tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/giving-30260/articlesGiving – The Conversation2024-03-26T12:40:26Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2205742024-03-26T12:40:26Z2024-03-26T12:40:26ZTrump-era tax cuts contributed to a decline in higher ed giving, with fewer Americans donating to colleges and universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580516/original/file-20240307-22-jtbky3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=165%2C141%2C7710%2C4498&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How many college grads will frequently donate to their alma mater?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/los-angeles-ca-ucla-holds-a-commencement-ceremony-in-pauley-news-photo/1499075648?adppopup=true">Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Policy changes brought on by the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/tax-reform">Tax Cuts and Jobs Act</a>, which former President Donald Trump signed into law at the end of 2017, appear to have led many small-dollar donors to give less money to colleges and universities – or to stop giving altogether.</p>
<p>Individual donations, whether from graduates or people who didn’t attend those colleges and universities, declined by 4% from US$44.3 billion in the 2017-2018 academic year to $42.6 billion two years later. That’s what <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KWFRsxEAAAAJ&hl=en">my colleague</a>, Sungsil Lee, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_iTiG64AAAAJ&hl=en">and I</a> found when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2023.2288735">we examined a decade of data</a> regarding charitable contributions to 660 colleges and universities and adjusted the totals for inflation. </p>
<p>We also found that the Trump-era tax reforms led to a 7% decline in the number of individual donors, after controlling for other factors such as enrollment size and tuition. </p>
<p>To estimate the impact of the tax changes, we analyzed data that the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, a nonprofit, collected in its annual <a href="https://www.case.org/research/surveys/case-insights-voluntary-support-education">Voluntary Support of Education Survey</a>.</p>
<p>We analyzed data from 660 public and private colleges and universities from the 2010-2011 to the 2019-2020 academic years – 12-month periods that run from July 1 of a given year through June 30 of the next.</p>
<p>Because we reviewed complete records for the number of donors and the total amount of donations over the decade, we could observe what changes the tax policy reform may have spurred.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Many states have essentially <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/unkept-promises-state-cuts-to-higher-education-threaten-access-and">frozen their spending on higher education since 2008</a>, while the cost of running colleges and universities has increased. As a result, public institutions <a href="https://sheeo.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/SHEEO_SHEF_FY18_Report.pdf">rely more heavily on the money they get from tuition</a> <a href="https://www.clevelandfed.org/publications/economic-commentary/2017/ec-201705-trends-in-revenues-at-us-colleges-and-universities-1987-2013">and donors</a> than they used to. The declines in both the amount donated by individuals and the number of donors, however, fell more sharply for private institutions than for public ones.</p>
<p>Gifts from individuals, rather than organizations or companies, accounted for <a href="https://www.case.org/resources/voluntary-support-education-key-findings-2020-21">more than 40% of all the money donated</a> in the 2020 academic year – with much of that money coming from very wealthy people. Most of the $21 billion from individuals donations came in very large sums.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/heres-a-quick-overview-of-tax-reform-changes-and-where-taxpayers-can-find-more-info">The Trump tax reforms</a>, by sharply increasing the standard deduction, led millions of taxpayers to stop itemizing their tax returns. That means far fewer Americans are deducting charitable donations from their taxable income today.</p>
<p>While more than 43% of all taxpayers with an adjusted gross income between $50,000 and $100,000 <a href="https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-individual-income-tax-returns-complete-report-publication-1304">filed itemized tax returns for their 2017 earnings</a>, less than 14% itemized in 2018, according to the IRS.</p>
<p>Those who no longer itemize <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/708172">have lost a tax break</a>, and for them, every dollar they give to higher ed or any charity has become more expensive.</p>
<p>Although <a href="https://www.case.org/system/files/media/inline/VSE%202022%20Key%20Findings.pdf">approximately 60% of donations to colleges</a> came from foundations and other philanthropic organizations, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2979/phileduc.1.1.02">these donations are highly concentrated</a> and primarily benefit a few dozen prominent universities. The decline of individual donations can be a particularly big problem for small colleges, we found. </p>
<p>To be sure, other factors, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764018800791">economic trends</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00543-0">the stock market’s performance</a>, can influence giving too. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We are now researching how colleges and universities are responding to the tax changes and whether their fundraising initiatives and promotional efforts are persuading more individual donors to give – even if they no longer can take advantage of the charitable tax deduction.</p>
<p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220574/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jin Lee 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>Researchers who analyzed a decade of data detected a reduction in giving after millions of Americans stopped getting a tax break tied to charitable giving.Jin Lee, Associate Professor of Educational Foundations and Leadership, University of Louisiana at LafayetteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2253442024-03-18T17:38:17Z2024-03-18T17:38:17ZDonor-advised funds: US regulators are scrambling to catch up with the boom in these charitable giving accounts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582340/original/file-20240316-18-84zsoq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C817%2C4767%2C3172&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">DAFs more or less operate as a mini foundation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/golden-piggy-bank-and-golden-coins-3d-render-royalty-free-image/1484749250?adppopup=true">Wong Yu Liang/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/a-short-history-of-the-fast-and-furious-rise-of-dafs">revolution in charitable giving</a> is underway due to the growth of donor-advised funds in the United States.</p>
<p>Known widely as DAFs, these <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/">financial accounts are designated for charitable giving</a>. Donors can get an immediate tax deduction by putting money or other assets into the accounts, and advise the accounts’ managers to give away the money at a later date.</p>
<p>After years of concerns about how quickly the money reserved for charity gets distributed and whether donor-advised funds need to operate more transparently, <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/14/2023-24982/taxes-on-taxable-distributions-from-donor-advised-funds-under-section-4966">proposed new federal regulations</a> are now pending. Though the regulations would not create new requirements for how rapidly these funds distribute money, they do provide some new guidelines for what <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/grantmaking-rules/">uses for DAFs are allowed</a> by law.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://fisher.osu.edu/people/mittendorf.3">an accounting researcher</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/donor-advised-funds-charities-with-benefits-74516">who studies DAFs</a>, I believe these new changes may mark the start of what could become a series of reforms.</p>
<h2>Nearly $230 billion</h2>
<p>DAFs have been <a href="https://cof.org/sites/default/files/documents/files/DAF-timeline.pdf">around since the 1930s</a> but got off to a slow start. After decades of being concentrated in community foundations, DAFs became more widely accessible with the introduction of <a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/industry-news/news/fidelity-charitable-reveals-record-year-in-philanthropic-giving-249461">Fidelity Charitable</a> – a DAF-sponsoring organization tied to Fidelity Investments – in 1991.</p>
<p>Many more DAF sponsors <a href="https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2023/07/20/5b-in-giving-shows-rapid-rise-of-donor-advised-funds-schwab-charitable/">connected to investment companies</a> have since emerged. </p>
<p>Because donors <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/managing-wealth/080216/donoradvised-funds-benefits-and-drawbacks.asp">get tax breaks when they put money in them</a> and can then wait a long time before distributing it to nonprofits, DAFs essentially operate as <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/should-congress-curb-donor-advised-funds">streamlined foundations</a>.</p>
<p>DAFs are not, however, subject to the same restrictions.</p>
<p>Foundations have to disclose their donors to the public and also have to distribute minimum amounts for charitable use each year. <a href="https://www.givedirectly.org/donor-advised-funds/">DAFs face</a> <a href="https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/behind-the-debate-examining-the-measures-of-daf-payout/">neither requirement</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/daf-grants-to-charities-totaled-52-billion-in-2022-report-finds">DAFs held nearly US$230 billion in assets by the end of 2022</a> and distributed some $52 billion to charities that year. Those are significant sums as giving of all kinds <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-charitable-donations-fell-to-499-billion-in-2022-as-stocks-slumped-and-inflation-surged-207688">totaled about $500 billion that year</a>.</p>
<p>As of 2023 there were about <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/reports/daf-report/">2 million donor-advised funds</a>, according to the National Philanthropic Trust.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Set of diverse hands and payment methods. Arms with cash, credit cards, banknotes, wallet, putting coins into piggy bank. Hand drawn vector illustration isolated on light background, flat cartoon style." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are few DAF regulations in place, but that could soon change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/set-of-diverse-hands-and-payment-methods-royalty-free-illustration/1491990624?adppopup=true">Olena Zagoruyko/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>40% don’t distribute a dime</h2>
<p>Critics of DAFs say that the government should require them to <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/7/25/8891899/john-arnold-billionaire-criticism-donor-advised-funds-silicon-valley-philanthropic-loophole">regularly disburse at least some of their charitable funds</a>.</p>
<p>Foundations have faced that kind of obligation for more than five decades. They must pay out at least <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/donor-advised-funds/daf-vs-foundation/">5% of their assets</a> each year – although some of that money can be used to pay for their operations or even be set aside in a donor-advised fund.</p>
<p>Supporters of DAFs counter that the payout rate for those accounts is already much higher than the foundation floor of 5%. It <a href="https://www.givechariot.com/post/breaking-down-the-donor-advised-fund-market-in-2022">hovers around 20%</a>.</p>
<p>However, that statistic applies to all the money held in DAFs, not what happens with each one of them. <a href="https://johnsoncenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DAFRC_Executive_Summary_Key_Findings.pdf">And almost 40% of them don’t distribute any money at all</a> in a given year. </p>
<h2>Calling for change</h2>
<p>Other changes have been proposed over the years, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://inequality.org/great-divide/private-foundations-dafs-2021/">Not letting foundations count money they put in a DAF</a> toward their annual 5% payout requirement.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/an-unlikely-event-the-israel-hamas-war-could-finally-spark-daf-reform">Introducing new disclosure requirements</a> because currently the public, the charity that gets money from a DAF and even the IRS have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/silent-donor-tim-sanders-daf-privacy-9e499583181ed0c8b7d6685fbea31ecb">no way of knowing</a> for sure who originally provided those funds.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/donor-advised-funds-let-wall-street-steer-charitable-donations/">Reining in</a> the <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/the-wall-street-takeover-of-charity">commercial investment companies</a> that have been at the center of much of the growth in DAFs, by limiting the fees they can earn or <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_problem_with_donor_advised_fundsand_a_solution">restricting the ties</a> between them and their affiliated charities.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>IRS regulations</h2>
<p>The IRS released <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/14/2023-24982/taxes-on-taxable-distributions-from-donor-advised-funds-under-section-4966">proposed new DAF regulations</a> at the end of 2023, and gave the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/IRS-2023-0053-0001/comment">public an opportunity comment</a> on them.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/proposed-irs-regulations-of-donor-advised-funds-fall-short-critics-say">proposed regulations</a> <a href="https://nonprofitlawblog.com/proposed-donor-advised-fund-regulations-what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/">would clarify what constitutes a DAF</a>, who is considered a fund’s adviser, and restrictions on DAF disbursements.</p>
<p>Though largely focused on definitions, these proposed regulations are not without teeth. Nor <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/proposed-irs-regulations-of-donor-advised-funds-fall-short-critics-say">have they been immune to controversy</a>.</p>
<p>The proposed regulations would identify certain distributions as taxable and declare that donors are not the only parties considered DAF advisers – the <a href="https://www.mcguirewoods.com/client-resources/alerts/2024/2/donor-advised-funds-proposed-regulations/">donors’ personal financial advisers</a> are, too. This means the financial advisers, like donors, cannot receive any benefits from a DAF.</p>
<p>In identifying taxable distributions, the regulations include the possibility that funds used to support <a href="https://www.taxnotes.com/research/federal/other-documents/public-comments-regulations/nonprofits-group-targets-trouble-spots-donor-advised-fund-regs/7j6vy#7j6vy-0000011">lobbying or activities tied to political campaigns</a> could lead to penalties for both the donor and the fund’s manager. And <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4744533">evidence suggests</a> DAFs are commonly used to support lobbying.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.mossadams.com/articles/2024/01/proposed-regulations-on-donor-advised-funds">tax would be levied on the DAF totaling 20% of the distribution and another 5%</a> charged to a participating fund manager.</p>
<p>By including <a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/regulation-and-legislation/news/industry-awaits-an-answer-on-proposed-donor-advised-fund-regulations-250293">a donor’s personal financial adviser</a> in the group considered advisers to the DAF, investment fees paid to such financial advisers for their services would become <a href="https://www.cadwalader.com/brass-tax/index.php?nid=79&eid=336">impermissible “excess benefit” transactions</a>. As such, the proposed new rules would require the <a href="https://www.mcguirewoods.com/client-resources/alerts/2024/2/donor-advised-funds-proposed-regulations/">repayment of their compensation plus a 25% penalty</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/roundtable-submits-comment-letter-on-proposed-rules-for-donor-advised-funds/">Some DAF proponents</a> have objected to the proposed regulations. A key concern they’ve expressed has to do with what the regulations could mean for <a href="https://www.sifma.org/resources/submissions/irs-proposed-rule-taxes-on-taxable-distributions-from-donor-advised-funds/">financial advisers</a>. </p>
<p>Since financial advisers often oversee investments of both the donor and the donor’s charitable funds, such dual advisory roles may be eliminated by the threat of penalties. </p>
<h2>Changes possible in Congress</h2>
<p>Additional, bigger, changes could occur in the near future through legislation.</p>
<p>Possibilities include requiring DAFs to disclose donors and connect them with distributions so <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/an-unlikely-event-the-israel-hamas-war-could-finally-spark-daf-reform">the public can follow the money</a> or <a href="https://acceleratecharitablegiving.org/reforms/">delaying tax benefits</a> when donations to DAFs are not immediately distributed to charities to encourage donors with DAFs to dispatch their gifts quickly.</p>
<p>Although legislation aimed at requiring faster payouts was <a href="https://nonprofitquarterly.org/do-donor-advised-funds-require-regulatory-attention/">first proposed in 2014</a>, few lawmakers have made it a priority.</p>
<p>The most recent bill, the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/ace-act-legislation-would-significantly-affect-donor-advised-funds-2021-11-11/">Accelerating Charitable Efforts Act</a>, was first proposed by <a href="https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-grassley-introduce-legislation-to-ensure-charitable-donations-reach-working-charities">Sens. Angus King and Chuck Grassley</a> in 2021. It did not <a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/industry-news/news/daf-payout-bill-stalls-in-congress-229779">amass enough support</a> to garner a vote. At this point, it is <a href="https://inequality.org/research/donor-advised-fund-blocking-reform/">unclear whether the lawmakers will reintroduce</a> that measure.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://blog.candid.org/post/donor-advised-funds-daf-growth-popularity-in-philanthropy/">as DAFs play an ever larger</a> role in charitable giving, I believe that Congress will eventually have to take action if it wants to meaningfully regulate this new charitable environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225344/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Mittendorf 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>Big changes would require an act of Congress but lawmakers have not stepped up. And there’s been pushback against new rules the IRS has proposed for these accounts reserved for giving.Brian Mittendorf, Professor of Accounting, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2232592024-03-11T12:23:54Z2024-03-11T12:23:54ZHow ‘hometown associations’ help immigrants support their communities in the US and back in their homelands<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580317/original/file-20240307-26-6881fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=84%2C53%2C5028%2C3119&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many Mexican immigrants stay connected to communities in their country of origin.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/merged-flags-of-usa-and-mexico-painted-on-concrete-royalty-free-image/640127588?adppopup=true">ronniechua/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24357864">Hometown associations</a>,” also known as migrant clubs, are nonprofits formed by immigrants who are originally from the same place in their country of origin. They serve as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10841806.2024.2313386">channels through which immigrants make charitable gifts</a> that help people settle in their new country while also aiding communities back in their homelands. Many <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/mexican-hometown-associations-in-chicagoacan/9780813564920/">were created in the 1990s</a>.</p>
<p>Mexican hometown associations are the most widely established. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0374.2006.00130.x">Turkish</a>, <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/p/pri/cmgdev/wp11-03aagarwala-india-report-march-2011.pdf.html">Indian</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830500178147">Filipino, Guatemalan, Salvadoran</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-global-ethiopian-diaspora-shimelis-bonsa-gulema/1144167013">Ethiopian</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2013.871492">Bolivian</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9781782387350-005">Colombian and Dominican</a> immigrants, among others, have created them too. </p>
<h2>Why hometown associations matter</h2>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=a8EwKzoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholar of philanthropy</a> who has recently studied the Mexican hometown associations that support causes on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10841806.2024.2313386">both sides of the U.S. southern border</a>.</p>
<p>In particular, I researched the associations that make up the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FederacionZacatecanaEnIllinois/?locale=es_LA">Federación de Clubes Unidos Zacatecanos en Illinois</a>. </p>
<p>This federation, formed by immigrants from towns in the Mexican state of Zacatecas who moved to Illinois, includes 15 active associations. Each has between 20 and 500 members.</p>
<p>Since 1995, these nonprofits have helped newly arrived Mexican immigrants in the communities where they now live and residents of their original Zacatecan hometowns. For example, they help Mexican American students in Illinois pay for college, as well as chip in to cover some higher-ed costs for Mexican students back in Zacatecas.</p>
<p>The associations also contribute to projects that benefit their communities back in Zacatecas. Examples include paving roads, establishing athletic fields, installing electricity, increasing access to clean water and building everything from churches to health clinics. </p>
<p>The groups raise money by holding member breakfasts, mariachi concerts, raffles and other events in Chicago and elsewhere in Illinois. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FederacionZacatecanaEnIllinois/videos/rifa-fcuzi/248498930146336/?locale=es_LA">Their fundraisers can generate</a> anywhere from a couple of thousand dollars to tens of thousands annually. </p>
<p>Many of these groups have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.1958">informal origins</a>. Some got their start when immigrants were gathering for other reasons, such as <a href="https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=anon%7Ec73a92bc&id=GALE%7CA282581052&v=2.1&it=r&sid=googleScholar&asid=86ff5d91">taking part in local soccer and baseball games</a>. Today, most hometown associations remain led by volunteers. </p>
<p>Even with volunteer leadership, in the Mexican case, these associations have adopted more formal approaches to their operations over the years. They gather in local community centers, which they often own. </p>
<h2>Collective remittances</h2>
<p>Hometown associations are an example of what’s known as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0012-155X.2004.00380.x">collective remittances</a>, the technical term for immigrants pooling money earned abroad and sending it back to their homelands.</p>
<p>All told, immigrants around the world <a href="https://www.migrationdataportal.org/themes/remittances">send about US$860 billion</a> back to their homelands every year through remittances. This money flows directly to family and friends, helping them pay for housing, food and other expenses.</p>
<p>This estimate leaves out collective philanthropy, including the money that hometown associations send back to their homelands. I’ve never found a reliable estimate of the scale of hometown associations’ charitable contributions. Even the number of associations across immigrant groups is not fully determined, making estimates of their collective donations hard to calculate. </p>
<p>But what I have observed is how the members of hometown associations team up to serve their communities in ways that don’t involve only money. They voluntarily devote their time, labor and knowledge to help their countries of origin for the public good.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223259/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Appe's research was supported by the U.S. Fulbright Program and The U.S.-Mexico Commission for Educational Exchange (COMEXUS).</span></em></p>Mexican groups are the most common, but immigrants from Turkey, Bolivia and many more countries have formed their own.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/2235372024-03-05T14:34:39Z2024-03-05T14:34:39ZDonations by top 50 US donors fell again in 2023, sliding to $12B − Mike Bloomberg, Phil and Penny Knight, and Michael and Susan Dell led the list of biggest givers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578433/original/file-20240227-22-ys3u32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3008%2C1868&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Penny Knight and Phil Knight were the second-largest givers of 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wishtv.com/news/education/indiana-lawmakers-join-gop-led-states-trying-to-target-college-tenure/">Michael Hickey/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The top 50 American individuals and couples who gave or pledged the most to charity in 2023 committed US$12 billion to foundations, universities, hospitals and more. That total was 28% below an inflation-adjusted $16.5 billion in 2022, according to the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/page/philanthropy-50">Chronicle of Philanthropy</a>’s latest annual tally of these donations.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. asked <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VYsdAEIAAAAJ&hl=en">David Campbell</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=c__VVwsAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Angela R. Logan</a> and <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/people-directory/moody-michael.html">Michael Moody</a>, three scholars of philanthropy, to assess the significance of these gifts and to consider what they indicate about the state of charitable giving in the United States.</em></p>
<h2>What trends stand out overall?</h2>
<p><strong>David Campbell:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/donations-by-top-50-us-donors-dropped-sharply-to-16-billion-in-2022-bill-gates-elon-musk-mike-bloomberg-and-warren-buffett-lead-the-list-of-biggest-givers-199732">As was the case in 2022</a>, more than one-third of these big gifts – $4.4 billion – went to donors’ personal foundations. Another $764.3 million flowed into donor-advised funds. Also known as DAFs, these charitable savings accounts make it possible for donors to reserve assets such as cash, stocks and bonds for future charitable gifts.</p>
<p>That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that a significant amount of the money these wealthy Americans technically gave away in 2023 didn’t get in the hands of charities right away. And while foundations must <a href="https://www.ncfp.org/2008/10/15/what-is-the-5-payout-rule/">give away or spend 5% of their assets every year</a>, there are no such requirements for DAFs.</p>
<p>Many of the same wealthy people make this list every time, and they stick with a few main priorities. Media mogul and former New York City Mayor <a href="https://www.bloomberg.org/public-health/">Mike Bloomberg</a>, for example, puts a lot of his charitable money into public health.</p>
<p><strong>Michael Moody:</strong> One thing that stands out for me is what’s missing. This list doesn’t include some billionaires known to give significant amounts of money to charity, and it doesn’t reflect all the ways that the wealthiest Americans seek to do good aside from giving to charitable organizations. </p>
<p>The list leaves out anonymous donors, such as the one who in 2023 <a href="https://www.mcpherson.edu/2023/07/mcpherson-college-establishes-1-billion-endowment/">catapulted the endowment of McPherson</a>, a small college in Kansas, past the $1.5 billion mark. It also omits a very prominent billionaire donor: author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.</p>
<p>Scott openly discusses her giving in periodic essays posted to the internet, including one in December 2023 when she described the <a href="https://yieldgiving.com/essays/giving-update/">more than $2.1 billion she had given</a> in the previous 12 months to <a href="https://yieldgiving.com/gifts?essay=20231206">360 nonprofits</a>.</p>
<p>However, this sort of self-disclosure doesn’t fit the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/how-the-chronicle-compiled-its-list-of-the-top-50-donors-of-2022">Chronicle of Philanthropy’s methodology</a>. To avoid counting the same donation twice, it acknowledges only those gifts that go directly to charities or are made to foundations and other intermediaries such as DAFs. Without specific information from Scott or her representatives about which vehicles she uses and how much money she funnels through them each year, they leave her off the list. </p>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/15/investing/elon-musk-charity-donation/index.html">probable omission is Elon Musk</a>, one of the richest people in the world, who leads several companies and <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/elon-musk-donated-1.95-billion-in-tesla-stock-in-2022">designated billions for charity in 2021 and 2022</a>. He has said little about his giving. Details about gifts he’s made to his foundation or other charities usually surface only through mandatory legal filings. Also, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/musk-says-spacex-tesla-neuralink-boring-company-are-philanthropy-2022-4?r=US&IR=T">Musk has argued that his companies</a> are his best “philanthropy.”</p>
