphing to donors that they are willing to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/puar.12539/abstract">voluntarily take steps</a> to prevent fraud and waste serves their own interests. </p>
<p>Irresponsible or even fraudulent charities, after all, are unlikely to do this.</p>
<p>GoFundMe, a platform for personal online fundraising, can also help donors find and support legitimate charities. For example, it hosts a page created by Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak and Sheriff Joe Lombardo to assist survivors of the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas and relatives of the people who died. </p>
<p>The page, which went live on Oct. 2, had raised more than $11 million by Halloween. Attorney <a href="http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/36665346/where-the-las-vegas-victims-fund-money-will-go">Kenneth Feinberg</a>, who administered compensation for victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will help the county figure out how to distribute the money. </p>
<p>Whether donors give directly to nonprofits online or by other means, including <a href="http://www.mobilegiving.org/">mobile giving apps</a>, they can use these seals of approval to recognize which charities deserve a hand during <a href="https://www.neoncrm.com/10-year-end-giving-statistics-every-fundraiser-should-know/">fall and holiday-season</a> fundraising campaigns – or any other time of the year.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"923262949405360129"}"></div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85927/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aseem Prakash serves on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Board on Environmental Change and Society and is a member of Economic Development Commission of the city of Edmonds.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nives Dolsak serves on the Science Panel of the Puget Sound Partnership. </span></em></p>Digital innovations are making it easier to give to charity and for donors to become informed before they support nonprofits.Aseem Prakash, Professor of Political Science, Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences and Founding Director, Center for Environmental Politics, University of WashingtonNives Dolsak, Stan and Alta Barer Professor in Sustainability Sciences, Director, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.