<p>Similarly, other billionaires who regularly make this list also say they use money to do good in ways beyond the charitable gifts summarized here.</p>
<p>John Arnold, who made a fortune by starting and running a hedge fund, and his wife, Laura Arnold, as well as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, often point to ways they pursue their philanthropic goals through for-profit means, as well as through gifts to their foundations and DAFs. <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/laura-and-john-arnold-foundation-to-restructure-as-llc">They reserve large chunks of their fortunes</a> in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/technology/zuckerbergs-philanthropy-uses-llc-for-more-control.html">limited liability companies</a>, which are private corporations that they use to either make charitable donations or invest in what they believe are socially responsible companies.</p>
<p><iframe id="T04sr" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/T04sr/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>What surprises you about the biggest donors?</h2>
<p><strong>Campbell:</strong> Last year, <a href="https://theconversation.com/donations-by-top-50-us-donors-dropped-sharply-to-16-billion-in-2022-bill-gates-elon-musk-mike-bloomberg-and-warren-buffett-lead-the-list-of-biggest-givers-199732">I predicted</a> that Melinda French Gates, the ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, would make the 2023 list and she did. French Gates was the ninth-largest donor of 2023, while her former husband was No. 16.</p>
<p>French Gates has charted her own course by creating <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/melinda-french-gates-effort-aims-to-accelerate-womens-power-and-influence?sra=true">Pivotal Ventures</a>, a limited liability company. But she has continued to give primarily by funding the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the biggest private source of <a href="https://pages.devex.com/rs/685-KBL-765/images/the-top-10-foundations-funding-development.pdf">funding for international development</a>.</p>
<p>French Gates indicated that she <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/melinda-french-gates-no-longer-pledges-bulk-of-her-wealth-to-gates-foundation-11643808602">plans to branch out</a> with her philanthropy. But she and Bill <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/leadership?division=Co-chairs%20and%20Board%20of%20Trustees">still co-chair the foundation</a> bearing their names.</p>
<p><strong>Angela Logan</strong> Most <a href="https://www.dafresearchcollaborative.org/national-study-dafs7">donor-advised funds aren’t massive</a>. Only 1% of those accounts held balances of $10 million as of late 2021, according to a recent report. Yet, some of the biggest donors of 2023 deposited far more than that.</p>
<p>Tech executive Michael Dell and his wife, Susan Dell, have infused theirs with $486 million, while Phil Knight, the founder of the athletic apparel and footwear company Nike, and his wife, Penny Knight, placed $104 million in their DAF. <a href="https://www.dell.org/what-we-do/">Both couples</a> also have <a href="https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/knight-foundation,911791788/">their own foundations</a>.</p>
<p>I believe it’s worth watching to see whether in the future more of the biggest donors will take this route, rather than creating their own family foundations.</p>
<p>One concern is that there is <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/an-unlikely-event-the-israel-hamas-war-could-finally-spark-daf-reform">no obligation for donors to disclose gifts</a> they make through DAFs, another <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/public-disclosure-and-availability-of-exempt-organizations-returns-and-applications-requirements-for-private-foundations">difference between them and foundations</a>.</p>
<p>If more of the biggest donors take the DAF route, rather than forming foundations or giving directly to charities, the public would lose access to information about where philanthropic dollars go. And that could potentially further erode trust in charitable giving and nonprofits.</p>
<p><iframe id="rA1lY" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/rA1lY/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>What concerns do you have?</h2>
<p><strong>Campbell:</strong> While these gifts are formidable, I still think about those who are not showing up. Only 23 of the top givers are from the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/">Forbes 400 list</a> of the wealthiest Americans.</p>
<p>I find it surprising that many of those with the most to give away are outflanked by others’ generosity. Only 13 of the year’s top donors have signed <a href="https://givingpledge.org/">the Giving Pledge</a>, a “promise by the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.” This fact leads me to wonder what the long-term plans are for many of the other top donors.</p>
<p>Will they sign to the Giving Pledge? What makes them willing to give so much today but not commit for tomorrow? </p>
<p><strong>Logan</strong> Similarly, I’m struck by the lack of diversity in terms of age among the top givers. More than half of them are over 80. Only one person listed among the youngest members of the Forbes 400 list, Zuckerberg, also made the cut.</p>
<p>Even more intriguing is that, in addition to Zuckerberg, five more of the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/savannahborn/2023/10/03/the-youngest-billionaires-on-the-2023-forbes-400-list/">youngest members of the Forbes 400</a> have signed the Giving Pledge: Airbnb co-founders Joe Gebbia, Nathan Blecharczyk and Brian Chesky; Brian Armstrong, CEO of the cryptocurrency platform Coinbase; and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. </p>
<p>What makes them willing to commit so much tomorrow but less inclined to give as much today? </p>
<p><iframe id="8ubHV" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8ubHV/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>What do you expect to see in 2024 and beyond?</h2>
<p><strong>Logan:</strong> I feel as though this has been stated every four years since I turned 18, but the 2024 U.S. presidential election will be the most consequential in the nation’s history.</p>
<p>I suspect that in this election cycle, donors are putting more of their philanthropic dollars toward preserving democracy, voter education and the causes that matter to Americans on the left, right and center.</p>
<p>Additionally, even if the conflict between Israel and Hamas ends soon, I expect to see an increase in giving in 2024 to combat both antisemitism and Islamophobia and for that to continue going forward. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/29/us/hate-crimes-antisemitism-anti-muslim-dg/index.html">Hate-related crimes</a>, including those targeting Muslims and Jews, have been rising in the U.S. since 2014. And they have surged since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched its war on Gaza. That could drive further giving along the lines of the $100 million that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft provided his <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/robert-kraft-patriots-israel-anti-semitism-0cf70cb4">Foundation to Combat Antisemitism</a> in 2023.</p>
<p><strong>Moody:</strong> I expect that most of the biggest gifts will keep going to foundations and DAFs, as well as higher ed and medical causes. That pattern seems to hold steady, regardless of whatever new culture war, political fight or international conflict is in the headlines.</p>
<p>However, as Angela Logan notes, there are hints that we’ll see more major gifts focused on issues like ethnic conflict, bigotry or racial justice and uplift. One notable example of this in 2023 was the Knights’ <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/phil-knight-invests-400-million-in-portland-s-albina-neighborhood">$400 million pledge to revive a struggling Black neighborhood</a> in Portland, Oregon.</p>
<p>But the world of philanthropy can be surprising sometimes. Donors can make choices no one saw coming, and new donors can burst on the scene. With <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/30/business/ubs-billionaires-report/index.html">new billionaires emerging</a> at a swift pace, it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen next.</p>
<p>Consider, for instance, the news announced in late February 2024 that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/nyregion/albert-einstein-college-medicine-bronx-donation.html">Ruth Gottesman donated $1 billion</a> to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.</p>
<p>Gottesman is a former professor at that medical school. Her husband, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/business/dealbook/david-s-gottesman-dead.html?searchResultPosition=1">David “Sandy” Gottesman</a>, was a billionaire investor who died in 2022 without putting any strings on what she should do with their fortune. This gift broke with some common conventions.</p>
<p>While she did stipulate that the funds should be be used to make the school tuition-free forever, she didn’t tie the gift to <a href="https://charitylawyerblog.com/2021/06/28/charity-naming-rights-how-to-do-it-right/">naming rights</a>. She insisted, instead, that the college keep its name. Initially, she even <a href="https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/dr-ruth-gottesman-just-gave-1-billion-to-make-tuition-free-at-this-bronx-medical-school-it-comes-with-a-surprising-catch.html">wanted to give the money anonymously</a>. </p>
<p>Will other big donors now follow suit?</p>
<p><em>The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided funding for The Conversation U.S. and provides funding for The Conversation internationally. Arnold Ventures provides funding for The Conversation U.S.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223537/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Campbell is the Chair of the Board of the Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela R. Logan is the Board President of the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Moody 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>Three philanthropy scholars discuss several trends in giving by the wealthiest Americans highlighted in this yearly report. Among them: Much of this money doesn’t go to charities right away.David Campbell, Professor of Public Administration, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkAngela R. Logan, Associate Teaching Professor of Management & Organization, St. Andre Bessette Academic Director of the Master of Nonprofit Administration, University of Notre DameMichael Moody, Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1999552024-02-22T13:43:08Z2024-02-22T13:43:08ZDonors gave $58 billion to higher ed in the 2023 academic year, with mega gifts up despite overall decline<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576848/original/file-20240220-30-3492mv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5362%2C3189&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jim Simons and his wife, Marilyn Hawrys Simons, made a historic gift to Stony Brook University in 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mathematician-jim-simons-attends-the-23rd-annual-stars-of-news-photo/1391332846?adppopup=true">Roy Rochlin/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Charitable giving to colleges and universities <a href="https://www.case.org/research/surveys/voluntary-support-education-survey/findings-and-reports">fell 5% in inflation-adjusted terms to US$58 billion</a> in the 2023 academic year, according to the latest <a href="https://www.case.org/resources/giving-us-college-and-universities-58-billion-fiscal-year-2023">Voluntary Support of Education survey</a> from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE.</p>
<p>Giving had reached an all-time high of $59.5 billion in the prior 12-month period. Although the 2023 total marked the second-highest for any 12-month period ever, the decline fits into <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/news-events/news/_news/2023/giving-usa-total-us-charitable-giving-declined-in-2022-to-49933-billion-following-two-years-of-record-generosity.html">ebbing levels of philanthropy</a> seen recently.</p>
<p>As a former fundraiser who now <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=zLBh-YMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">researches giving to colleges and universities</a>, I see five key trends in the new data. </p>
<h2>1. Higher ed remains a high priority</h2>
<p>Educational causes have long been among the nation’s most popular for charitable donors, and the new data suggests that this has not changed.</p>
<p>Only <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-charitable-donations-fell-to-499-billion-in-2022-as-stocks-slumped-and-inflation-surged-207688">churches and other religious institutions</a> consistently receive more philanthropic dollars. In recent years, educational and social service-related nonprofits, such as food banks and homeless shelters, have <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-charitable-donations-fell-to-499-billion-in-2022-as-stocks-slumped-and-inflation-surged-207688">attracted similar levels of support</a>, according to the annual Giving USA report.</p>
<p>Giving USA, which tracks donations of all kinds, unlike the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, lumps giving to higher education, preschools, K-12 education and libraries into its education category, so it has consistently detected a higher amount of educational giving than CASE.</p>
<p>Among other differences, the Giving USA data covers calendar years, while the CASE survey runs from July 1 of one year through June 30 of the next. In 2022, Giving USA found that Americans made <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/news-events/news/_news/2023/giving-usa-total-us-charitable-giving-declined-in-2022-to-49933-billion-following-two-years-of-record-generosity.html">$70 billion in education-related donations</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="C8T8j" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/C8T8j/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>2. More mega gifts</h2>
<p>Donors provide more donations of $100 million or more <a href="https://theconversation.com/donations-by-top-50-us-donors-dropped-sharply-to-16-billion-in-2022-bill-gates-elon-musk-mike-bloomberg-and-warren-buffett-lead-the-list-of-biggest-givers-199732">related to education than any other cause</a>, including religion, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual ranking of America’s biggest donors.
The CASE survey found that colleges and universities received 11 of these gifts in the 2023 academic year, four more than a year earlier. The total money given this way doubled from 2022 to $2.24 billion.</p>
<p>The share of higher ed giving from the biggest donors more than doubled to 3.9% from 1.8% a year earlier. CASE doesn’t name the sources of mega gifts or the schools that received them, but I believe the list may include a historic <a href="https://news.stonybrook.edu/newsroom/press-release/general/simons-foundation-announces-historic-500-million-gift-to-stony-brook-university-endowment/">$500 million gift from the Simons Foundation</a> donated to Stony Brook University.</p>
<p>Donors rarely make gifts that big. This one also stands out because it’s the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-unrestricted-funding-two-philanthropy-experts-explain-164589">largest donation ever to be completely unrestricted</a>. Stony Brook, a New York state public university located on Long Island, may spend or invest the money for whatever purposes it believes make the most sense. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/largest-donations-to-colleges-universities/">Most gifts of $100 million or more</a>, in contrast, are designated for specific purposes, such as funding student financial aid, expanding academic programs, constructing or renovating buildings or growing research initiatives.</p>
<p>What’s more common in this case are the close ties between the donor and the school receiving the gift. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/nyregion/stony-brook-university-gift.html">foundation was formed by Jim Simons</a>, a former Stony Brook math professor, and his wife, Marilyn Simons, who earned a bachelor’s degree and doctorate there. Jim Simons later made a fortune as a hedge fund manager.</p>
<p>Other massive gifts that coincided with the 12 months covered by the latest CASE survey included <a href="https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/roy-and-diana-vagelos-institute-biomedical-research-education-launched-columbia-university-175-million-gift">$175 million for Columbia University</a>, <a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/story/chicago-booths-phd-program-receives-100-million-gift-celebration-its-100th-anniversary">$100 million for the University of Chicago</a> and <a href="https://uknow.uky.edu/campus-news/historic-100-million-gift-will-catapult-uk-college-agriculture-food-and-environment">$100 million for the University of Kentucky</a>.</p>
<p>To be sure, not all donors to higher education make massive gifts. Roughly 43% of the donations are under $100, according to the CASE survey. But those gifts totaled less than 1% of the dollars overall.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tk41SnTnOAU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., opened in 2023 – with support given in prior years from the university’s biggest donor, Mike Bloomberg.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. No across-the-board decline</h2>
<p>Despite the decline from the 2022 academic year, giving to higher ed remains $8.5 billion above levels seen in the 12 months ending in June 2020 – which coincided with <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-coronavirus-is-hitting-colleges-and-universities-hard-but-donors-can-help-133331">the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset</a>. </p>
<p>The decline in 2023 was driven primarily by a reduction in gifts slated to meet long-term needs, such as increasing the size of a university’s endowment or construction. Giving intended to support current needs remained more consistent. </p>
<p>The total amount donated grew for nearly half of the surveyed institutions. It was flat or fell at the rest, CASE found.</p>
<p>This survey also underscores how giving to higher education is unequally distributed: 20 schools, out of more than 750 for which detailed data is collected, accounted for more than one-quarter of the total money raised. That ratio has held steady for the past decade.</p>
<h2>4. Organizations are giving more than individual donors</h2>
<p>Personal donations, whether from alumni or people who didn’t attend a school they’re supporting, fell by more than 13% during the 12-month period when taking inflation into account. That giving totaled $20.5 billion – about one-third of the total donated.</p>
<p>Higher ed giving from foundations, corporations and other institutional donors was flat, rising by an inflation-adjusted 0.1% to $37.5 billion.</p>
<p>CASE attributed the decline in individual donations in the 2023 academic year to the stock market’s relatively weak performance.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/stock-indexes-are-breaking-records-and-crossing-milestones-making-many-investors-feel-wealthier-223274">Stock market indexes</a> closed out 2022 at a low point, with the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/30/investing/dow-stock-market-2022/index.html">Dow Jones Industrial Average declining 9%</a> for the year and other indexes plunging even more. Wealthy people typically give <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2010.10.016">more to charity when the stock market is booming</a> than when it sags.</p>
<h2>5. Role of donor-advised funds is growing</h2>
<p>Many of the gifts that the survey attributes to organizations are indirectly from individuals who have either established their own foundations or are giving through <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/">donor-advised funds</a> – financial accounts often called DAFs.</p>
<p>Donor-advised funds are a way for people to set aside money for giving to charitable causes when they are ready to do so. According to sources like <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/reports/daf-report/">National Philanthropic Trust</a> and Fidelity Charitable, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fidelity-charitable-daf-donor-advised-fund-7a483a4f69115f467ecfb1c4348bbdc3">largest DAF grantmaker</a>, these payouts have been increasing over time.</p>
<p>And research indicates that <a href="https://theconversation.com/charitable-gifts-from-donor-advised-funds-favor-education-and-religion-171793">educational causes are the top recipients</a> of giving through DAFs.</p>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>Because this survey covered giving through June 2023, it doesn’t include the period of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/18/business/upenn-donor-israel/index.html">donor discontent</a> after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-universities-owe-their-big-donors-less-than-you-might-think-explain-2-nonprofit-law-experts-219902">Some donors</a>, including several with previously strong ties to some of the nation’s most prominent universities, are objecting to policies regarding campus activism in solidarity with Palestinians and criticism of Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip. For example, billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin, who gave Harvard University a $300 million gift, has said <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/1/31/ken-griffin-pausing-harvard-donations/">he will refrain from making new donations</a>. </p>
<p>Donors are also continuing to make groundbreaking donations to higher education. These include two 2024 gifts: a <a href="https://www.spelman.edu/about-us/news-and-events/news-releases/2024/01/18/spelman-college-receives-historic-$100-million-donation">$100 million gift to Spelman College</a> announced in January 2024, from Ronda Stryker and her husband, William Johnston. It’s the largest ever for a historically Black college or university. Also, an anonymous donor made a <a href="https://www.depauw.edu/stories/details/depauw-university-receives-200-million-investment-for-transformational-liberal-arts-education/">$150 million gift to DePauw University</a>, which was the largest donation on record for the small liberal arts college in Indiana.</p>
<p>The data also doesn’t reflect the impact of a more predictable trend: that the stock market ended the 2023 calendar year on an upswing. The <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stock-market-up-24-percent-2023-rally/">Dow gained more than 13%</a>, with other major indexes racking up even larger gains.</p>
<p>Ultimately, if trends of past support to higher education are any indication of what to expect in the future, giving to colleges and universities will probably hold steady or even increase.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199955/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Genevieve Shaker receives research funding from the TIAA Institute and the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy.</span></em></p>The stock market’s weak performance at the end of 2022 may have made donors less willing to give.Genevieve Shaker, Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2199022023-12-20T15:59:44Z2023-12-20T15:59:44ZWhat do universities owe their big donors? Less than you might think, explain 2 nonprofit law experts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566742/original/file-20231219-15-day70k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=348%2C274%2C3807%2C2455&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Billionaire investor and Harvard alum Bill Ackman has voiced his objections to the school's current president.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/UniversalMusicPershing/a5060a0466d84e179d3bcbfde643e66a/photo?Query=ackman&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=45&currentItemNo=4">AP Photo/Andrew Harnik</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Exchanging gifts with family and friends can become fraught with contradictory emotions. Instead of gratitude, the recipients of expensive gifts may wind up feeling indebted to the givers. And the givers can have regrets too.</p>
<p>The same kinds of complicated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10495142.2021.1905134">motivations and expectations</a> can sour relations between big donors and the institutions they support.</p>
<p>This dynamic has been playing out in a very public fashion lately with some <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/12/11/1218556147/heres-the-latest-fallout-at-harvard-mit-and-penn-after-the-antisemitism-hearing">high-profile donors to prestigious U.S. universities</a>. At issue for these donors is the schools’ response to debates and demonstrations on their campuses after Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel and the Israeli government’s military campaign in Gaza that followed.</p>
<h2>Disappointed donors</h2>
<p>Notably, hedge fund manager <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/business/bill-ackman-harvard-antisemitism.html">Bill Ackman has complained</a> that Harvard University officials, including President Claudine Gay, have not “heeded his advice on a variety of topics,” including Harvard’s handling of antisemitism and how it should invest his donations.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/university-of-pennsylvania-president-liz-magill-congressional-testimony-antisemitism-backlash-97376d49">Ross Stevens, another financier</a>, threatened on Dec. 7, 2023, to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/12/07/upenn-antisemitism-magill-100-million-donation">take back the US$100 million</a> he gave the University of Pennsylvania through a complex transaction in 2017 “absent a change in leadership and values at Penn.”</p>
<p>In a letter <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ross-stevens-letter-pull-penn-donation-president-2023-12">Stevens released to the media, he alleged</a> that Liz Magill, who was serving as the university’s president, had “enabled and encouraged antisemitism and a climate of fear and harassment at Penn.” </p>
<p>Magill, also on Dec. 7, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/12/07/liz-magill-university-of-pennsylvania-antisemitism/">defended herself from those accusations</a> and related criticism from members of Congress, saying: “A call for genocide of Jewish people is … evil, plain and simple.” She <a href="https://penntoday.upenn.edu/announcements/message-from-scott-bok">resigned on Dec. 9</a>.</p>
<p>Other high-profile donors who have also voiced their dissatisfaction regarding Penn include <a href="https://www.thedp.com/article/2023/10/penn-jon-huntsman-jr-wharton-halts-donations-magill">Jon Huntsman Jr.</a>, a former U.S. ambassador to China and Utah governor, and cosmetics tycoon <a href="https://www.thedp.com/article/2023/10/penn-lauder-reexamining-support">Ronald S. Lauder</a>.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=l-vyPm0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholars of how the law</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=dgewAGoAAAAJ">governs nonprofits</a>, we think these developments suggest that now is a good time to review what donors do and don’t have a right to demand.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1732881220927902140"}"></div></p>
<h2>What restrictions apply</h2>
<p><a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/supreme-court/1986/397-mass-820-2.html">All donations</a> to a charity <a href="https://www.ali.org/publications/show/charitable-nonprofit-organizations/">must support its overall purposes</a>. That is, a hospital can’t take the money it receives from donors and give it to, say, an <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=410504">animal shelter operating 500 miles away</a>.</p>
<p>Donors may request specific restrictions on the use of their charitable gifts in an agreement negotiated before the donation is made. And when gifts are solicited through a specific fundraising campaign, such as a bid to raise money for a new building or for scholarships, that money must be spent accordingly.</p>
<p>State attorneys general and, ultimately, the courts <a href="https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cklawreview/vol85/iss2/3/?utm_source=scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu">have the power to regulate charities</a>. But donors have some tools to police adherence to the restriction they placed on their gifts. </p>
<p>One way they can do this is by threatening to withhold gifts that they had planned to make unless the charity they have been funding changes course. Depending on the state laws that <a href="https://www.ali.org/publications/show/charitable-nonprofit-organizations/">apply to charities</a>, donors may be able to sue for enforcement or reserve the right to do so in gift agreements. </p>
<p>Some donors include in their gift agreements a “<a href="https://www.ali.org/publications/show/charitable-nonprofit-organizations/">gift-over</a>.” This kind of provision redirects the gift to another charity of the donor’s choice if the original recipient violates specified terms.</p>
<p>Promises of future donations from past donors have always allowed donors to informally exercise some degree of influence.</p>
<p>But in the current wrangling between donors and universities over claims of antisemitism on campus, threats to forgo future donations have been explicitly tied to all sorts of university actions, such as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/26/us/university-of-pennsylvania-donors-israel-hamas.html">statements universities either make or do not make</a> regarding international relations.</p>
<p>The threats have become angrier and more public than in the past. Some of the regret and dissatisfaction is being expressed via <a href="https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/marc-rowan-to-funders-show-upenn-that-words-matter/">op-eds and open letters</a>. And the lengths donors have taken to assert leverage have grown more extreme.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566747/original/file-20231219-21-s59jfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two women in professional attire speak into microphones." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566747/original/file-20231219-21-s59jfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566747/original/file-20231219-21-s59jfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566747/original/file-20231219-21-s59jfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566747/original/file-20231219-21-s59jfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566747/original/file-20231219-21-s59jfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566747/original/file-20231219-21-s59jfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566747/original/file-20231219-21-s59jfi.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>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Harvard President Claudine Gay, left, testified alongside Penn President Liz Magill before a House committee on Dec. 5, 2023, regarding antisemitism on college campuses. Magill resigned four days later.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dr-claudine-gay-president-of-harvard-university-liz-magill-news-photo/1833206910?adppopup=true">Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What charities can do</h2>
<p>Charities can take some solace in the law.</p>
<p>When donors make charitable gifts, they must irrevocably transfer that property to the charity receiving it. Except in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/15/us/yale-returns-20-million-to-an-unhappy-patron.html">very rare exceptions</a>, disappointed donors <a href="https://theconversation.com/disappointed-donors-cant-count-on-getting-their-charitable-money-back-93635">can’t get their assets back</a>.</p>
<p>In 1995, for example, Yale returned a $20 million gift to Lee Bass, an heir to a Texas oil fortune. Bass objected to the way the university was using that donation, which was supposed to <a href="http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/95_07/bass.htmlBass">support the study of Western civilization</a>. He reached an impasse with Yale after surprising the school’s leaders with a demand they refused to accommodate: that he would personally get to approve four new professors.</p>
<p>And if a <a href="https://www.wealthmanagement.com/philanthropy/no-charitable-deduction-incomplete-gift">donor attaches too many strings</a> to a gift, that can render it ineligible for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-charitable-deduction-an-economist-explains-162647">charitable deduction</a>, missing out on a tax break. Just as with personal gifts, gifts with too many strings aren’t really gifts at all.</p>
<p>Although donors who have negotiated special conditions in a gift agreement may assert their rights to sue over a charity’s broken promises, that can take a lot of time and energy, while <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/education/11princeton.html">squandering money on legal costs</a>. This process can also anger other donors, causing the benefactor to ultimately lose influence with the charity.</p>
<h2>A few tips</h2>
<p>In the University of Pennsylvania case, about two months after the donors began their public pressure campaign, <a href="https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/update-penn-leadership">Penn’s president</a> and the chair of its board of trustees <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/12/09/1218415525/penn-president-liz-magill-resigns-antisemitism-hearing">had stepped down</a>. They resigned in the wake of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-university-presidents-find-it-hard-to-punish-advocating-genocide-college-free-speech-codes-are-both-more-and-less-protective-than-the-first-amendment-219566">contentious congressional hearing</a>.</p>
<p>In this case, some of the disappointed donors got their wish – with an assist from conservative lawmakers. Congress doesn’t usually get involved in these disputes, and with good reason. <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/non-profit_organizations#">Nonprofits are private institutions using private assets</a>, even if the assets are meant to advance purposes that are, ultimately, in the public interest.</p>
<p>So here is our practical advice for donors and the institutions that rely on them.</p>
<p>Donors shouldn’t try to control a charity through their gifts after the fact. The time to establish limits is before you’ve signed off on those gifts.</p>
<p>Charities should reject gifts that are offered with strings attached that they aren’t happy about. If <a href="https://www.501c3.org/kb/what-are-restricted-funds/">gifts have restrictions</a>, charities should <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3833.pdf">be aware of that and adhere to them</a>.</p>
<p>We fear that the failure on either side in the controversy now affecting several prestigious schools to abide by this basic guidance can potentially harm not only the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/24/business/philanthropy-colleges-harvard-upenn-israel/index.html">freedom and academic integrity</a> of a university, as many observers have noted, but also the freedom and integrity of the entire nonprofit sector.</p>
<p>The best charitable gifts, like the best personal gifts, are not meant as a means to control the recipients.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219902/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>Threats from disappointed donors over the language used during campus protests about the Israel-Hamas conflict have become angrier and more public than in the past.Ellen P. Aprill, Professor of Tax Law Emerita, Loyola Law School Los AngelesJill Horwitz, Professor of Law and Medicine, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2194682023-12-12T13:22:51Z2023-12-12T13:22:51ZWhat’s the point of giving gifts? An anthropologist explains this ancient part of being human<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565029/original/file-20231211-15-9n4yrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1493%2C0%2C5964%2C4110&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gifts are usually given reciprocally.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/woman-giving-her-boyfriend-a-wrapped-christmas-gift-royalty-free-image/1287618519">Svetlana_nsk/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you planned out your holiday gift giving yet? If you’re anything like me, you might be waiting until the last minute. But whether every single present is already wrapped and ready, or you’ll hit the shops on Christmas Eve, giving gifts is a curious but central part of being human.</p>
<p>While researching my new book, “<a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo206855594.html">So Much Stuff</a>,” on how humanity has come to depend on tools and technology over the last 3 million years, I became fascinated by the purpose of giving things away. Why would people simply hand over something precious or valuable when they could use it themselves?</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FFy5tMUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">To me as an anthropologist</a>, this is an especially powerful question because giving gifts likely has <a href="https://dundle.com/magazine/en/history-of-gift-giving-from-cavement-to-gen-z/">ancient roots</a>. And gifts can be found in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/208956">every known culture</a> around the world.</p>
<p>So, what explains the power of the present?</p>
<p>Undoubtedly, gifts serve lots of purposes. Some psychologists <a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/mental-health/brain-gift-giving">have observed</a> a “warm glow” – an intrinsic delight – that’s associated with giving presents. Theologians have noted how gifting is a way to express moral values, such as love, kindness and gratitude, in <a href="https://catholicmoraltheology.com/the-virtues-of-gift-giving/">Catholicism</a>, <a href="https://www.alliancemagazine.org/analysis/traditions-of-giving-in-buddhism/">Buddhism</a> and <a href="https://themuslimvibe.com/western-muslim-culture/what-does-islam-say-about-giving-gifts">Islam</a>. And philosophers ranging from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190496432.003.0014">Seneca</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2015.1088820">Friedrich Nietzsche</a> regarded gifting as the best demonstration of selflessness. It’s little wonder that gifts are a central part of Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and other winter holidays – and that some people may <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/article281962463.html">even be tempted to regard</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-psychological-differences-between-those-who-love-and-those-who-loathe-black-friday-shopping-105702">Black Friday</a>, the opening of the year-end shopping season, as a holiday in itself.</p>
<p>But of all the explanations for why people give gifts, the one I find most convincing was offered in 1925 by a French anthropologist named <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcel-Mauss">Marcel Mauss</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565030/original/file-20231211-25-man0nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="happy girl opens a box glowing from within by a Christmas tree" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565030/original/file-20231211-25-man0nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565030/original/file-20231211-25-man0nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565030/original/file-20231211-25-man0nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565030/original/file-20231211-25-man0nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565030/original/file-20231211-25-man0nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565030/original/file-20231211-25-man0nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565030/original/file-20231211-25-man0nl.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>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A thoughtful gift can feel worth more than its cash value.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/little-girl-excitedly-opens-presents-during-royalty-free-image/1063785468">fstop123/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Giving, receiving, reciprocating</h2>
<p>Like many anthropologists, Mauss was puzzled by societies in which gifts were extravagantly given away.</p>
<p>For example, along the northwest coast of Canada and the United States, Indigenous peoples conduct potlatch ceremonies. In these dayslong feasts, hosts give away immense amounts of property. Consider a <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Indian_Agents/qQI9DgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%221921%22+%22dan+cranmer%22+%22%242,000%22&pg=PA128&printsec=frontcover">famous potlatch in 1921</a>, held by a clan leader of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation in Canada who gave community members 400 sacks of flour, heaps of blankets, sewing machines, furniture, canoes, gas-powered boats and even pool tables.</p>
<p>In a now-famous essay titled “<a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Gift/">The Gift</a>,” originally published almost a century ago, Mauss sees potlaches as an extreme form of gifting. Yet, he suggests this behavior is totally recognizable in most every human society: We give things away even when keeping them for ourselves would seem to make much more economic and evolutionary sense.</p>
<p>Mauss observed that gifts create three separate but inextricably related actions. Gifts are given, received and reciprocated.</p>
<p>The first act of giving establishes the virtues of the gift giver. They express their generosity, kindness and honor.</p>
<p>The act of receiving the gift, in turn, shows a person’s willingness to be honored. This is a way for the receiver to show their own generosity, that they are willing to accept what was offered to them.</p>
<p>The third component of gift giving is reciprocity, returning in kind what was first given. Essentially, the person who received the gift is now expected – implicitly or explicitly – to give a gift back to the original giver.</p>
<p>But then, of course, once the first person gets something back, they must return yet another gift to the person who received the original gift. In this way, gifting becomes an endless loop of giving and receiving, giving and receiving.</p>
<p>This last step – reciprocity – is what makes gifts unique. Unlike buying something at a store, in which the exchange ends when money is traded for goods, giving gifts builds and sustains relationships. This relationship between the gift giver and receiver is bound up with morality. Gifting is an expression of fairness because each present is generally of equal or greater value than what was last given. And gifting is an expression of respect because it shows a willingness to honor the other person.</p>
<p>In these ways, gifting tethers people together. It keeps people connected in an infinite cycle of mutual obligations.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565031/original/file-20231211-17-a2otkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="busy city street with lights and holiday decorations" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565031/original/file-20231211-17-a2otkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565031/original/file-20231211-17-a2otkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565031/original/file-20231211-17-a2otkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565031/original/file-20231211-17-a2otkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565031/original/file-20231211-17-a2otkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565031/original/file-20231211-17-a2otkg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565031/original/file-20231211-17-a2otkg.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>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The year-end shopping frenzy can tip away from meaningful gift exchange to expensive consumerism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/view-of-strøget-street-the-main-shopping-street-in-royalty-free-image/541318714">Atlantide Phototravel/Corbis Documentary via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Giving better gifts</h2>
<p>Are modern-day consumers unknowingly embodying Mauss’ theory a little too well? After all, many people today suffer not from the lack of gifts, but from an overabundance. </p>
<p>Gallup reports that the average American holiday shopper estimates <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/545450/consumers-increase-holiday-spending-intentions-mid-season.aspx">they’ll spend US$975 on presents in 2023</a>, the highest amount since this survey began in 1999.</p>
<p>And many gifts are simply thrown out. In the 2019 holiday season, it was estimated that more than <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/bad-gift-givers-christmas-presents-holiday-gifts/">$15 billion of gifts</a> purchased by Americans were unwanted, with <a href="https://wasteadvantagemag.com/how-holiday-gift-waste-impacts-the-environment/">4% going directly to the landfill</a>. This year, holiday spending is expected to increase in the <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/3157/uk-christmas-shopping/#editorsPicks">U.K.</a>, <a href="https://www.cpacanada.ca/en/the-cpa-profession/about-cpa-canada/media-centre/2023/november/holiday-spending-2023">Canada</a>, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1287292/japan-holiday-shopping-expenditure-change-previous-year/">Japan</a> and elsewhere.</p>
<p>Modern-day gifting practices may be the source of both awe and anger. On the one hand, by giving presents you are engaging in an ancient behavior that makes us human by growing and sustaining our relationships. On the other hand, it seems as if some societies might be using the holiday season as an excuse to simply consume more and more.</p>
<p>Mauss’ ideas do not promote runaway consumerism. On the contrary, his explanations of gifts suggest that the more meaningful and personal the present, the greater the respect and honor being shown. A truly thoughtful gift is far less likely to end up in a dump. And vintage, upcycled, handmade goods – or a personalized experience such as a food tour or hot air balloon ride – might even be more valued than an expensive item mass-produced on the other side of the world, shipped across oceans and packaged in plastic.</p>
<p>Quality gifts can speak to your values and more meaningfully sustain your relationships.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219468/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chip Colwell receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Science Foundation. He is affiliated with the Wenner-Gren Foundation and SAPIENS. </span></em></p>Presents are about giving, receiving and reciprocating, and how this cycle strengthens relationships.Chip Colwell, Associate Research Professor of Anthropology, University of Colorado DenverLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2158592023-11-14T13:24:32Z2023-11-14T13:24:32ZAmid ‘checkout charity’ boom, some Americans are more likely to be impulse givers than others<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557857/original/file-20231106-271094-2cnmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C244%2C3635%2C2025&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Walmart has embraced checkout charity. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/miami-florida-hallandale-beach-walmart-store-cashier-and-news-photo/1519961181?adppopup=true">Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you live in the United States, chances are that <a href="https://theconversation.com/asking-customers-to-donate-when-they-buy-stuff-may-be-good-for-business-102298">cashiers often ask</a> whether you want to donate to a cause their employer is currently supporting. Organizations like Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America or relief efforts in Ukraine were among the <a href="https://engageforgood.com/meet-americas-charity-checkout-champions-2023">causes retailers championed in 2022</a>.</p>
<p>You may be asked if you’d like to round up your total to the nearest dollar, to add on a small amount or to “buy” a shamrock, heart or some other token that will be displayed in the store with your name on it. Sometimes these prompts are delivered by a credit card reader or a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12208-021-00315-1">website during an online purchase</a>.</p>
<p>According to Engage for Good, a social impact organization, <a href="https://engageforgood.com/meet-americas-charity-checkout-champions-2023">77 businesses raised over US$1 million each in 2022</a> from their customers for charity. These campaigns, the largest in the U.S., raised a total of $749 million. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/donation-store-checkout-charity-tipping-a5282806">Checkout charity campaigns</a> through eBay, Walgreens and PetSmart are among the nation’s largest.</p>
<p>We conduct research in the field of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=P6Bc_6sAAAAJ&hl=en">nonprofit management</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Wox_mGgAAAAJ&hl=en">charitable fundraising</a>, and we wanted to know more about the people who say “yes” when asked to give at checkout – which we call “impulse giving.” </p>
<h2>More than half give this way</h2>
<p>As opposed to an <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/impulse-buying-definition">impulse buyer</a>, who buys things they weren’t planning to acquire while shopping, impulse giving is tied to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30580-5">widespread instinct to help</a>.</p>
<p>To learn more about the people who have collectively given hundreds of millions of dollars this way, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374384139_Who_Will_Spare_a_Dime_Impulse_Giving_Decisions_at_the_Checkout">we conducted a national survey of 1,383 American adults</a>, the results of which will be published in a forthcoming article in the <a href="https://www.jpna.org/">Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs</a>. </p>
<p>We asked participants, who we found using <a href="https://www.mturk.com/">Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform</a>, whether they gave at checkout, the amount they gave over the past year and how they donated. We also collected demographic information to create a profile of a typical impulse giver.</p>
<p>More than half of the respondents – 53% – said they had given to charity while paying for their purchases in the prior year. People who give this way say they donate about $50 to charities annually – about a dollar per week on average. The most popular form of checkout charity was rounding their total up to the nearest dollar: About 85% of these impulse givers told us that they did that.</p>
<p>More than two-thirds of the impulse givers we identified said that sometimes, instead of rounding up, they choose an additional amount to add on to their purchase, such as $1. Only about one-fifth of the people who support charities at checkout said they had purchased tokens for in-store display.</p>
<p>Of those who said they engaged in checkout charity, about 59% said they give to charity in multiple ways throughout the year.</p>
<h2>Who are the impulse givers?</h2>
<p>We found that checkout charity seems to appeal most to people under 50 years old and those who are middle-class wage earners – earning from $35,000 to $99,000 a year.</p>
<p>Those who had attended college were slightly less likely to give at the register than other survey respondents.</p>
<p>These patterns are different from those who give <a href="https://generosityforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Overall-Giving-2019-PPS.pdf">directly to charitable organizations</a>. People who are older, earn higher incomes and have more years of higher education are more likely to donate directly to charitable organizations.</p>
<p>We also found that women are also more likely to give – and to give more – with checkout charity than men.</p>
<p>We found additional demographic differences in the amount of money generally donated. We found that, on average, white respondents gave $167 a year, while Black respondents gave $225 – but it’s possible that other factors, such as age and income, may play a role in those decisions. When we controlled for the influence of other demographic factors, we found that Black people taking part in our survey were spending approximately $120 a year more on impulse giving than white people reported. <a href="https://institute.blackbaud.com/asset/diversity-in-giving/">Blackbaud</a>, a fundraising software company, has also found that Black Americans are more likely to engage in checkout charity than white Americans.</p>
<p>We also asked the survey respondents to think about the last time they donated while checking out and to tell us how familiar they were with the charity receiving their small gift. </p>
<p>Only 31% of impulse givers said they were “very knowledgeable” about the organization, with 12% of these small donors stating they had no familiarity at all. The majority had at least some awareness about the organization that would receive their money.</p>
<h2>Can there be too many asks?</h2>
<p>According to Engage for Good, the total raised from the largest checkout charity campaigns <a href="https://engageforgood.com/meet-americas-charity-checkout-champions-2023">has grown each year since 2012</a>.</p>
<p>However, the increased frequency of customers being asked to give to charity when they check out may instill complacency – <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.929362411796166">or possibly, annoyance</a>. Customers are now so used to being asked to give at checkout that they may be starting to act less impulsively.</p>
<p>For some shoppers, including those who participated in our study, the impulse to give may eventually yield to the ability to more easily say “no thanks.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215859/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Dula receives funding from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Foundation for Philanthropy.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth K. Hansen receives funding from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Foundation for Philanthropy.</span></em></p>Middle-class consumers and shoppers of color give the most this way.Lauren Dula, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkRuth K. Hansen, Assistant Professor of Nonprofit Management, University of Wisconsin-WhitewaterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2096682023-08-01T12:25:52Z2023-08-01T12:25:52ZDonors give more when asked to help people get back on their feet instead of meeting immediate needs – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539065/original/file-20230724-21-visf7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=421%2C708%2C5966%2C3533&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As the saying goes, it's better to teach someone to fish than to give them a fish.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/girl-holding-grandfathers-hand-and-going-fishing-on-royalty-free-image/1347216675?adppopup=true">Dimensions/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Charities that provide social services such as medical care or after-school programs should consider emphasizing how their efforts can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437221140028">help their clients become more self-sufficient</a>, my research findings suggest.</p>
<p>With my colleagues <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zs0rJiYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Stacie Waites</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=NpOhetkAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">Adam Farmer</a> and <a href="https://kelley.iu.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/profile.html?id=RWELDEN">Roman Welden</a>, I explored whether people respond differently to fundraising pitches for charities that promise to help people in need become more self-sufficient than those that don’t.</p>
<p>One study involved asking people in one of two ways to donate to the <a href="https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/">Wounded Warrior Project</a>, a charity that helps veterans who have been injured. The participants were told either that their gifts would support veterans’ immediate needs, such as food and housing, or that they would contribute to their eventual self-sufficiency through career counseling and therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. These messages were developed from <a href="https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/programs">information available on the Wounded Warrior website</a>.</p>
<p>For this study, we recruited workers from <a href="https://www.mturk.com/worker">Amazon Mechanical Turk</a>, a crowdsourced platform for paid tasks. Participants were paid to view one of the two charitable appeals and were given a bonus payment that could be donated partially or in full to the charity. We found that study participants who received the self-sufficiency pitch gave approximately 38% more of their bonus payment to charity.</p>
<p>We also explored which kind of message works best for the Pinnacle Resource Center, a regional charity in East Tennessee that assists homeless people, as part of its holiday fundraising campaign. Potential donors saw one of two messages focused on either meeting clients’ immediate needs or helping them become more self-sufficient. </p>
<p>One was: “Our focus is on providing resources to help individuals become self-sufficient in an effort to eventually provide for themselves.”</p>
<p>The other was: “Our focus is on providing resources to help individuals meet their immediate needs, whatever they may be.”</p>
<p>The people who saw the self-sufficiency message were almost three times as likely to donate and gave approximately 80% more money. The charity raised five times more money from the donors who got the self-sufficiency pitch.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Charities often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/666470">appeal to current and potential donors</a> based on the food, shelter and services they provide to those in need, using a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.01.005">variety of fundraising tactics</a>.</p>
<p>My research highlights a fundraising strategy that these nonprofits can use to their advantage.</p>
<p>A wide array of charities, such as disaster relief groups and after-school programs, could probably raise more money if they were to put greater emphasis in their messaging on how they’re boosting the eventual self-sufficiency of their clients.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>I didn’t look at donations other than money, such as blood or canned food, or the hours volunteers log at the charities they support. So my research didn’t examine how messages related to self-sufficiency may affect those kinds of support.</p>
<p>Might appealing to certain emotions work better than others when they’re paired with self-sufficiency messages?</p>
<p>Given that <a href="https://doi.org/10.2501/S0021849910091592">evoking emotions such as nostalgia</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2017.02.004">guilt can increase charitable giving</a>, I believe that it’s important to discover which emotions are the best to elicit with fundraising pitches aimed at promoting the self-sufficiency of a charity’s clients.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209668/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pinnacle Resource Center partnered with Jonathan Hasford's research team to conduct a field experiment described in this article. It did not receive any compensation or financial support during its work with the charity.
Jonathan Hasford did not work for, consult, or receive funding from the Wounded Warrior Project when working on this research.</span></em></p>Emphasizing self-sufficiency in fundraising pitches can increase charitable donations, a marketing scholar has found.Jonathan Hasford, Douglas and Brenda Horne Professor of Business, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2085372023-07-14T12:46:55Z2023-07-14T12:46:55ZDonors who feel upbeat are more likely to give to charity – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536690/original/file-20230710-23-liq0z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=114%2C26%2C5774%2C3831&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Feeling generous?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/hispanic-tattoo-woman-with-smartphone-in-bedroom-royalty-free-image/1443546298?adppopup=true">Vera Vita/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>When people feel happier, they’re more likely to donate to charity. That’s what we, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4l0VNcUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">two economists</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=LKP05dcAAAAJ">who study what motivates</a> environmentally conscientious consumption and support for free services, found in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/uead041">new study</a> published in The Economic Journal. </p>
<p>To conduct this research, we analyzed tweets from over 20,000 Twitter users who used the hashtag “#iloveWikipedia.” That slogan is part of a template that Wikipedia suggests to anyone who has just completed a donation on its online platform, so it helped us identify people who have given money to the free online encyclopedia edited by volunteers. Those donations funded the <a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation</a>, the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia.</p>
<p>We evaluated the donors’ moods by using <a href="https://www.ibm.com/topics/natural-language-processing">natural language processing</a> tools. These tools assigned a score to each tweet to indicate how positive or negative the mood was for each tweet.</p>
<p>For example, a tweet that says “Woohoo! Awesome Pete!” would get a positive sentiment score, while one that says “THIS MADE ME CRY OUT OF ANGER AND SADNESS AND FRUSTRATION.” would get a negative one. We used four different scoring systems, all of which allowed us to gauge how strongly positive or negative a Twitter user’s mood was. We could adjust these sentiment scores by comparing them to a user’s other tweets.</p>
<p>We found that donors’ sentiments became more upbeat up to an hour before they made a gift to support Wikipedia and then declined, becoming more neutral pretty quickly after that. Donors tended to be in especially good moods before making their gifts, but they regressed quickly to their more typical mood afterward.</p>
<p>We can’t be sure why people were feeling happier before they donated than they did afterward, but our findings suggest that feeling good could make you more likely to give to charity. We call this the “preheating effect.” Our observation about donor behavior contrasts with an economic theory that people may give to charity because it makes them feel good about doing the right thing. This feeling is known as a “<a href="https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/psychology/warm-glow-giving">warm glow</a>.” </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Scholars of philanthropy have long known that <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Science-of-Giving-Experimental-Approaches-to-the-Study-of-Charity/Oppenheimer-Olivola/p/book/9781138981430">giving to charity is tied to happiness</a>. What’s less clear is whether being charitable makes people happier, or whether happier people are more charitable. Our study offers new evidence that feeling happy before they’re asked to make a donation makes people more likely to give. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/h0033366">Previous studies</a> have sought to make research participants feel happy or sad and then analyzed how those moods may affect their inclination to behave in helpful ways. However, we were able to capture the donors’ real-world moods, which is more relevant to fundraising in terms of determining what might make someone more likely to make a charitable donation.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Based on the evidence we scraped from tweets, it’s not possible to tell whether being in a good mood makes people more likely to give to charity, or if feeling happy simply makes donors more likely to tweet about their gifts.</p>
<p>Also, our study looked at the apparent emotional state of Twitter users, and not everyone actively uses that social media platform. Because of that limitation, we can’t know whether everyone experiences this same preheating effect. </p>
<p>We also didn’t figure out whether preheating varies across age, gender, race or class lines.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208537/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>Donors’ sentiments expressed on Twitter became more cheerful before they made a gift to support Wikipedia, researchers found.Nathan W. Chan, Associate Professor of Resource Economics, UMass AmherstCasey Wichman, Assistant Professor of Economics, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2076882023-06-20T12:36:31Z2023-06-20T12:36:31ZUS charitable donations fell to $499 billion in 2022 as stocks slumped and inflation surged<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532448/original/file-20230616-15-op8jl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C302%2C4599%2C3218&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Giving declines when the country tightens its belt.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/america-tightens-its-belt-royalty-free-illustration/96420045">FreeTransform/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Charitable giving in the U.S. fell to <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/news-events/news-item/giving-usa:-total-u.s.-charitable-giving-declined-in-2022-to-$499.33-billion-following-two-years-of-record-generosity.html?id=422">US$499 billion in 2022</a>, as donors dealt with their <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/29/stock-market-futures-open-to-close-news.html">losses in the stock market</a> and coped with <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/qai/2023/01/02/is-inflation-high-compared-to-years-past-breaking-down-inflation-rates-by-year/?sh=1400f7506d7a">40-year high inflation rates</a>.</p>
<p>For only the fourth time on record, Americans gave less than they did the previous year without accounting for inflation, according to the newest annual Giving USA report. The research, released by the <a href="https://givingusa.org/">Giving USA Foundation</a>, in partnership with the <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/">Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy</a>, found that total giving fell 10.5% in inflation-adjusted terms, the steepest decline since the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Giving in nominal dollars, without that adjustment, dropped by 3.4%.</p>
<p>Giving declined across the board with lower levels of donations from individuals, foundations, the estates of deceased donors, and corporations – when accounting for inflation.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uO3Ibh4AAAAJ&hl=en">economist</a> with <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uO3Ibh4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">over 20 years of experience in analyzing this data</a> and two of the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&user=KbjWCpcAAAAJ">report’s lead</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=plWgMBcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">researchers</a>, we find that three factors lead to these rare results: the comparative strength of giving in prior years, U.S. economic conditions and inflation. Giving to nearly every kind of charity fell in 2022.</p>
<h2>Giving dropped from a record high</h2>
<p>Giving in 2021 was <a href="https://theconversation.com/americans-gave-a-near-record-485-billion-to-charity-in-2021-despite-surging-inflation-rates-185086">even stronger than we first estimated</a>, reaching $517 billion that year, surpassing half a trillion dollars for the first time. This revision was based primarily on updates that the U.S. government makes to tax data – an annual practice.</p>
<p>In 2021, <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/news-events/news-item/pandemic-put-a-strain-on-charitable-giving,-especially-for-women-and-couples.html?id=376">individual donors</a>, <a href="https://candid.org/about/press-room/releases/new-report-finds-at-least-1b-given-by-philanthropy-for-covid-19-in-2021">foundations and corporations</a> were motivated to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. That all-time high for U.S. giving was facilitated by <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/30/stock-market-futures-open-to-close-news.html">the stock market’s strong performance</a>, which began in late 2020, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/01/27/gdp-2021-q4-economy/">and robust economic growth</a>.</p>
<p>The large total amount that Americans gave to charity in 2021, which followed <a href="https://theconversation.com/americans-gave-a-record-471-billion-to-charity-in-2020-amid-concerns-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-job-losses-and-racial-justice-161489">another strong year in 2020</a>, helps to explain why giving declined so much in 2022. Donations fell in 2022 from unusually high levels reached when Americans responded to needs that arose due to the pandemic and calls for social justice.</p>
<p><iframe id="Y4yRD" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Y4yRD/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Donors at all income levels likely scaled back</h2>
<p>Individual donors, who comprise the largest share of giving, gave $319 billion in 2022 – 13.4% less than they did in the previous year after adjusting for inflation. Unlike in recent years, when market gains boosted the net worth of wealthy Americans, the stock market fell in 2022 <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/30/investing/dow-stock-market-2022/index.html">by more than any year since 2008</a>, reducing the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-household-wealth-falls-third-consecutive-quarter-fed-says-2022-12-09/">net worth of many U.S. households</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wealth-philanthropy/giving-by-rich-americans-fell-during-recession-study-idUSTRE6A82UX20101109">Rich people typically give less to charity</a> when the stock market suffers. That held true in 2022, according to <a href="https://data.givingtuesday.org/fep-report/">multiple</a> <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/02/14/philanthropy-50-bill-gates-warren-buffett-mike-bloomberg-chronicle-year-in-review-2022-33-billion/">sources</a>.</p>
<p>Despite declines in the stock market, the job market in 2022 was strong – which can be a good sign for the financial stability of less affluent households. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/05/us-jobs-report-july-2022-unemployment-rate">Employment levels rose</a>, with the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf">jobless rate dipping to about 3.5%</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-wage-growth-slows-4d4a328c345dd4a2e04fbc222d101ac7">Wages also grew in 2022</a>; however, that growth did not keep up with inflation. Instead, many Americans were forced to use their savings to stay on top of their bills, as they paid more for food, housing and other expenses.</p>
<p>The Giving USA data shows that people give about 2% of their disposable personal income – the money available after they pay taxes – to charity. Because inflation-adjusted <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=16dfa">disposable personal income fell by more than 6%</a> in 2022, Americans had less money to give away.</p>
<p><iframe id="KMtXW" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/KMtXW/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Inflation eroded the value of all gifts</h2>
<p>U.S. inflation soared to a rate that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/12/heres-the-inflation-breakdown-for-december-2022-in-one-chart.html">peaked at about 9% in June 2022</a>, the highest rate since the early 1980s.</p>
<p>Americans had grown accustomed to far lower levels of inflation, which <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=16dex">averaged a bit below 3%</a> in the 40 years prior to 2022.</p>
<p>As a consequence, donors may not have taken into account the fact that annual gifts simply did not go as far in 2022 as they did in 2021. If you gave your local food pantry $100 in 2021 and then did the same in 2022, you might think that your giving didn’t change. But in a year of high inflation rates, that seemingly steady donation was actually a smaller gift in terms of what the food pantry could do with the money.</p>
<p>Foundations and corporations also gave less than they did the year before, and bequests from the estates of people who have died also declined after adjusting for inflation.</p>
<p>Similarly, giving to nearly all of the nine categories that Giving USA tracks fell in 2022 in inflation-adjusted dollars.</p>
<p>One of the two exceptions was gifts to foundations, which grew 1.9%. This small uptick was probably caused by one or two large gifts to new or existing foundations.</p>
<p><iframe id="C8T8j" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/C8T8j/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>We also saw some promising signs. For example, giving for international causes grew by 2.7%, likely driven by <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-responsibly-donate-to-ukrainian-causes-178391">support for Ukraine</a> following Russia’s attack. This is in keeping with another pattern in the data: Americans give charitably as a way to address pressing issues. In the Great Recession, Americans <a href="https://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/CharitableGiving_fact_sheet.pdf">increased giving to support basic social services</a>, such as gifts to food banks, even when overall giving declined. </p>
<p>Finally, it is important to acknowledge that giving did remain close to record levels in 2022, at nearly $500 billion for the year. As the report observes, giving eventually bounces back from declines, even when adjusting for inflation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207688/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>Giving receded as many Americans saw their purchasing power decline, straining household budgets.Patrick Rooney, Glenn Family Chair Emeritus of Economics and Philanthropic Studies, Indiana UniversityAnna Pruitt, Associate Director of Research, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and Managing Editor, Giving USA, Indiana UniversityJon Bergdoll, Associated Director of Data Partnerships at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2050962023-05-30T12:23:06Z2023-05-30T12:23:06ZAfter the ALS ice bucket challenge and the rise of MrBeast, stunt philanthropy might be here to stay<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527859/original/file-20230523-15345-lbuwlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=59%2C623%2C4873%2C2670&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, leaned into charity to get a massive following.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/youtube-personality-jimmy-donaldson-better-known-as-mrbeast-news-photo/1247748364?adppopup=true">Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Stunt philanthropy is what happens when influencers, other celebrities and people who aren’t famous at all use entertaining videos to encourage support for a charitable cause. </p>
<p>When their stunts go viral, it can lead to massive public engagement that raises lots of money and draws new attention to previously less visible causes. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oF3mmcYFoYs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Donald Trump took the ALS ice bucket challenge in 2014.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why stunt philanthropy matters</h2>
<p>The biggest early success with stunt philanthropy online was the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/07/03/ice-bucket-challenge-5-things-you-should-know/448006001/">ALS ice bucket challenge</a>. </p>
<p>People taking the challenge uploaded short videos in which someone dropped a bucket of icy water on their head. They then posted these clips on their social media accounts, tagging others to do the same and to donate to the ALS Association. Participants ranged from high school students to <a href="https://youtu.be/XS6ysDFTbLU">Bill Gates</a> and <a href="https://youtu.be/5W37Z6U16MY">Mark Zuckerberg</a>. Even <a href="https://youtu.be/oF3mmcYFoYs">Donald Trump</a> took the challenge, before his presidency. </p>
<p>The campaign raised <a href="https://www.als.org/stories-news/ice-bucket-challenge-dramatically-accelerated-fight-against-als">an estimated US$115 million</a> in 2014 for research tied to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – a fatal neurological condition for which there is no cure. </p>
<p>More recently, stunt philanthropy has become associated with a single infuencer: Jimmy Donaldson. By late 2022, when he was 24 years old, the <a href="https://www.wnct.com/local-news/youtube-star-greenvilles-own-mrbeast-rethinks-old-notions-of-philanthropy/">entrepreneur who calls himself “MrBeast</a>” had <a href="https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2022/11/mr-beast-now-most-subscribed-youtuber-ever-overtaking-pewdiepie-726321">more followers on YouTube than anyone else, ever</a>.</p>
<p>Donaldson calls himself “<a href="https://viewpoint.pointloma.edu/the-rise-of-the-social-media-influencer/">YouTube’s biggest philanthropist</a>.” He has gained <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast">more than 150 million YouTube subscribers</a> through his entertaining stunt videos, such as recreating a game show version of the <a href="https://youtu.be/0e3GPea1Tyg">popular Korean Netflix series “Squid Game</a>” and giving the winner $456,000.</p>
<p>He relies on <a href="https://observer.com/2023/02/mrbeasts-sponsors-can-reach-a-super-bowl-sized-audience-for-half-the-price-of-a-super-bowl-ad">corporate partners like Honey</a>, TikTok and Quidd to pull off the stunts that have made him a celebrity.</p>
<p>Donaldson’s stunt videos have helped him earn lots of money for himself through advertising and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/technology/mr-beast-youtube.html">sale of socks, water bottles and other merchandise</a>. He has created his own candy company, <a href="https://feastables.com/">Feastables</a>, which he celebrated with a stunt video that featured his own replica of <a href="https://youtu.be/Hwybp38GnZw">Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory</a>.</p>
<p>He now runs a <a href="https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/mrbeast-breaks-another-record-with-his-mrbeast-burger-restaurant-opening-1922897/">global burger chain that partners with local restaurants</a> and reportedly made <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2022/01/14/the-highest-paid-youtube-stars-mrbeast-jake-paul-and-markiplier-score-massive-paydays/?sh=46f766d11aa7">$54 million in 2021</a> alone.</p>
<p>Building on his formula for creating viral content, Donaldson also creates stunt videos that raise awareness and money and amass needed goods for Ukrainian refugees, African orphans and a <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/much-does-mrbeast-much-does-050300091.html">wide array of other causes</a>.</p>
<p>In addition to partnering with companies, Donaldson also teams up with nonprofits for his philanthropy-themed stunts. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TJ2ifmkGGus?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In early 2023, Donaldson collaborated with SEE International to facilitate 1,000 cataract surgeries.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Beast Philanthropy</h2>
<p>In May 2023, Donaldson worked with <a href="https://youtu.be/w1UzSiWUrr8">Hearing the Call</a> to provide hearing aids to 1,000 people across the U.S., Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, South Africa, Malwai and Indonesia and donated $100,000 to organizations that promote education in sign language. The video his team made publicizing this campaign showcased the delighted looks on many of the faces of people getting the hearing aids.</p>
<p>Alongside posting these videos on his main YouTube channel, Donaldson has created a separate <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@BeastPhilanthropy">Beast Philanthropy</a> channel. Among the videos posted is one that celebrates <a href="https://youtu.be/STiUV6XXG4E">giving supplies to underfunded schools</a>, sponsored by Sun-Maid, a raisin producer, and another that showed <a href="https://youtu.be/BNO6DjteidM">homes being rebuilt in Kentucky following tornado devastation</a>, sponsored by Nord VPN, a tech company.</p>
<p>Some people have questioned <a href="https://www.thegamer.com/mrbeast-is-only-a-good-person-for-views/">Donaldson’s motives for his eye-catching charitable acts</a>, while others have raised ethical concerns about the way he <a href="https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2023/2/2/23582916/mrbeast-backlash-1000-people-cataracts-surgery-blind-surgery">uses footage of people in need for online entertainment</a>.</p>
<p>It’s much easier for public displays of charitable giving to go viral today because of social media, but there are precedents from pre-internet days.</p>
<p>From 1966 to 2010, the entertainer <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/tv/2015/09/what_happened_to_the_jerry_lew.html">Jerry Lewis</a> raised millions of dollars for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and spread awareness about the disease with help from his famous friends during annual 24-hour telethons. </p>
<p>And Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson convened a celebrity supergroup to perform the charity relief song “<a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/we-are-the-world-79429907/416483.html">We are the World</a>” in 1985 to raise money for African famine relief – following an example set by <a href="https://www.smoothradio.com/features/the-story-of/do-they-know-its-christmas-band-aid-lyrics-artists/">British musicians a year earlier</a>.</p>
<p>It’s hard to predict what the future holds for stunt philanthropy, but it seems to me that it’s probably here to stay. That is why I will continue to keep studying how <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=eFzpsScAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">social media can influence charitable giving</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monica Lea 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>The person with the most YouTube followers calls himself ‘YouTube’s biggest philanthropist.’Monica Lea, PhD Student in Public Administration, University of Nebraska OmahaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2019202023-04-19T12:44:57Z2023-04-19T12:44:57ZUS giving to Israeli nonprofits – how much Jews and Christians donate and where the money goes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521062/original/file-20230414-22-tyvncl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C284%2C4827%2C2687&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Israeli political conflicts could change the giving patterns of U.S. Jews. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/anti-reform-protesters-wave-israeli-flags-chant-slogans-and-news-photo/1251806244">Matan Golan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/israel-is-facing-twin-existential-crises-what-is-benjamin-netanyahu-doing-to-solve-them-200820">proposed judiciary overhauls</a> and the <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/23629744/why-israelis-protesting-netanyahu-far-right-government-judiciary-overhaul">continued erosion</a> of Palestinian human rights for months. </p>
<p>It’s possible that what’s happening loudly and without precedent on the streets of Israel is having a quieter but significant effect in the United States – which has the <a href="https://www.jewishagency.org/jewish-population-5782/">largest Jewish community outside Israel</a>.</p>
<p>American Jews may have concerns about the reforms themselves. In addition, the current Israeli administration counts among its supporters politicians who want to <a href="https://religionnews.com/2023/01/11/why-israels-orthodox-jewish-parties-want-to-narrow-the-countrys-law-of-return/">tighten restrictions on whom Israel considers to be Jewish</a> in ways that would exclude some U.S. Jews. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63780509">Many of Netanyahu’s allies are also anti-LGBTQ</a>. While some American Jews might share these views, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-israel-government-united-states-judaism-benjamin-netanyahu-c19f1de03e19428958181ebd2dcb1461">they are not representative</a>.</p>
<h2>Billions donated a year</h2>
<p>Israeli nonprofits amassed <a href="https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2022/253/08_22_253e.pdf">US$35.3 billion in total income in 2015</a>, roughly $45 billion in 2023 dollars, from all sources. That total included revenue like university tuition and concert ticket sales, as well as $4.4 billion – roughly $5.6 billion in 2023 dollars – in donations from all sources, foreign and domestic.</p>
<p>Donations from <a href="https://www.ilp.sites.tau.ac.il/_files/ugd/0e9d9e_f2c0ec8d1a06476e9192b8e62605dddc.pdf">outside Israel accounted for $2.8 billion</a> of those gifts, about two-thirds of this kind of funding. We analyzed <a href="https://www.guidestar.org/">Guidestar’s database of nonprofit tax records</a> to identify U.S. organizations sending money to Israel.</p>
<p>Israeli nonprofits, such as <a href="https://afmda.org/">Magen David Adom</a>, or Red Shield – Israel’s equivalent to the Red Cross and Red Crescent – and the <a href="https://www.k-shoa.org/index.php?language=eng">Foundation for the Welfare of Holocaust Victims</a>, rely on foreign donors for more than half of their philanthropic funding.</p>
<p>Much of this money, but not all of it, comes from <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-jewish-giving-to-israel-is-losing-ground-100946">American Jews and Jewish organizations</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7rkRD3AAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=a">I am a researcher</a> who focuses on how nonprofits get the resources they need to deliver their programs and services. I worked with <a href="https://en-law.tau.ac.il/profile/gfeit_74">Galia Feit</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=GRVc-3gAAAAJ">Osnat Hazan</a>, scholars based at <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/">Tel Aviv University’s</a> <a href="https://www.ilp.sites.tau.ac.il/">Institute for Law and Philanthropy</a>, to get <a href="https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/who-gives-and-who-gets-the-challenges-of-following-the-money-from-the-u-s-to-israel/">a clearer picture of this funding</a> – which we studied because it was from the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available. </p>
<h2>Many different interests</h2>
<p>We’ve found that the donations that Israeli nonprofits get from the U.S. are notable in part for the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00433-8">variety of donors</a>.</p>
<p>Israelis who now live outside of Israel, non-Israeli Jews who consider Israel a Jewish homeland, and people who are neither Israeli nor Jewish alike help fund these organizations.</p>
<p>For non-Jews, Israel represents what is known as a <a href="https://scalar.usc.edu/works/boundary-objects-guide/boundary-objects">boundary object</a> – different groups assign different meanings to the same thing. Depending on their <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/jewish-americans-in-2020/">particular religious and cultural identities</a>, American Jews have many different ideas of what Israel represents. But nearly all of these ideas differ from the idea of Israel held by, for example, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/05/26/as-israel-increasingly-relies-on-us-evangelicals-for-support-younger-ones-are-walking-away-what-polls-show/">evangelical Christians</a>. </p>
<p>No matter the motivation or rationale, the end result is that funds supporting Israel go to a wide array of nonprofits in the same country. </p>
<h2>Collecting and parsing data</h2>
<p>The first <a href="https://bir.brandeis.edu/bitstream/handle/10192/39/TheNewPhilanthropy.pdf">comprehensive study</a> assessing giving to Israel focused on Jewish philanthropy. Published in 2012, using 2007 data, the authors estimated that 774 organizations raised $2.1 billion, which would be about $3.06 billion in 2023 dollars.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2018-12-09/ty-article-magazine/.premium/inside-the-evangelical-money-flowing-into-the-west-bank/0000017f-f4b0-d460-afff-fff6add90000">study of evangelical Christian giving</a> to Israeli nonprofits covering a longer time period – from 2008 through 2016 – identified <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M-ItrvTeoqTb4qyqL-EFTcw9MYvsPt29sWIIp26z3ng/edit">11 organizations</a> donating an estimated total of $50 million to $65 million over the entire period – less than $82 million in 2023 dollars. While this is less than 3% of all of the funds Israeli nonprofits obtained in foreign donations, we believe it’s worth watching this trend in part because the amounts grew in the period we reviewed.</p>
<p>From this study we were able to identify 1,179 funding organizations granting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00433-8">a total of $1.8 billion</a> to Israeli organizations.</p>
<p><iframe id="rtd8P" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/rtd8P/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>3 main kinds of funders</h2>
<p>We sorted funding organizations that support Israel into three main categories and one catchall.</p>
<p><strong>Centralized organizations</strong></p>
<p>These are major funders located outside Israel that distribute funds aggregated from multiple individuals and Jewish organizations. These include national organizations like the <a href="https://www.jnf.org/">Jewish National Fund</a> and the <a href="https://www.jewishfederations.org/federation-finder">146 local Jewish federations</a> located in such places as Cleveland, New York City and Los Angeles that fund local causes such as Jewish summer camps and education about Israel and the Holocaust, and also send money abroad.</p>
<p>Other examples include <a href="https://bbyo.org/">BBYO</a>, a national pluralistic movement for Jewish teens where I used to work; <a href="https://www.hillel.org/">Hillel International</a>, through which Jews on college campuses worship, connect and do service projects; and <a href="https://www.birthrightisrael.com/">Birthright Israel</a>, which provides free trips to young Jews to help them forge connections with Israel.</p>
<p>Centralized organizations have <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691170732/the-american-jewish-philanthropic-complex">historically channeled most of the funds</a> donated to Israeli organizations from abroad. </p>
<p>The 43 funders in this category represented only 4% of all funders but gave $707 million to Israeli nonprofits – 39% of the total donations.</p>
<p><strong>‘Friends of’ organizations</strong></p>
<p>These groups are smaller than centralized organizations. They mainly collect funds to support a single Israeli nonprofit, such as the <a href="https://afipo.org/">American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra</a>, the <a href="https://www.afhu.org/">American Friends of Hebrew University</a> and the <a href="http://www.naf-iolr.org/?page_id=18">North American Friends of Israel Oceanographic Research</a>.</p>
<p>The 349 friends of funders we identified accounted for 30% of all funders and $752 million, or 41%, of donations.</p>
<p><strong>Family foundations</strong></p>
<p>These charities are typically founded, funded and governed by members of a single family. Examples here include the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and the Bloomberg Family Foundation. Family foundations represent 25% of all funders and donated $87 million in 2015 – but only 5% of all the funds we assessed. </p>
<p>About 15% of the giving to Israeli nonprofits from the U.S. organizations we studied didn’t appear to originate in any of these three main categories.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521065/original/file-20230414-22-g3ace1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Well-dressed older people gather for a festive meal in a pretty venue." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521065/original/file-20230414-22-g3ace1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521065/original/file-20230414-22-g3ace1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521065/original/file-20230414-22-g3ace1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521065/original/file-20230414-22-g3ace1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521065/original/file-20230414-22-g3ace1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521065/original/file-20230414-22-g3ace1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521065/original/file-20230414-22-g3ace1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra held a 2019 gala at a private home in California.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/richard-ziman-speaks-at-the-american-friends-of-the-israel-news-photo/1151090111?adppopup=true">Tasia Wells/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4 categories of Israeli nonprofits</h2>
<p>There is less data on the Israeli groups getting this funding as opposed to the foreign groups making the donations, but we found enough information to identify <a href="https://www.ilp.sites.tau.ac.il/_files/ugd/0e9d9e_fda254b52723480da7669c35b86ee1dd.pdf">four main causes</a> based on either the identity of the funders themselves or the groups they fund.</p>
<p><strong>Jewish religious institutions</strong>
Israeli synagogues and yeshivas – Orthodox rabbinical seminaries – received $266 million, around 15% of all funds.</p>
<p><strong>Higher education</strong>
Donations to Israeli colleges and universities totaled $206 million, about 11% of the total.</p>
<p><strong>Health</strong>
Hospitals and medical research centers such as the <a href="https://www.hadassah.org.il/en/">Hadassah Medical Center</a> and the <a href="https://jewishmedicalassociationuk.org/medicine-in-israel/hospitals/western-galilee-hospital/">Western Galilee Hospital</a> obtained $81 million in donations, about 4% of all foreign philanthropic funds. </p>
<p><strong>Christian causes</strong>
Christian-focused organizations, such as <a href="https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/fdo-grantmaker-profile/">Outreach Foundation of the Presbyterian Church</a> and the <a href="https://www.ifcj.org/">International Fellowship of Christians and Jews</a>, donated $56.4 million.</p>
<h2>Changes ahead?</h2>
<p>This picture has no doubt changed. For example, the <a href="https://www.centralfundofisrael.org/">Central Fund of Israel</a> is reportedly a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/business/israel-judges-kohelet.html">major backer of the Kohelet Policy Forum</a> that is pushing many of the judicial reforms. However, that charity did not provide this detail in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-a-990-form-a-charity-accounting-expert-explains-175019">mandatory 990 form it filed with the Internal Revenue Service</a> for 2015. </p>
<p>We are beginning to study data from 2017 and 2019, which is only now becoming available. A group called the <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/475405929">American Friends of Kohelet Policy Forum</a> does show up in the newer data. Its connection to the Central Fund of Israel is unknown, but its inclusion is notable for illustrating the influence that U.S. organizational donors may have in Israel.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521069/original/file-20230414-16-vg0f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A gray-haired man stands next to the U.S. and Israeli flags while speaking at an event." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521069/original/file-20230414-16-vg0f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521069/original/file-20230414-16-vg0f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521069/original/file-20230414-16-vg0f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521069/original/file-20230414-16-vg0f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521069/original/file-20230414-16-vg0f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521069/original/file-20230414-16-vg0f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521069/original/file-20230414-16-vg0f8i.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>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the Kohelet Policy Forum conference in Jerusalem in 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/isreali-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-speaks-at-the-news-photo/1192534346?adppopup=true">Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are signs that <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-jewish-giving-to-israel-is-losing-ground-100946">giving from Jewish organizations to causes in Israel is decreasing</a> even as giving to Jewish causes outside of Israel increases. The <a href="https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/exclusive-jfnas-long-term-plan-for-aid-to-ukraine/">Jewish Federation of North America’s shifting view on Ukraine</a> is one example of this. Rather than viewing the war as a short-term emergency, the organization is planning for long-term, ongoing support. </p>
<p>And many of the nonprofits in our study were subject to the <a href="https://nff.org/learn/survey">same pressures and problems</a> many nonprofits experienced around the world at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic: an increased demand for services at odds with a reduction in donations, the loss of volunteers and a scramble for new ways to work when in-person operations became restricted or impossible.</p>
<p>Between <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-israel-government-united-states-judaism-benjamin-netanyahu-c19f1de03e19428958181ebd2dcb1461">heightened concerns over Israel’s policies</a>, <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/jewish-experience/alumni-friends/2022/september/alumni-roundtable-judaism.html">growing numbers of antisemitic incidents</a> and increasingly pressing social justice issues at home, we believe that Jewish federations and other local funding groups that historically made fundraising for Israeli causes a high priority may experience more pressure from their donors to instead support groups doing work closer to home.</p>
<p>We have no doubt that the <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-03-16/ty-article/.premium/top-democrats-call-to-make-u-s-aid-to-israel-conditional-on-two-state-solution/00000186-eba4-d048-adc6-ffbe82cf0000">political situations in both Israel and the U.S.</a> will only exacerbate these trends. Support from local communities and centralized organizations may <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/472070/democrats-sympathies-middle-east-shift-palestinians.aspx">shift along with changing political winds</a> as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/opinion/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-protests.html">American Jews face calls</a> to <a href="https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2023/2/8/with-the-right-wing-in-charge-in-israel-jewish-donors-cant-afford-to-turn-away">take sides in Israeli current events</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, what it means to support Israel, who gives, and what they are giving may be changing as <a href="https://cdn.fedweb.org/fed-42/2/JoinStatementFederations.pdf">American Jews grapple with what is happening in Israel</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201920/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Levine Daniel 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>Political situations in both Israel and the US could be changing prior patterns with these donations, which fund hospitals, museums and a wide array of organizations.Jamie Levine Daniel, Associate Professor, Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2010512023-03-28T12:15:23Z2023-03-28T12:15:23ZBehind the Latter-day Saint church’s vast wealth are two centuries of financial hits and misses<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516774/original/file-20230321-26-djhpwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C3%2C1019%2C669&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Thousands of church members sing during the 2016 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/thousands-of-mormons-sing-with-the-mormon-tabernacle-choir-news-photo/518743136?phrase=%22general%20conference%22%20latter-day&adppopup=true">George Frey/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the first weekend of April 2023, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will hold <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/04?lang=ase">its semiannual General Conference</a> in Salt Lake City. Tens of thousands of members will attend in person, with millions watching from home.</p>
<p>Over two days, Latter-day Saints – often called “Mormons” – will hear an array of talks from religious leadership. But another speaker will likely be a member of the church’s auditing department, who, if he <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/04/22larson?lang=eng">follows tradition</a>, will state that the institution’s financial activities from the past year were “administered in accordance with Church-approved budgets, accounting practices, and policies.” No further specifics are typically provided.</p>
<p>This yearly ritual may seem striking in the face of the church’s February 2023 agreement to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/mormon-church-fined-5-million-for-obscuring-size-of-investment-portfolio#:%7E:text=SALT%20LAKE%20CITY%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94,and%20Exchange%20Commission%20announced%20Tuesday.">pay a US$5 million fine</a> in a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. According to its press release, the SEC concluded that the church went to “great lengths” <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-35">to “obscure” its investment portfolio</a>. A <a href="https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-issues-statement-on-sec-settlement">church statement</a> expressed “regret” that its leaders had followed faulty legal counsel and insisted that the fine would be paid through “investment returns” rather than members’ donations.</p>
<p>The settlement came on the heels of <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2022/11/02/whats-up-with-lds-finances/">other controversies</a> about the church’s taxes and financial portfolio, which journalists and whistleblowers have estimated at around <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-mormon-church-amassed-100-billion-it-was-the-best-kept-secret-in-the-investment-world-11581138011">$100 billion</a>.</p>
<p>These revelations have raised questions concerning the ethics of a religious organization amassing such a large amount of wealth, and how it is balanced with charitable giving. But headlines often overlook the <a href="https://theconversation.com/mormons-and-money-an-unorthodox-and-messy-history-of-church-finances-129132">long and surprising history</a> of the modern church’s financial success – as well as the continued anxiety surrounding its economic reserves.</p>
<h2>Share and share alike</h2>
<p>Mormonism was born through <a href="https://deseretbook.com/p/joseph-smith-rough-stone-rolling-richard-l-bushman-5351?variant_id=104298-paperback">the spiritual quest of Joseph Smith</a>, who was raised amid America’s <a href="https://www.ushistory.org/us/22c.asp">Second Great Awakening</a> during the early 1800s, a period of Christian revivals. His parents were religious seekers who struggled to find a fulfilling church, and tussled with the young country’s financial turbulence. Smith’s father had lost savings in <a href="https://latterdaysaintmag.com/joseph-smith-sr-starts-a-ginseng-business-and-loses-their-farm/">an ill-fated ginseng deal</a>, plunging the family into two decades of poverty. </p>
<p>It is no surprise, then, that when Smith formed his own church, its teachings included a sharp critique of the capitalist system. Early converts to what was originally called the Church of Christ, organized in 1830, were encouraged to <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/42?lang=eng&id=30-42#p30">consecrate all their goods</a> to their new religious community so it could redistribute resources to those in need.</p>
<p>It was one of <a href="https://pressbooks-dev.oer.hawaii.edu/ushistory/chapter/antebellum-communal-experiments/">many communal experiments</a> Americans attempted during the antebellum period as religious innovators offered alternatives to what they believed was a dangerous and uncaring economic system. Smith’s earliest revelations denounced individualism and urged believers to <a href="https://rsc.byu.edu/doctrine-covenants-revelations-context/all-things-are-lords-law-consecration-doctrine-covenants">share their property and resources with one another</a>. </p>
<p>Yet financial difficulties, personal clashes and other challenges doomed the experiment from the start. Within just a few years, the new church’s leaders had already abandoned the consecration ideal. In its stead, Smith directed members <a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-8-july-1838-c-dc-119/1">to donate “surplus property</a>” to help pay off the group’s immediate debts and then to donate “one tenth of all their interests annually.” This commandment commenced <a href="https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/tithing#:%7E:text=For%20Latter%2Dday%20Saints%2C%20tithing,paid%20on%20the%20honor%20system.">a practice of tithing</a> that still exists today, though it has been interpreted in different ways over the years.</p>
<h2>Hardscrabble years</h2>
<p>Over the first two decades of the church’s existence, the Latter-day Saints had to relocate their headquarters multiple times – including <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631494864">seven years in Nauvoo, Illinois</a>, a focus of <a href="https://benjaminepark.com/">my historical research</a>. By the time the Saints <a href="https://theconversation.com/utahs-pioneer-day-celebrates-mormons-trek-west-but-theres-a-lot-more-to-the-history-of-latter-day-saints-and-migration-186099">reached Utah’s Great Salt Lake</a> in 1847, leaders and members alike largely embraced the economic system that Smith had previously decried.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517044/original/file-20230322-28-holukq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white drawing of a small main street, with mountains in the distance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517044/original/file-20230322-28-holukq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517044/original/file-20230322-28-holukq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517044/original/file-20230322-28-holukq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517044/original/file-20230322-28-holukq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517044/original/file-20230322-28-holukq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517044/original/file-20230322-28-holukq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517044/original/file-20230322-28-holukq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A drawing of Salt Lake City from a book published in 1875.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/view-of-the-main-street-salt-lake-city-utah-america-in-the-news-photo/188003483?adppopup=true">Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A series of <a href="https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/banking-panics-of-the-gilded-age">national economic crises</a> during the late 19th century further tested the church’s finances and financial ideals. In addition, the government’s decision to prosecute polygamists amid growing criticism of the church’s “plural marriages” <a href="https://archives.utah.gov/research/exhibits/Statehood/intronew.htm">crippled the region’s economy</a> until Latter-day Saint leaders <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/mormons-polygamy/">renounced the practice</a> in 1890. </p>
<p>Facing financial ruin, the church’s prophet and president in 1899, Lorenzo Snow, urged members to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23286314">redouble their commitment to tithing</a>. The church formalized its expectation that members donate 10% of their annual income to remain in good standing. To this day, Latter-day Saints are expected to meet with local bishops every year and <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/tools/help/conduct-tithing-declaration?lang=eng">state that they have paid a full tithe</a>.</p>
<p>By 1907, Snow’s successor, Joseph F. Smith, <a href="https://archive.org/details/conferencereport1907a/page/n7/mode/2up?view=theater">jubilantly announced</a> that tithing income had paid off all the church’s loans. He even predicted that if the current rate continued, “we expect to see the day when we will not have to ask you for one dollar of donation for any purpose.”</p>
<h2>Bust to boom</h2>
<p>Donations only increased over the following decades, however, as the church continued to grow rapidly. The prosperity of the 1950s enabled <a href="https://uofupress.lib.utah.edu/david-o-mckay-and-the-rise-of-modern-mormonism/">an ambitious construction agenda</a> for the next decade, as the church built over a thousand new meetinghouses and temples for its exploding membership.</p>
<p>Yet high spending, poor financial management and unwise or unlucky investments brought another financial crisis, and the church soon found itself cash-poor. By 1962, the budget had amassed a $32 million deficit. Leaders <a href="https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/102-17-29.pdf">ceased offering detailed financial reports</a>, which had been inconsistent yet common staples at the church’s General Conference.</p>
<p>Things started looking up the next year when N. Eldon Tanner, a successful Canadian politician and businessman, <a href="https://rsc.byu.edu/firm-foundation/n-eldon-tanner-church-administration">joined the church’s leadership</a> and <a href="https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/102-17-29.pdf">modernized its financial structure</a>, investing any surplus. The church was once again on solid financial footing by the end of the 1960s, though it did not resume the release of detailed financial reports. Instead, Tanner empowered a private economic team to <a href="https://www.signaturebooks.com/books/p/the-mormon-hierarchy-2">continue growing the faith’s portfolio</a>. </p>
<p>Decades of <a href="https://religionnews.com/2022/04/07/is-mormonism-still-growing-five-facts-about-latter-day-saint-growth-and-decline/">membership growth</a>, tithing donations and lucrative investments resulted in the modern church’s massive accumulation of wealth. This financial success has enabled it to oversee a worldwide church with <a href="https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics">nearly 17 million members of record</a>, tens of thousands of employees and countless volunteer and charitable programs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517045/original/file-20230322-2513-m87hvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A grand-looking church building with tall spires lit up at night." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517045/original/file-20230322-2513-m87hvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517045/original/file-20230322-2513-m87hvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517045/original/file-20230322-2513-m87hvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517045/original/file-20230322-2513-m87hvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517045/original/file-20230322-2513-m87hvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517045/original/file-20230322-2513-m87hvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517045/original/file-20230322-2513-m87hvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ historic temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-historic-news-photo/1189395667?adppopup=true">George Frey/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Its investments became so profitable in the early 2000s that, <a href="https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2023/34-96951.pdf">according to the SEC report</a>, church leaders explored ways to shield their success from the public. According to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html">one whistleblower</a>, church authorities feared that greater transparency would discourage members from further tithing. </p>
<h2>Giving to God</h2>
<p>While the church reports giving over <a href="https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/2022-annual-report-caring-for-those-in-need">$1 billion</a> in charitable aid last year, some members and observers alike critique leaders for not donating more, given the vast size of its investment portfolio, which is almost <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/about/endowment/">twice the size of Harvard’s endowment</a>.</p>
<p>The issue also raises important ethical questions regarding a religious institution’s obligations toward its own members. Should Latter-day Saints, especially those who are struggling financially, still donate a tenth of their income to a church whose reserves <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-mormon-church-amassed-100-billion-it-was-the-best-kept-secret-in-the-investment-world-11581138011">are likely deep enough</a> to pay off more than a decade of expenses? The <a href="https://religionnews.com/2022/12/14/on-mormon-tithing-and-a-100-billion-investment-fund/">seeming discrepancy</a> between the transparency required of individual members and the church’s own lack of accountability has unsettled some members.</p>
<p>Yet many believers emphasize that their tithing’s purpose is not merely to add to the church’s coffers but to help build the kingdom of God – their donations are primarily offered for spiritual reasons, not worldly ones. And investments are also a safety net for the faith’s growth: Leaders likely hope it can <a href="https://bycommonconsent.com/2009/03/11/the-church-and-the-debt-bubble/">support rapidly growing membership</a> in lower-income countries. </p>
<p>As absurd as it may be to call a $100 billion dollar portfolio <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/02/08/lds-church-kept-lid-its-b/">a “rainy day” fund</a>, the church’s turbulent history may have led leaders to see it as just that.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201051/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Park 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>Joseph Smith encouraged early Latter-day Saints to pool their resources. Two centuries later, one of the results is an investment portfolio estimated at $100 billion.Benjamin Park, Associate Professor of History, Sam Houston State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1999472023-03-10T13:40:22Z2023-03-10T13:40:22ZFrom grave robbing to giving your own body to science – a short history of where medical schools get cadavers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514518/original/file-20230309-22-axut7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=42%2C404%2C1903%2C1444&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">These Georgetown University medical students used donated cadavers in their anatomy class in 2011.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/liz-harkin-uses-a-running-tap-to-clean-out-a-human-heart-news-photo/145376204">Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1956, <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120516087/alma-merrick-helms-1958/">Alma Merrick Helms</a> announced that she was bound for Stanford University. But she would not be attending classes. Upon learning that there was a “special shortage of women’s bodies” for medical students, this semiretired actress had filled out forms to <a href="https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=LCCN&searchArg=25011667&searchType=1&permalink=y">donate her corpse</a> to the medical college upon her death. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://history.utk.edu/people/susan-lawrence/">historians</a> <a href="https://history.wisc.edu/people/lederer-susan-e/">of medicine</a>, we had long been familiar with the tragic tales of 18th- and 19th-century grave robbing. Medical students had to snatch unearthed bodies if they wanted corpses to dissect. </p>
<p>But there was <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/10/12/1060924/donating-your-body-science-body-farm/#">little to no discussion of the thousands</a> of Americans in the 20th century who wanted an alternative to traditional burial – those men and women who gave their bodies to medical education and research.</p>
<p>So we decided to research this especially physical form of philanthropy: people who <a href="http://doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2022.0020">literally give themselves away</a>. We are now writing a book on this topic.</p>
<h2>Grave robbing and executed criminals</h2>
<p>As more and <a href="https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/1862/learning-heal">more medical schools opened</a> before the Civil War, the profession faced a dilemma. Doctors needed to cut open dead bodies to learn anatomy because no one wanted to be operated on by a surgeon who had only been trained by studying books.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300078688/the-sacred-remains/">for most Americans</a>, cutting up dead human beings was sacrilegious, disrespectful and disgusting. </p>
<p>According to the ethos of the day, only criminals deserved such a fate after death, and judges intensified murderers’ death sentences by adding the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20092326?seq=1">insult of dissection</a> after their executions. As in life, the <a href="http://www.beacon.org/The-Price-for-Their-Pound-of-Flesh-P1227.aspx">bodies of enslaved people were also exploited in death</a>, either consigned for dissection by their masters or robbed from their graves.</p>
<p>Yet there were never enough legally available bodies, so <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-need-cadavers-19th-century-medical-students-raided-baltimores-graves-180970629/">grave robbing flourished</a>. </p>
<h2>The unclaimed poor</h2>
<p>To meet the medical professon’s growing demand for cadavers, Massachusetts enacted the <a href="https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/exhibits/show/nature-of-every-member">first anatomy law</a>. This measure, passed in 1831, made the bodies of the unclaimed poor available for dissection in medical schools and hospitals. </p>
<p>With more medical schools opening and grave-robbing scandals pushing politicians to act, similar legislation eventually took effect across the United States.</p>
<p>One of the most visible incidents occurred when the body of former Rep. John Scott Harrison, both the son and the father of U.S. presidents, involuntarily <a href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/64221/body-snatching-horror-john-scott-harrison">turned up on an Ohio dissecting table in 1878</a>.</p>
<p>In many states, kin and friends could claim a body that would otherwise be destined for dissection, but only if they could pay burial costs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514279/original/file-20230308-26-wolhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Women embrace each other at a grave strewn with flowers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514279/original/file-20230308-26-wolhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514279/original/file-20230308-26-wolhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514279/original/file-20230308-26-wolhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514279/original/file-20230308-26-wolhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514279/original/file-20230308-26-wolhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514279/original/file-20230308-26-wolhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514279/original/file-20230308-26-wolhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Monuments to honor those who have donated their bodies to science like this one can offer opportunities for their loved ones to mourn and remember them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/bodies-photos-by-michael-williamson-neg-6-19-06-burial-news-photo/97103197">Michael Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Donated bodies</h2>
<p>Yet not everyone shared the horror at the very idea of being dissected.</p>
<p>By the late 19th century a growing number of Americans were willing to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2022.0020">let medical students cut up their bodies</a> before eventual burial or cremation. It did not apparently frighten or disgust them. </p>
<p>Doctors volunteered, but so did nurses, store owners, actors, academics, factory workers and freethinkers – even prisoners about to be executed. Some were people who simply sought to avoid funeral expenses. </p>
<p>Other Americans hoped that doctors would use their bodies to research their diseases, while others wanted to enable “medical science to enlarge its knowledge for the <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103849794/1901-young-george/">good of mankind</a>,” as George Young, a former wagon-maker, requested before he died in 1901.</p>
<h2>Cornea transplants</h2>
<p>By the late 1930s, <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Flesh_and_Blood/6Q4TDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=susan+lederer+%22dawn+society%22&pg=PA199&printsec=frontcover">advances in cornea transplant surgery</a> made it possible for Americans to gift their eyes to restore the sight of blind and visually impaired men, women and children.</p>
<p>Along with <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/again-and-again-in-world-war-ii-blood-made-the-difference-1-32174495/">World War II blood drives</a>, heartwarming stories about corneal transplants spread a radically new understanding of corporeal generosity. </p>
<p>As efforts to attract donors who would <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-6257(82)90151-5">pledge their eyes at death spread in the 1940s</a> and early 1950s, so too did a new problem for anatomists: a decline in the number of unclaimed bodies. </p>
<p>Anatomists blamed a <a href="https://archive.org/details/humandissectioni00lassrich/page/n269/mode/2up">host of factors</a>: <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/post-war-united-states-1945-1968/overview/">rising prosperity in the postwar years</a>; new laws that allowed county, city and state welfare departments to bury the unclaimed; veterans’ death benefits; Social Security death benefits; and outreach by church groups and fraternal orders to take care of their poverty-stricken members. </p>
<h2>Dear Abby and Reader’s Digest</h2>
<p>By the mid-1950s concerns arose about <a href="https://archive.org/details/humandissectioni00lassrich/page/n267/mode/2up">cadaver shortages for anatomy classes</a>. But media coverage of people who had chosen to donate their bodies started to sway others to follow suit. Good examples include a <a href="https://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n81-103052/">Dear Abby</a> advice column published in 1958 and a <a href="https://bookriot.com/history-of-readers-digest/">Reader’s Digest</a> article in 1961.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514276/original/file-20230308-626-l2rde3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C633%2C1429%2C1105&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white photo of a woman in a suit sitting in a mausoleum" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514276/original/file-20230308-626-l2rde3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C633%2C1429%2C1105&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514276/original/file-20230308-626-l2rde3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514276/original/file-20230308-626-l2rde3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514276/original/file-20230308-626-l2rde3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514276/original/file-20230308-626-l2rde3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514276/original/file-20230308-626-l2rde3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514276/original/file-20230308-626-l2rde3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In her exposé of the funeral industry’s problems, author Jessica Mitford endorsed donating bodies to science.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/author-jessica-mitford-sitting-in-a-mausoleum-in-sunset-news-photo/50439405">Ted Streshinsky/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1962, Unitarian advocate Ernest Morgan published “<a href="https://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/999526260202121">A Manual of Simple Burial</a>,” which promoted memorial services as alternatives to lavish funerals. He included a directory of medical schools and dental schools that accepted whole-body donations.</p>
<p>Journalist Jessica Mitford, in her wildly popular 1963 book that condemned the funeral industry, “<a href="https://archive.org/details/americanwayofdeamitf00mitf">The American Way of Death</a>,” also endorsed that practice. She helped make giving your body to science a respectable, even noble, alternative to expensive conventional burials.</p>
<p>In the early 1960s, <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM196201252660406">Protestant, Catholic and Reform Jewish</a> leaders also came out in favor of donating bodies to science. </p>
<p>By the late 1960s and early 1970s, some anatomy departments began to organize <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/image/305525888/?terms=%22Their%20service%20to%20mankind%20continued%20after%20death%22&match=1">memorial services</a> to acknowledge donors and provide some closure for their loved ones.</p>
<p>Word of such efforts further encouraged whole-body donation. </p>
<h2>Letters of encouragement</h2>
<p>We reviewed <a href="http://doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2022.0020">dozens of unpublished letters</a> to and from donors in the 1950s to the early 1970s, in which anatomy professors encouraged potential whole-body donors to see themselves as heroically giving to medical science. Early donors frequently expressed this altruistic vision, wanting their mortal shells to participate in advancing knowledge. </p>
<p>By the mid-1980s, most medical and dental schools relied on donated bodies to teach anatomy, although a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097%2FACM.0000000000002227">few unclaimed bodies</a> still make their way today to medical schools. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fjoa.12056">Technology has revolutionized</a> anatomy teaching, as with the National Library of Medicine’s <a href="https://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/visible_human.html">Visible Human Project</a>, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ase.1649">cadavers are still needed</a>.</p>
<p>Images and models cannot replace hands-on experience with the human body. </p>
<p>Where many Americans once <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120453623/her-scalpel-in-hand/">regarded medical students as “butchers</a>” for exploiting their beloved dead, contemporary students honor what some of these future doctors call their “<a href="https://doi.org/10.7812/tpp/07-145">first patients</a>” for the precious gift they have been given.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199947/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>This particularly physical kind of philanthropy caught on in the mid-20th century.Susan Lawrence, Profesor of History, University of TennesseeSusan E. Lederer, Professor of Medical History and Bioethics, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2004062023-03-02T13:24:45Z2023-03-02T13:24:45ZPoland’s hospitality is helping many Ukrainian refugees thrive – 5 takeaways<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512769/original/file-20230228-5972-nl8frz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=42%2C639%2C5633%2C3119&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">These Ukrainians arrived in Poland from Kyiv by train in December 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ukrainians-exit-the-passport-control-as-they-arrive-from-news-photo/1245693633">Omar Marques/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than <a href="https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine">8 million Ukrainian refugees have entered Poland</a> since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. About <a href="https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine">1.5 million of them have remained in the central European country</a> rather than moving on to other places or returning home amid <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/hk/en/73141-ukraine-fastest-growing-refugee-crisis-in-europe-since-wwii.html">Europe’s biggest refugee crisis</a> since World War II.</p>
<p>So far, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/07/un-expert-praises-generosity-towards-ukrainian-refugees-poland-and-urges">Polish citizens</a> have demonstrated incredible solidarity and generosity, in many cases hosting Ukrainian refugees in their own homes. Many Poles told me that they appreciated <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/02/21/remarks-by-president-biden-ahead-of-the-one-year-anniversary-of-russias-brutal-and-unprovoked-invasion-of-ukraine/">President Biden’s visit to Warsaw in February 2023</a> and his acknowledgment of their work and sacrifices. But <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-wars-eventually-end-here-are-3-situations-that-will-lead-russia-and-ukraine-to-make-peace-197780">the end of the war</a> is still not in sight.</p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08883254221085308">scholar of civil society and peace building</a> who is spending six months in Poland to research the country’s response to this influx of refugees. Here are five takeaways from what I’ve learned. </p>
<h2>1. Volunteers have mobilized on a vast scale</h2>
<p>Particularly in the earliest days of this mass displacement, when no international refugee aid organizations were operating yet in Poland and while the Polish government was still organizing its own support programs and policies, Polish people and local nonprofits did most of the work. </p>
<p>By all accounts, the <a href="https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2022/K_101_22.PDF">scale, nature and reliability</a> of these volunteer efforts have been unprecedented. Within the first three months of the war, <a href="https://pie.net.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Pomoc-pol-spol-UKR-ENG-22.07.2022-C.pdf">over 70% of Polish citizens</a> had provided some kind of assistance, whether it was food, clothing or money. </p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://pie.net.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Pomoc-pol-spol-UKR-ENG-22.07.2022-C.pdf">Polish Economic Institute</a>, Polish citizens provided about US$1 billion in cash, goods or both.</p>
<p>More than half have donated money or goods, about 20% helped refugees sort out various issues, 17% volunteered on a regular basis and 7% said they had made their homes available to one or more refugees. In a [July 2022 survey] more than half of respondents declared that they or someone in their household regularly helps Ukrainian refugees in some way.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/02/23/over-1-3-million-ukrainian-refugees-remain-in-poland-one-year-since-russias-invasion/">Polish government estimates</a> that Polish families have hosted 1.6 million Ukrainian refugees in their homes at some point since the invasion. </p>
<h2>2. Societies can become more welcoming</h2>
<p>As recently as 2021, most Poles were so determined to keep all refugees out that one poll indicated almost <a href="https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/08/26/most-poles-opposed-to-accepting-refugees-and-half-want-border-wall-poll/">half of the country in 2021</a> supported building a wall on the country’s eastern border to block their entry. <a href="https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2022/K_101_22.PDF">Surveys published in August 2022</a> indicated that the share of Poles who support Polish aid for Ukrainians had decreased from 94% immediately after the start of the Russian invasion to 84%. But that still meant the vast majority supported Poland accepting Ukrainian refugees and providing support for them.</p>
<p>Scores of new Polish initiatives have sprung up to provide Ukrainian refugees with short-term assistance or to work with members of the Ukrainian diaspora on long-term development in both Poland and Ukraine, like <a href="https://hf.org.pl">Polish Humanitarian Action</a>.</p>
<p>Some of these initiatives, like <a href="https://hf.org.pl/en/">Homo Faber</a>, a human rights group, and the <a href="https://en.federa.org.pl/">Foundation for Women and Family Planning</a>, a nongovernmental organization that protects reproductive health and women rights, are supplementing Poland’s safety net while also promoting solidarity between Poles and Ukrainians and integrating newcomers for a potentially long-term stay.</p>
<p>Two of the largest groups – the <a href="https://pmm.org.pl/en/">Polish Medical Mission</a> and the <a href="https://ceo.org.pl/english">Center for Civic Education</a> – provide legal aid and counseling services for all Ukrainian refugees and assist Ukrainian refugees with special needs. Given that <a href="https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2022/K_101_22.PDF">nearly 80% of Ukrainian refugees in Poland indicated in July</a> that they planned to remain there until the situation in Ukraine improves, these organizations, as well as more informal grassroots initiatives, are signs of a society that has become more welcoming to at least some outsiders.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512770/original/file-20230228-6120-muw0xk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Women work at and browse an outdoor Christmas market." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512770/original/file-20230228-6120-muw0xk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512770/original/file-20230228-6120-muw0xk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512770/original/file-20230228-6120-muw0xk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512770/original/file-20230228-6120-muw0xk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512770/original/file-20230228-6120-muw0xk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512770/original/file-20230228-6120-muw0xk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512770/original/file-20230228-6120-muw0xk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With the help of a U.N. agency, Ukrainians who fled the war and found refuge in Krakow, Poland, organized a Christmas market in December 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/displaced-ukrainians-and-visitors-walk-around-the-ukrainian-news-photo/1245399015">Omar Marques/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Poland’s divided government is getting some hard things done</h2>
<p>When Ukrainians began to arrive in Poland in big numbers, the Polish government stepped up. The federal government’s <a href="https://www.gov.pl/web/mswia-en/the-government-has-adopted-a-special-act-on-assistance-for-refugees-from-ukraine">Act on Aid for Ukrainian citizens</a>, passed in March 2022, was extensive.</p>
<p>It gave Ukrainian refugees many benefits, including the right to live in Poland, work legally and receive many of the government benefits available to Poles, like free health care.</p>
<p>Although the country is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716218809322">deeply divided politically</a>, local governments led by mayors who belong to parties that oppose the federal government’s Law and Justice Party followed through on the directives of the federal government without pushback. And jurisdictions led by different political parties established and sustained 36 support centers to provide ongoing aid and information to refugees. Poland spent <a href="https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/international-migration-outlook-2022_30fe16d2-en#page107">more than $8.8 billion</a> on supporting refugees from Ukraine in 2022 – more than any other member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 38 largely high-income nations.</p>
<p>Educating Ukrainians has been a high priority for Polish political leaders. More than <a href="https://amnesty.org.pl/kampanie/szkola-dla-wszystkich/">200,000 Ukrainian children</a> are already in Polish schools, more are going to university for free, and many more adults are taking free Polish language classes. By <a href="https://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news%2C92274%2Cnearly-5700-ukrainians-applied-study-polish-universities-after-russia-attack.html">May 2022</a>, about 5,700 Ukrainians had applied to Polish universities, and Polish universities have pledged to provide those who are accepted with financial aid, as well as free tuition.</p>
<h2>4. Some Ukrainian refugees are putting down roots</h2>
<p>Although they have had to leave their homes and give up their livelihoods, many Ukrainian refugees are adjusting to life in Poland.</p>
<p>Since <a href="https://www.ukrainianlessons.com/ukrainian-and-russian-languages/">Polish and Ukrainian are similar Slavic languages</a>, most of the Ukrainian refugees I’ve encountered in Poland have already learned to communicate well in Polish, with children outpacing their parents. Between <a href="https://balkaninsight.com/2023/02/08/ukrainian-refugees-prove-their-value-in-poland-and-elsewhere/">60% and 70% of Ukrainian adult refugees</a> are already working, even though most professionals are not able to use their full educational backgrounds in these positions. Instead, <a href="https://magazynpismo.pl/obraz/okladka/veronika-kotyk-only-pigeons/?seo=pw">most of the refugees</a> are working in the service industry or in factories. </p>
<p>Some Ukrainians are putting down roots, joining the more than <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/poland/living-limbo-displaced-ukrainians-poland">1.3 million Ukrainians</a> who had already settled in Poland before the war. And in 2022, Ukrainians <a href="https://ksiegowosc.infor.pl/obrot-gospodarczy/dzialalnosc-gospodarcza/5649709,20-tys-firm-zalozyli-w-2022-roku-Ukraincy-w-Polsce.html">registered 20,000 new businesses</a> in Poland. </p>
<p>I think it’s reasonable to say that Ukrainians are not just surviving, they are thriving.</p>
<h2>5. There are limits to Poland’s generosity</h2>
<p>In the summer of 2022, the <a href="https://wyborcza.pl/7,173236,28602569,polish-government-cuts-financial-aid-for-families-hosting-ukrainian.html?disableRedirects=true">Polish federal government ended its subsidies</a> for Polish families supporting Ukrainian refugees in their homes.</p>
<p>In February 2023, some shelters decided that they needed to charge refugees room and board. City governments, private foundations and generous individuals continue to provide these refugees with support. But <a href="https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/hidden-hardship/hidden-hardship-1-year-living-in-forced-displacement-for-refugees-from-ukraine.pdf">funds are depleting and assistance is waning</a> for Ukrainian refugees – and not only in Poland.</p>
<p>Ukrainians are no doubt <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/pl/pl/pages/zarzadzania-procesami-i-strategiczne/articles/Uchodzcy-z-Ukrainy-w-Polsce.html">helping Poland’s economy</a> grow. In 2022, the country’s gross domestic product expanded by 4.9%. And this immigration surge has reduced the <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/how-displaced-ukrainians-in-poland-find-work-while-benefiting-its-economy/6771810.html">country’s labor shortage</a>. But inflation is at a 25-year high. It stood at <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/15725179/2-18012023-AP-EN.pdf/e301db8f-984c-27e2-1245-199a89f37bca">15.3% in December 2022</a>, much higher than the European Union’s average of 10.4%.</p>
<p>Like other European countries, Poland has faced soaring energy prices, especially after Russia cut off natural gas exports to Poland in April 2022. In <a href="https://notesfrompoland.com/2022/12/21/poland-freezes-gas-prices-in-2023-for-households-schools-hospitals-and-churches/">December 2022</a>, energy prices were almost 37% higher than a year earlier. </p>
<p>Even before Ukrainians arrived, Poland faced a housing shortage. Depending on how long Ukrainians stay, <a href="https://oko.press/ukraincy-w-polsce-polska-stanie-sie-krajem-dwunarodowym-system-musi-sie-zmienic-raport">Poland could need at least 200,000</a> new apartments and probably even more dwellings to house them, according to a new report. </p>
<p>In short, 2022 was a challenging year for Poland. But I see many reasons for cautious optimism that Poland is managing Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrice McMahon receives funding for her work at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, from the U.S Department of State through the Fulbright Program.</span></em></p>About 1.5 million refugees are still there, with some putting down roots.Patrice McMahon, Professor of Political Science, University of Nebraska-LincolnLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag: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/1949622023-01-12T13:20:06Z2023-01-12T13:20:06ZDead billionaires whose foundations are thriving today can thank Henry VIII and Elizabeth I<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503104/original/file-20230104-16-22jrm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C0%2C1931%2C991&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Automaker Henry Ford's name endures on the foundation formed from his fortune.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/henry-ford-with-his-model-t-news-photo/51098603?adppopup=true">Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than 230 of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-giving-pledge-a-philanthropy-scholar-explains-182015">world’s wealthiest people</a>, including Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, have promised to give at least half of their fortunes to charity within their lifetimes or in their wills by signing the <a href="https://givingpledge.org/pledgerlist">Giving Pledge</a>. Some of the most affluent, including <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/14/business/jeff-bezos-charity/index.html">Jeff Bezos</a> – who hadn’t signed the Giving Pledge by early 2023 – and <a href="https://givingpledge.org/pledger?pledgerId=393">MacKenzie Scott</a>, his ex-wife – have declared that they will go further by giving most of their fortunes to charity before they die. </p>
<p>This movement stands in contrast to practices of many of the philanthropists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Industrial titans like oil baron <a href="https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/">John D. Rockefeller</a>, automotive entrepreneur <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.7912/C2/605">Henry Ford</a> and steel magnate <a href="https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/">Andrew Carnegie</a> established massive foundations that to this day have big pots of money at their disposal despite decades of charitable grantmaking. This kind of control over funds after death is usually illegal because of a you-can’t-take-it-with-you legal doctrine that originated 500 years ago in England.</p>
<p>Known as the <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Rule_Against_Perpetuities/63xG4oBiVnAC?hl=en">Rule Against Perpetuities</a>, it holds that control over property <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLTDCqR2mts">must cease within 21 years of a death</a>. But there is a <a href="https://ideas.dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2407&context=dlra">loophole in that rule for money given to charities</a>, which theoretically can flow forever. Without it, many of the largest U.S. and British foundations would have closed their doors after disbursing all their funds long ago.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://mdcourts.gov/attysearch#searchform">lawyer</a> and <a href="https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-public-affairs-and-community-service/public-administration/about-us/faculty-staff/nuri-heckler.php">researcher</a> who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=yCboPP4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">studies</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10841806.2019.1621659">nonprofit law</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2019.1626696">history</a>, I wondered why American donors get to give from the grave.</p>
<h2>Henry VIII had his eye on property</h2>
<p>In a recent <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RenB8J1XlLN9GvLX3auFFQRHAFuCupD8/view?usp=sharing">working paper</a> that I wrote with my colleague <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=F0rg8fYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Angela Eikenberry</a> and Kenya Love, a graduate student, we explained that this debate goes back to the court of Henry VIII.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503857/original/file-20230110-448-mumq8n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="White man wearing luxurious clothing and a broad fur collar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503857/original/file-20230110-448-mumq8n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503857/original/file-20230110-448-mumq8n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503857/original/file-20230110-448-mumq8n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503857/original/file-20230110-448-mumq8n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503857/original/file-20230110-448-mumq8n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=974&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503857/original/file-20230110-448-mumq8n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=974&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503857/original/file-20230110-448-mumq8n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=974&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Henry VIII ruled England from 1509 to 1547.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/662833">The Metropolitan Museum of Art</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Rule Against Perpetuities developed in response to <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803114938887">political upheaval in the 1530s</a>. The old feudal law made it almost impossible for most properties to be sold, foreclosed upon or have their ownership changed in any way.</p>
<p>At the time, a small number of people and the Catholic Church <a href="https://baylor-ir.tdl.org/handle/2104/9014">controlled most of the wealth in England</a>.
Henry VIII wanted to end this practice because it was difficult to tax property that never transferred, and property owners were mostly unaccountable to England’s monarchy. This encouraged fraud and led to a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/561096">consolidation of wealth that threatened the king’s power</a>.</p>
<p>As he sought to <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/why-did-henry-viii-break-rome">sever England’s ties to the Catholic Church</a>, Henry had one eye on changing religious doctrine so he could divorce Catherine of Aragon, and the other on all the property that would become available when he booted out the church.</p>
<p>After splitting with the church and securing his divorce, he enacted <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803114938887">a new property system</a> giving the British monarchy a lot more power over wealth and used that power to seize property. Most of the property the king first took belonged to the church, but all <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/561096">property interests were more vulnerable under the new law</a>.</p>
<p>Henry’s power grab angered the wealthy gentry, who launched a violent uprising known as the “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Henry_VIII_and_the_English_Monasteries/uTjUAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1">Pilgrimage of Grace</a>.”</p>
<p>After quelling that upheaval, Henry compromised by allowing the <a href="https://reginajeffers.blog/2022/07/25/statute-of-wills-henry-viiis-answer-to-primogeniture/">transfer of property</a> from one generation to the next, but did not allow people to tell others how to use their property after they died. The courts later developed the Rule Against Perpetuities to allow people to transfer property to their children when they turned 21 years old. </p>
<p>At the same time, wealthy Englishmen were encouraged to give large sums of money and property to <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=868394">help the poor</a>. Some of these funds had strings attached for longer than the 21 years. </p>
<h2>Elizabeth I codified the rule</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/elizabeth-i/">Elizabeth I</a>, Henry VIII’s daughter with his ill-fated wife Anne Boleyn, became queen after his death. She used her reign to codify that previously informal charitable exception. By then it was the 1590s – a tough time for England, due to <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=868394">two wars, a pandemic, inflation and famine</a>. Queen Elizabeth needed to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24415458">prevent unrest without raising taxes</a> even further than she already had.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499143/original/file-20221206-24-ju9b48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white woman dressed in elaborate regal garb with a high collar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499143/original/file-20221206-24-ju9b48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499143/original/file-20221206-24-ju9b48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499143/original/file-20221206-24-ju9b48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499143/original/file-20221206-24-ju9b48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499143/original/file-20221206-24-ju9b48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1008&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499143/original/file-20221206-24-ju9b48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1008&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499143/original/file-20221206-24-ju9b48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1008&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queen Elizabeth I ruled England from 1558 to 1603.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/364401">The Metropolitan Museum of Art</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Elizabeth’s solution was a new law decreed in 1601. Known as the “<a href="https://conservationtools.org/library_items/1385-The-Modern-Law-of-Charities-as-Derived-from-the-Statute-of-Charitable-Uses">Statute of Charitable Uses</a>,” it encouraged the wealthy to make big charitable donations and gave courts the power to enforce the terms of the gifts. </p>
<p>The monarchy believed that <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/sptlns2&div=16&g_sent=1&casa_token=2L9P-TguWK8AAAAA:GX5MqdTeJBZmNgVhzkyQMjpm2YHoBc6p_oj09G8Mfi-KkMdwVIwBSJ9UhcxhtJoWQDabW8L3">partnering with charities</a> would ease the burdens of the state to aid the poor.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://fee.org/articles/how-does-government-welfare-stack-up-against-private-charity-it-s-no-contest/">concept remains popular</a> today, especially among conservatives in the U.S. and U.K. </p>
<h2>The charitable exception today</h2>
<p>When the U.S. broke away from Great Britain and became an independent country, it wasn’t always certain that it would stick with the charitable exception.</p>
<p>Some states initially <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/179/trustees-of-philadelphia-baptist-association-v-hart-s-executors">rejected British law</a>, but by the early 19th century every state in the U.S. had adopted the <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Rule_Against_Perpetuities/63xG4oBiVnAC?hl=en">Rule Against Perpetuities</a>.</p>
<p>In the late 1800s, scholars <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1321788">started debating the value of the Rule Against Perpetuities</a>, even as large foundations <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/history/american-history-general-interest/charity-philanthropy-and-civility-american-history?format=PB&isbn=9780521603539">took advantage of Elizabeth’s philanthropy loophole</a>. As of 2022, my co-authors and I had found that <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RenB8J1XlLN9GvLX3auFFQRHAFuCupD8/view?usp=sharing">40 U.S. states have ended or limited the rule</a> and that every jurisdiction, including the District of Columbia, permits eternal control over donations.</p>
<p>Although this legal precept has endured, many <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691183497/just-giving">scholars</a>, <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/as-more-foundations-choose-to-spend-down-charities-worry-about-future-funding">charities</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/dec/15/mackenzie-scott-billionaire-donations-non-profits">philanthropists</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-big-problem-with-how-jeff-and-mackenzie-bezos-are-spending-a-small-share-of-their-fortune-103311">question</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-reason-americans-are-getting-leery-of-billionaire-donors-162409">whether it makes sense</a> to let foundations hang onto massive endowments with the goal of operating in the future in accordance with the wishes of a long-gone donor rather than spend that money to meet society’s needs today.</p>
<p>With such issues as climate change, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/uhenergy/2019/09/23/pay-now-or-pay-later-the-certain-cost-of-climate-change/?sh=2b3d17e6323c">spending more now could significantly decrease</a> what it will cost later to resolve the problem. </p>
<p>Still other problems require change that is more likely to come from smaller nonprofits. In one example, many long-running foundations, including the <a href="https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/news-and-press/news/ten-philanthropies-will-help-flint-recover-and-rise-from-water-crisis/">Ford, Carnegie and Kellogg foundations</a>, contributed large sums to help Flint, Michigan, after a shift in water supply brought lead in the tap water to poisonous levels. Some scholars argue this <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10841806.2019.1621653">money undermined local community groups</a> that better understood the needs of Flint’s residents.</p>
<p>Another argument is more philosophical: Why should dead billionaires get credit for helping to solve contemporary problems through the foundations bearing their names? This question often leads to a <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/37615450">debate over whether history is being rewritten</a> in ways that emphasize their philanthropy over the sometimes questionable ways that they secured their wealth.</p>
<p>Some of those very rich people who started massive foundations were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/08/who-was-edward-colston-and-why-was-his-bristol-statue-toppled-slave-trader-black-lives-matter-protests">racist</a> and <a href="https://www.history.com/news/henry-ford-antisemitism-worker-treatment">antisemitic</a>. Does their use of this rule that’s been around for hundreds of years give them the right to influence how Americans solve 21st-century problems?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194962/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nuri Heckler 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>The hefty sums many billionaires give away place them in an age-old debate about wealth and charity – and whether it’s appropriate for donors to have a say over their wealth from the grave.Nuri Heckler, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, University of Nebraska OmahaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1946152022-11-16T13:27:50Z2022-11-16T13:27:50ZFTX bankruptcy is bad news for the charities that crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried generously supported<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495432/original/file-20221115-25-iu086m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=116%2C125%2C5721%2C3431&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has lost the fortune he aimed to give away. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sam-bankman-fried-speaks-onstage-during-the-first-annual-news-photo/1241501470?adppopup=true">Craig Barritt/Getty Images for CARE For Special Children</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>FTX, an <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/15/1136641651/ftx-bankruptcy-sam-bankman-fried-ftt-crypto-cryptocurrency-binance">exchange for trading cryptocurrencies</a>, quickly became bankrupt and defunct in November 2022. Its founder, <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/23458837/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-sbf-downfall-explained">Sam Bankman-Fried</a>, is broke, and the 30-year-old former billionaire <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/186175/criminal-charges-against-sbf-on-the-table-after-ftxs-epic-collapse">could be</a> in serious <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/could-sam-bankman-fried-prison-171405966.html">legal trouble</a> for his alleged financial improprieties. The Conversation asked <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Rap6TboAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Brian Mittendorf</a>, an accounting scholar at The Ohio State University, to explain the significance of FTX’s implosion for philanthropy and the nonprofits Bankman-Fried supported.</em></p>
<h2>What was the connection between FTX and philanthropy?</h2>
<p>Though FTX was a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/technology/ftx-binance-crypto-explained.html">cryptocurrency exchange</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/15/ftx-cryptocurrency-sam-bankman-fried">Bankman-Fried</a> viewed it as something more: a <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/11/15/what-is-effective-altruism-sam-bankman-fried-wealth-career/">vehicle to change the world</a> through giving. <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/sam-bankman-frieds-philanthropic-fund-halts-donations-amid-ftx-collapse-and-questions-about-legitimacy-11668192531">Bankman-Fried often noted that his goal</a> for his business was to make money in order to donate it to support a variety of social causes like <a href="https://ftxfoundation.org/global-health-welfare/">global health</a> and <a href="https://puck.news/the-s-b-f-pandemic/">investigative journalism</a>. Bankman-Fried was also a major donor to politicians in the Democratic Party, while FTX co-founder <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/15/23459268/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-bankruptcy-crypto-lobbying-washington">Ryan Salame gave millions to Republicans</a>.</p>
<p>Bankman-Fried was an acolyte of Scottish philosopher <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/the-reluctant-prophet-of-effective-altruism">William MacAskill</a> and the <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/11/15/what-is-effective-altruism-sam-bankman-fried-wealth-career/">effective altruism</a> movement, which emphasizes causes that its supporters believe can do the most good. Many effective altruists “<a href="https://fortune.com/2022/11/15/what-is-effective-altruism-sam-bankman-fried-wealth-career/">earn to give</a>,” trying to make as much money as they can in order to maximize their charitable impact. In recent years, a growing number of effective altruists have also championed “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/the-reluctant-prophet-of-effective-altruism">longtermism</a>” – the view that giving to causes that donors believe will greatly benefit future generations is a higher priority than meeting current needs.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://ftx.com/giving">lines between FTX</a>, the <a href="https://ftxfoundation.org/about/">FTX Foundation</a> – Bankman-Fried’s philanthropic collective – and a longtermist offshoot of that foundation called the <a href="https://ftxfoundation.org/future-fund/">FTX Future Fund</a> were blurry. The promises for big giving, however, were clear, with <a href="https://givingpledge.org/pledger?pledgerId=445">Bankman-Fried pledging</a> to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-04-03/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-s-crypto-billionaire-who-wants-to-give-his-fortune-away?leadSource=uverify%20wall">donate the bulk of his fortune to assorted causes</a>.</p>
<h2>What’s the most immediate fallout of FTX’s demise for charities?</h2>
<p>Soon after FTX collapsed, the <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/10/ftxs-effective-altruism-future-fund-team-resigns">FTX Future Fund’s entire staff resigned</a>. </p>
<p>The team cited concerns about the <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/11/11/team-behind-sam-bankman-fried-charity-ftx-future-fund-have-quit-over-possible-deception-or-dishonesty/">legitimacy and integrity</a> of FTX’s operations. By quitting as a group, the staffers signaled that the fund had halted disbursements, while also attempting to distance the broader effective altruism movement from its most famous adherent. </p>
<p>Though Bankman-Fried and his FTX-affiliated philanthropic endeavors were only getting started toward meeting their lofty ambitions, many charities and other organizations had already received funding, and many had <a href="https://www.propublica.org/atpropublica/bankman-fried-family-donates-5-million-to-propublica">obtained further promises for future funding</a>. Those commitments now seem unlikely to ever be disbursed. Many <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ftx-bankruptcy-also-endangers-founders-philanthropic-gifts/2022/11/14/1f8f43d0-63ea-11ed-b08c-3ce222607059_story.html">recipients, including ProPublica</a> – a nonprofit investigative media outlet – are no longer counting on receiving those funds.</p>
<p>All signs point to much of that promised giving being <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/2022/11/14/sam-bankman-fried-promised-millions-to-nonprofits-research-groups-thats-not-going-too-well-now/">unlikely to materialize</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495500/original/file-20221115-22-7x6od4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="FTX app displayed on a mobile device" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495500/original/file-20221115-22-7x6od4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495500/original/file-20221115-22-7x6od4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495500/original/file-20221115-22-7x6od4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495500/original/file-20221115-22-7x6od4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495500/original/file-20221115-22-7x6od4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495500/original/file-20221115-22-7x6od4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495500/original/file-20221115-22-7x6od4.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>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">FTX logo and mobile app ads seen November 10, 2022, one day before the cryptocurrency exchange initiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-photo-illustration-the-ftx-logo-and-mobile-app-news-photo/1440504670?adppopup=true">Leon Neal/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Can charities be forced to relinquish any donations tied to FTX that they have received?</h2>
<p>What might happen to the money that had already been disbursed is less clear.</p>
<p>The possibility of it being “clawed back” from the causes that received funds from FTX affiliates or Bankman-Fried himself is <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/o8B9kCkwteSqZg9zc/thoughts-on-legal-concerns-surrounding-the-ftx-situation">real but less likely</a>. Funds given in the 90 days prior to bankruptcy are the <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/crypto-company-s-collapse-strands-scientists">most likely</a> to be vulnerable to claims in bankruptcy, but other gifts could be at risk too, if the activities of Bankman-Fried or FTX are <a href="https://nonprofitquarterly.org/should-charities-be-protected-from-the-claws-of-fraudulent-transfer-laws/">found to be fraudulent</a>. Even in that case, however, charitable gifts are given <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/senate-bill/1244">extra protection</a>, limiting the likelihood of such a “claw back.”</p>
<h2>What will the FTX fallout mean for cryptocurrency donations?</h2>
<p>Charities have become more <a href="https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/2022/08/31/how-crypto-is-changing-philanthropy">adept at receiving cryptocurrency donations</a> over the years, primarily due to a <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/will-2022-be-a-boom-year-for-cryptocurrency-philanthropy-102241">multiyear boom</a> in crypto markets and <a href="https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/giving-account/what-you-can-donate/donating-bitcoin-to-charity.html">tax considerations</a> that can make it advantageous for crypto investors to <a href="https://theconversation.com/charities-take-digital-money-now-and-the-risks-that-go-with-it-103983">give away some of their large, untaxed gains</a>. </p>
<p>In 2022, that boom gave way to a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/10/investing/bitcoin-crypto-ftx-gold/index.html">crypto bust</a>, <a href="https://www.wfae.org/2022-11-14/how-ftxs-fallout-impacts-the-world-of-cryptocurrency">which has only gotten worse</a> in the aftermath of FTX’s collapse. I believe it will reduce the flow of crypto to charities to a trickle – at least for now.</p>
<p>The FTX collapse also highlights the inherent risks charities face when they hold onto crypto assets and engage with these largely unregulated markets. The <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/silicon-valley-community-foundation-awarded-2.2-billion-in-2021">Silicon Valley Community Foundation</a>, a charity which pools resources for the benefit of northern California, has seen fluctuations in values of its crypto holdings to the tune of <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/Silicon-Valley-foundation-s-crypto-assets-14029709.php">billions of dollars</a>. Other charities have shown themselves eager to <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/04/05/how-crypto-is-changing-philanthropy/">join the craze</a> as well. The FTX fiasco may prompt charities to think twice before seeking crypto gifts or holding onto cryptocurrencies instead of liquidating them as soon as possible.</p>
<h2>What does this whole episode say about philanthropy?</h2>
<p>Though the failures at FTX may not indicate similar failures are imminent, either in <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/14/cryptocom-ceo-says-will-prove-naysayers-wrong-amid-ftx-contagion-fears.html">crypto markets</a> or in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/13/business/ftx-effective-altruism.html">effective altruism</a> efforts, they do highlight some of the risks. </p>
<p>FTX operated in a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/14/crypto-exchange-ftx-regulation-bankman-fried-00066815">lightly regulated</a> environment, and Bankman-Fried’s <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-04-03/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-s-crypto-billionaire-who-wants-to-give-his-fortune-away">brand of effective altruism</a> was praised for being both visionary and disruptive. Together, these features highlighted an ethos of philanthropic giving that, by <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/11/sam-bankman-fried-altruism-failed">favoring big bets</a> and bold goals, adopted the big-tech mantra of <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/move-fast-break-things-facebook-motto/">moving fast and breaking things</a>.</p>
<p>In my view, FTX’s epic failure highlights the value of being <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/11/10/ftx-collapse-sparks-alarm-from-us-lawmakers/">transparent and accountable</a>, both in business endeavors and giving. Minding the nitty-gritty details, heeding regulatory obligations and <a href="https://theconversation.com/donor-beware-pause-before-you-give-to-any-cause-188117">giving to established organizations</a> may seem humdrum, but it’s worth the trouble and is surely more “effective” than the alternative in the long run.</p>
<p>As details about FTX’s demise came to light, a very different new and highly visible megadonor briefly made one of her intermittent appearances in the news. <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/of-and-by-104c6ff53ff0">MacKenzie Scott</a>, a novelist and the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, announced on Nov. 14, 2022, that she had <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/14/business/mackenzie-scott-donations">given nearly US$2 billion</a> in the previous seven months to charities that work directly on acute community needs, like many local chapters of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and the National Urban League.</p>
<p>Although Scott isn’t operating a traditional foundation and she has bucked many philanthropic conventions with her <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-mackenzie-scotts-12-billion-in-gifts-to-charity-reflect-an-uncommon-trust-in-the-groups-she-supports-173496">emphasis on social justice</a>, her approach and record stand in stark contrast to Bankman-Fried’s.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194615/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Mittendorf 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>The founder of the now-defunct exchange for trading cryptocurrencies believed in ‘earning to give.’Brian Mittendorf, Fisher Designated Professor of Accounting, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1904952022-10-11T12:19:37Z2022-10-11T12:19:37Z‘Checkout charity’ can increase a shopper’s anxiety, especially when asks are automated<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486898/original/file-20220927-16-aw4f6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=115%2C79%2C4707%2C2964&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many trips to the supermarket include a small donation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/cashier-and-customer-at-grocery-store-checkout-royalty-free-image/187137930">Erik Isakson/Tetra Images via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Asking customers to support a cause when they pay for stuff can heighten their anxiety. Contrary to the <a href="https://www.mageworx.com/blog/donations-benefit-for-ecommerce">common belief that shoppers feel good</a> about making donations at checkout, we have found that there is a downside to such charity campaigns. </p>
<p>For <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.050">our study</a>, co-authored with <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zthqavgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Alex Zablah</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FkxssgMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">we researched</a> <a href="https://www.ohio.edu/business/hepworth">how customers respond</a> to donation requests made by cashiers or automated checkout kiosks.</p>
<p>We interviewed 60 shoppers, asking them to describe what they felt when they were asked to donate while ringing up their purchases at a variety of retailers based on their recollections of that interaction. About 40% of the words that these customers used expressed negative feelings associated with anxiety such as “pressured,” “annoyed” and “concerned about being judged.” Another 7% of the words conveyed other negative sentiments, including “guilty” or “bad.” The rest were neutral, such as “indifferent.”</p>
<p>Only about 20% of the words participants in these interviews used to describe their feelings were positive, such as “nice” or “compassionate.”</p>
<p>We also conducted a series of online experiments, in which a total of 970 people took part. </p>
<p>All of them were prompted to imagine that they were making a purchase, either at a fast-food drive-through or a grocery store. Half were also instructed to picture being asked to donate to a charity during checkout. The results were consistent with our findings from the interviews. Participants in the groups involving a charitable solicitation experienced more anxiety than those who only had to focus on making a purchase.</p>
<p>We also found evidence that this anxiety can be relieved when customers agree to donate, but only when the solicitation comes from a cashier, as opposed to an automated request made by a computer or self-service checkout machine.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>U.S. checkout charity campaigns raised <a href="https://engageforgood.com/ccc_2021/">US$605 million for assorted causes</a> in 2020, with many donations totaling just a few cents.</p>
<p>Businesses that hold checkout charity campaigns <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/who-gets-tax-benefit-those-checkout-donations-0">collect their customers’ donations</a>. They do not receive direct financial benefits, such as tax deductions, for raising money for local food banks or other causes.</p>
<p>Retailers and restaurants may expect customers to see them in a more positive light because of their engagement in charitable activity, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/asking-customers-to-donate-when-they-buy-stuff-may-be-good-for-business-102298">there’s been some evidence</a> to that effect.</p>
<p>But our study indicates that for many shoppers the results could be the opposite. For that reason, retailers and restaurants may want to weigh the risks before deciding to participate in these campaigns.</p>
<p>In particular, they may want to avoid asking shoppers to take part in checkout charity campaigns at self-checkout kiosks – where machines make the ask, instead of human beings. </p>
<h2>What is not known</h2>
<p>We didn’t look into why checkout charity might undercut a retailer’s popularity. It’s possible that asking shoppers to donate in front of others makes them feel pressured. Or perhaps they may simply not want to chip in and feel annoyed when the cashier asks them.</p>
<p>We also did not assess whether customers know that businesses are not allowed to claim dollars donated by their customers as tax deductions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190495/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>A study of what customers experience when they’re asked to chip in for a cause during checkout suggests that retailers should be careful about participating in these campaigns.Na Young Lee, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of DaytonAdam Hepworth, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Ohio UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1908272022-09-22T12:39:27Z2022-09-22T12:39:27ZPatagonia’s founder has given his company away to fight climate change and advance conservation: 5 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485718/original/file-20220920-14360-sxdmli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=90%2C68%2C3447%2C2248&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The company's profits will sustain these efforts in perpetuity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/patagonia-logos-are-seen-on-a-hanger-and-on-a-sweater-in-news-photo/1243274789">Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Patagonia founder <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html">Yvon Chouinard</a>, his wife and their two adult children have irrevocably transferred their ownership of the outdoor apparel company to a set of trusts and nonprofit organizations.</em></p>
<p><em>From now on, the corporation’s profits will fund efforts to deal with climate change, as well as protect wilderness areas. It will, however, remain a privately held enterprise. According to initial reports about this unusual approach to philanthropy that ran on Sept. 14, 2022, Patagonia is worth about US$3 billion and its profits that will be donated in perpetuity could total <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/09/14/patagonia-yvon-chouinard-climate-change/">$100 million every year</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. asked Indiana University’s <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/news-events/news-item/environmental-philanthropy-is-focus-of-new-faculty-position.html?id=355">Ash Enrici</a> – a scholar who studies how philanthropy affects the environment – to explain why this arrangement is so significant.</em></p>
<h2>1. Is this move part of a trend?</h2>
<p>The biggest donors, those giving away billions of dollars, are <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/can-climate-change-be-stopped">increasingly making climate change a priority</a>. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, for example, announced in 2020 that he was putting <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2020/11/how-jeff-bezos-spending-his-10-billion-earth-fund/616977/">$10 billion into his Earth Fund</a>, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/laurene-powell-jobs-invests-35-bln-new-climate-action-group-2021-09-28/">Laurene Powell Jobs</a>, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, said in 2021 that she would devote $3.5 billion of her fortune to fighting climate change. </p>
<p>Likewise, big donors are increasing their funding of conservation efforts.</p>
<p>In September 2021, the Earth Fund joined with eight other philanthropic powerhouses <a href="https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/16685/Private-Funders-of-the-New-Protecting-Our-Planet-Challenge-Announce-5-Billion-Commitment-to-Protect-and-Conserve-30-of-Planet-by-2030.aspx">to pledge $5 billion</a> to “support the creation, expansion, management and monitoring of protected and conserved areas of land, inland water and sea” around the world. This initiative aims to conserve <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/29/record-5bn-donation-to-protect-nature-could-herald-new-green-era-of-giving-aoe">30% of Earth by 2030</a>.</p>
<p>Within days of Chouinard’s announcement, another splashy climate gift emerged, setting a similar precedent. Filmmaker Adam McKay, who wrote, co-produced and directed the movie “Don’t Look Up,” said he <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-movies-adam-mckay-climate-and-environment-9f257b2d79e33d858777980b92b48906">will donate $4 million</a> to a group that funds climate activism. His satirical film was a metaphor regarding climate inaction.</p>
<p>No matter how frequently these donations occur, it’s important to keep in mind that the cost of <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2022/04/04/quantifying-risks-to-the-federal-budget-from-climate-change">meeting the world’s environmental challenges</a> is enormous and will cost <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/net-zero-cost-3-5-trillion-a-year/">trillions of dollars</a>. So while all of these gifts are certainly significant in their scale, donors and governments will need to do and spend much more.</p>
<h2>2. What makes it stand out?</h2>
<p>What’s unusual about Chouinard’s climate-change gift is its structure. By giving away his company and directing that the profits be spent fighting climate change in the long term in the form of regular installments, he is creating a new model for large-scale donations. </p>
<p>It also sets a notable precedent. Chouinard and his family are giving away the source of their wealth and setting things up in a way that is going to result in a predictable form of support for work on climate issues – an estimated $100 million each year from Patagonia’s profits.</p>
<p>I think it’s a great example for other business owners and very wealthy people to follow. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man in a casual button-down shirt surrounded by outdoor apparel" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485737/original/file-20220920-11051-oywp2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485737/original/file-20220920-11051-oywp2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485737/original/file-20220920-11051-oywp2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485737/original/file-20220920-11051-oywp2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485737/original/file-20220920-11051-oywp2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485737/original/file-20220920-11051-oywp2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485737/original/file-20220920-11051-oywp2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Patagonia owner Yvon Chouinard, seen in one of his shops in 1993, is now a leading climate donor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/patagonia-store-owner-yvon-chouinard-poses-in-his-shop-news-photo/769713">Jean-Marc Giboux/Liaison Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. How are conservation and climate change efforts connected?</h2>
<p>Journalists, scholars and the public often treat addressing climate change and conserving ecosystems as being two distinct priorities. But they are instead closely related. Having <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/10/climate/biodiversity-collapse-climate-change.html">ecosystems thrive in a way that protects biodiversity</a> is a way to <a href="https://ipbes.net/events/ipbes-ipcc-co-sponsored-workshop-biodiversity-and-climate-change">slow the pace of climate change</a>.</p>
<p>Climate change itself will harm ecosystems and contribute to the loss of biodiversity through, for example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-mediterranean-has-experienced-record-sea-temperatures-this-summer-this-could-devastate-marine-life-188995">raising temperatures in large bodies of water</a> to the point where established marine ecosystems become so disrupted that many species die off.</p>
<p>And the flip side of that is that maintaining healthy ecosystems can help counter climate change. For example, <a href="https://theprint.in/world/shrimp-farming-is-ruining-our-mangroves-but-there-are-solutions/534485/">mangroves are often cut down for shrimp farming</a> and other industries. But <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-business-forests-kenya-senegal-55e9a9419fc3d2b9bb8bc33dae2d2174">protecting them</a> offers the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15571">potential to retain as much, or more, carbon</a> as tropical rain forests, while also <a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-louisiana-gulf-of-mexico-birds-mangroves-5eeaf3bd668b4fedc26b696164ea0cad">safeguarding the animals and plants</a> on the land and in the water. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485734/original/file-20220920-3514-g3p4pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Mangrove forest, with long spindly roots showing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485734/original/file-20220920-3514-g3p4pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485734/original/file-20220920-3514-g3p4pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485734/original/file-20220920-3514-g3p4pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485734/original/file-20220920-3514-g3p4pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485734/original/file-20220920-3514-g3p4pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485734/original/file-20220920-3514-g3p4pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485734/original/file-20220920-3514-g3p4pt.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>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most human activity is restricted in this mangrove forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-photograph-taken-on-october-16-2021-shows-the-mangrove-news-photo/1236357809">Lexis Huguet/AFP via Getty Images</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. What do you think this money should fund?</h2>
<p>To me, how they – the newly minted <a href="https://www.patagonia.com/ownership/">Patagonia Purpose Trust</a>, which will own and run the company, and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html">Holdfast Collective</a>, the nonprofit funded by Patagonia’s profits – operate will be just as important as what they fund.</p>
<p>Based on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104645">research I’m engaged in</a>, I believe that they can do more good by reflecting on how they work, hopefully in ways that are both equitable and effective. For example, they can consider <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12811">highly collaborative approaches</a>, incorporate flexibility for adapting circumstances and long-term funding to match ecological timescales. It’s also essential that <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/can-climate-change-be-stopped">indigenous people living in the places affected</a> by environmental work have a say and are heard.</p>
<p>Because the Holdfast Collective is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/hillary-clinton-is-starting-a-social-welfare-group-what-does-that-mean-78221">social welfare group</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-says-the-irs-regulates-churches-too-much-heres-why-hes-wrong-77605">rather than</a> <a href="https://howcharitieswork.com/about-charities/what-is-a-charity/">a charity</a>, it will be free to emphasize policy reform – which I think should be a major priority. </p>
<p>Government and international aid agencies are often too <a href="https://rollcall.com/2020/12/21/biden-climate-teams-foes-time-politics-and-bureaucracy/">constrained by bureaucracy</a> to be able to adapt and adjust their practices in a way that might be needed to address urgent environmental challenges.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2021.1955494">Philanthropists are more free</a> in terms of how they work. That means funders like Patagonia’s trust can provide seed money to jump-start new initiatives that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764006287211">later may be more heavily funded</a> and scaled up by governments.</p>
<h2>5. Why are many people troubled by gifts like this?</h2>
<p>In recent years, <a href="https://theconversation.com/philanthropists-seeking-to-fix-big-problems-must-tread-carefully-heres-how-they-can-make-their-efforts-more-compatible-with-democracy-173711">scrutiny of philanthropy</a> of all kinds has been on the rise. Some of the criticism takes aim at big donors, like Bezos, whose sources of <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/v74zpy/jeff-bezos-dollar10b-earth-fund-cant-undo-amazons-damage">wealth contribute to the problems</a> their gifts are supposed to be solving.</p>
<p>Concerns about how <a href="https://learnphilanthropy.net/decolonizing-philanthropy">philanthropy can perpetuate</a> or excuse discrimination and oppression are also growing, leading to calls for its “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/588996/decolonizing-wealth-second-edition-by-edgar-villanueva/">decolonization</a>.”</p>
<p>Even avid environmentalists are <a href="https://grist.org/accountability/patagonia-turns-over-company-fight-climate-change/">expressing deep concerns</a> about the potential downsides of this new model. They’re asking whether it might be used to fund causes championed by other wealthy donors with <a href="https://twitter.com/DanielJHemel/status/1570235996574289921">starkly different agendas</a>.</p>
<p>Regardless of what concerns you may have about what the Chouinard family decided to do, or regarding other billion-dollar donations that take aim at climate change, one thing is for sure: The <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/07/1091258821/the-future-cost-of-climate-inaction-2-trillion-a-year-says-the-government">cost of doing nothing at all</a> will surely be much higher than taking action, however imperfectly.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to correct the source of Adam McKay’s climate gift and the nature of the group it’s supporting. The filmmaker has not said where that money came from, and the organization funds climate activism.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190827/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ash Enrici's research has been funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.</span></em></p>Yvon Chouinard’s gift is unusual due to its structure but is also part of a trend. Many billionaires and large foundations are now funding these causes.Ash Enrici, Assistant Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1881172022-09-12T12:14:12Z2022-09-12T12:14:12ZDonor beware: Pause before you give to any cause<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483608/original/file-20220908-13-epqbuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=87%2C33%2C1911%2C1129&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Steve Bannon, second from right, was indicted and charged on Sept. 8, 2022, with alleged money laundering, fraud and conspiracy for deceiving donors and misusing their funds for a charity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/steve-bannon-former-advisor-to-former-president-donald-news-photo/1243048158?adppopup=true">David Dee Delgado/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/leaders-must-confront-declining-trust-in-the-nonprofit-world-before-its-too-late">public’s trust in nonprofits</a> <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/trust-in-nonprofits-and-philanthropy-continues-to-be-higher-than-in-government-and-the-news-media">declined from 59% in 2020 to 56%</a> in 2022, according to Independent Sector, a coalition of nonprofits, foundations and corporate giving programs that tracks trends in philanthropy.</p>
<p>One likely explanation for this erosion of confidence in organizations that are supposed to do good works: <a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-race-ethnicity-philanthropy-black-lives-matter-5bc4772e029da522036f8ad2a02990aa">news of</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/17/casa-ruby-programs-close/">nonprofit leaders</a> and <a href="https://www.azfamily.com/2022/08/21/man-accused-running-fake-golf-charity-scam-scottsdale/">fundraisers</a> who <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/utah-man-who-operated-fraudulent-veteran-charities-sentenced-federal-prison">improperly pocket funds</a>. </p>
<p>On Sept. 8, 2022, for example, New York state authorities charged former Trump administration aide Steve Bannon and others involved in a group called <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/former-trump-adviser-steve-bannon-turns-new-york-state-charges-rcna46662">We Build the Wall</a> with allegedly committing money laundering, fraud and conspiracy for deceiving donors and misusing their funds.</p>
<p>And reports surfaced in August that whistleblowers are accusing a nonprofit based in Oklahoma of allegedly <a href="https://oklahomawatch.org/2022/08/30/whistleblowers-allege-embezzlement-fraud-at-tahlequah-nonprofit-that-championed-indigenous-women">diverting money meant to aid Native American women</a> and lining its leaders’ pockets.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=FJ9Y6QMAAAAJ">expert on nonprofit accounting</a>, I can see why you might be hesitant to donate to charities these days. But I’m confident that taking certain steps before making donations makes it less likely your money will be squandered.</p>
<h2>Online tools</h2>
<p>While the overwhelming majority of charities are legitimate, looking into a charity before supporting it can help you avoid supporting scams and make better-informed decisions. </p>
<p>Often you can quickly do this by visiting a watchdog website that assesses nonprofits. Good options include <a href="https://www.guidestar.org/">Guidestar</a>, <a href="https://www.charitywatch.org/">Charity Watch</a>, <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/">Charity Navigator</a> and the <a href="https://give.org/wise-giving-guide-new">Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance</a>. </p>
<p>Some of these monitoring organizations assign ratings or grades to nonprofits. Others, such as the Better Business Bureau, report on national nonprofits <a href="https://www.give.org/charity-inquiry-new">as well as receive complaints about charities acting inappropriately</a>. </p>
<p>You can review what a charity monitor says about a group you want to support to get a sense of its trustworthiness.</p>
<p>If you search those sites for a nonprofit without finding the group you’re looking for, it can be a red flag. But rather than jumping to the conclusion that it isn’t a legitimate charity, consider a few other factors.</p>
<p>It is possible that the group is too new or too small to be monitored.</p>
<p>For example, Charity Navigator only monitors charities with two or more years of at least $1 million in revenue, that amass public support of at least $500,000 annually and have been operating for a minimum of seven years, <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=32">among other requirements</a>. But when you can’t find a charity on a watchdog database, I believe it’s worth taking the time required to check it out in other ways. </p>
<p>Charities don’t pay income taxes, but most of them do file annual paperwork, <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-a-990-form-a-charity-accounting-expert-explains-175019">a Form 990</a> with the Internal Revenue Service, in which they have to disclose financial details and information about their leaders. Often it is easy to find those forms with simple search engines because nonprofits are required to make <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/public-disclosure-and-availability-of-exempt-organization-returns-and-applications-public-disclosure-overview">990 forms available for public inspection</a>. The 990 form will disclose how much is being spent to fulfill the charitable purpose of the organization.</p>
<p>Before you donate to a small nonprofit or a group in your local community, you can contact the charity directly to ask about fundraising goals and day-to-day operations. You can also ask people you know for information.</p>
<p>Additional efforts may include conducting news searches and reading media coverage in a trusted outlet. Charities that have changed their name or have moved to a new state may warrant particular scrutiny.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1312146611145826304"}"></div></p>
<h2>Common pitfalls</h2>
<p>One thing to watch out for is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/07/how-to-avoid-charity-impersonation-scams-in-times-of-crisis.html">organizations with names chosen to deceive donors</a>. These groups have branding that can make you mistakenly believe that you’re giving money to <a href="https://www.wibw.com/content/news/BBB-Beware-of-fake-cancer-charity-482491461.html">more established and legitimate</a> charities. In some cases, these groups <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/03/us/politics/irs-fake-charities.html">don’t do much of what they claim to do</a></p>
<p>It’s also best to avoid donating directly to an individual unless it is someone you know personally and can trust to spend your money wisely.</p>
<p>And you should exercise a great deal of caution if someone asking you to donate to a charity behaves in an aggressive manner and is making you feel pressured into <a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/how-donate-wisely-and-avoid-charity-scams">giving cash</a>.</p>
<p>How a nonprofit spends its funds, which is something the charity monitoring groups follow, can offer insight into whether you would like to donate to their cause.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://calnonprofits.org/programs/overhead/about-the-nonprofit-overhead-project/what-is">debate over how much or what share of its budget</a> a nonprofit should spend on its mission versus fundraising and other kinds of overhead costs. If a nonprofit isn’t devoting most of its funds to advance its mission – such as a homeless shelter’s work with the homeless – it’s probably a reason for concern. </p>
<h2>Downsides to donations through new channels</h2>
<p>Charitable fundraisers conducted through social media are appealing due to their speed and immediacy. For example, country singer Maren Morris sold T-shirts in early September 2022 that <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/maren-morris-lunatic-country-music-person-charity-t-shirt-tucker-carlson-1235134700/">raised over $100,000 in one day to support transgender youth</a>.</p>
<p>But you should resist the urge to respond in an instant when you see an appeal to donate to an urgent cause via any social media platform; first do some independent research of the charity or cause. One strategy is to do a <a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/donating-through-crowdfunding-social-media-fundraising-platforms">reverse image search</a> because scammers often steal photos from other events and individuals that have emotional appeal.</p>
<p>When disaster strikes, there will, unfortunately, be some unscrupulous people who <a href="https://theconversation.com/convenient-but-susceptible-to-fraud-why-it-makes-sense-to-regulate-charitable-crowdfunding-172029">take advantage of the public’s concerns</a>. This problem isn’t new, but it’s become easier to launch scams due to technology and the spread of information on social media.</p>
<p>For example, when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, a fraudster illegally obtained local residents’ information and <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/texas-man-pleads-guilty-defrauding-red-cross-hurricane-relief-funds">filed for relief with the American Red Cross on their behalf</a>. The problem has grown so pervasive that the Justice Department has established a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud">National Center for Disaster Fraud</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/4-new-findings-shed-light-on-crowdfunding-for-charity-161491">Crowdfunding has also become a popular</a> fundraising tool for causes ranging from unexpected personal medical expenses to established nonprofits. </p>
<p>GoFundMe, a popular crowdfunding platform, is a private company and will take a percentage of funds raised. Sometimes the people who set up GoFundMe accounts are surprised to find that the company takes <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/c/blog/help-with-gofundme">2.9% of all donations made, plus a 30-cent fee per transaction</a>. </p>
<p>If your goal is to provide maximum funds to someone in need, giving them money directly instead of through GoFundMe or a similar platform would increase the amount they receive from you. <a href="https://support.gofundme.com/hc/en-au/articles/360039267752-GoFundMe-donations-and-taxes">Unless the GoFundMe is for a registered charity</a>, there’s no way to get a <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-charitable-deduction-an-economist-explains-162647">tax deduction for the donation</a> even if you would otherwise be eligible.</p>
<p>Donors must always be on their toes to avoid <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=6506">charity scams</a>. If you identify a suspicious charity, you should <a href="https://tips.fbi.gov">report it to local law enforcement and the FBI</a>. If you have been a victim of a charitable scam, you should also report it to your <a href="https://www.usa.gov/state-consumer">state consumer office</a>, as well as to the <a href="https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/">Federal Trade Commission</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188117/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Webber is affiliated with the University of Dayton, a Conversation partner university.</span></em></p>While the overwhelming majority of charities are legitimate, looking into a charity before supporting it can help you avoid supporting scams and make better-informed decisions.Sarah Webber, Associate Professor of Accounting, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1858412022-07-28T12:25:47Z2022-07-28T12:25:47Z‘Rage giving’: Charities can get a boost from current events, such as controversial Supreme Court rulings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473454/original/file-20220711-26-qiraph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5607%2C3732&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Giving to a cause tied to nettlesome news may calm the nerves.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-is-angry-about-her-computer-news-photo/548849571?adppopup=true">Wodicka/ullstein bild via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When anger over everything from the killing of unarmed people of color to new restrictions on access to abortion bubbles over, many Americans act on it.</p>
<p>One avenue for someone who has gotten fed up with current events is to take part in protests, such as <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/11/thousands-rally-against-gun-violence-after-mass-shootings-surge">marching for gun reform</a> in response to mass shootings. Another is by what <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Ay7ZS0cAAAAJ">nonprofit</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3qOb1RwAAAAJ&hl=en">philanthropy scholars</a> like to call “rage giving” – charitable donations motivated by strong emotions and dissatisfaction with the political climate. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abs/rage-giving/7D91A09D64D1514AF3C19F6690A4BD75">new book about this phenomenon</a>, we explain that people often donate to nonprofits following breaking news about events they consider to be tragic or unjust. By donating, people may feel they are addressing the wrong they want to see righted, or they can express a strong politically driven view or value. </p>
<h2>Divisive moments</h2>
<p>When news coverage grows and collective anger culminates in high-profile marches, rage givers can experience an emotional release by channeling their feelings into <a href="https://www.theringer.com/tech/2018/6/22/17494052/rage-giving-trump-immigration-twitter">something they consider positive</a>.</p>
<p>Quick bursts of anger sometimes called “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2018/06/20/rage-giving-fuels-record-fundraising-immigrant-children/718272002/">fury triggers</a>” <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12522">usually drive these gifts</a>. </p>
<p>We have found that waves of rage giving are often sparked by divisive political moments. These unexpected spikes in donations are typically fueled by extensive media coverage. </p>
<p>For example, after the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/05/27/1101490738/uvalde-buffalo-mass-shooting-similarities">mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo</a>, New York, <a href="https://buffalonews.com/business/local/as-donations-flow-in-after-tops-shooting-the-first-grants-are-rolling-out/article_d871d938-ddfa-11ec-99b7-238ada5cebd2.html">donations to groups that support gun violence victims</a> in both <a href="https://cftexas.org/supportuvalde">communities surged</a>.</p>
<p>And, shortly after the May 2022 leak of the <a href="https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/politics/a40218865/us-supreme-court-roe-v-wade-overturned-decision/">Supreme Court’s draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade</a>, NARAL Pro-Choice America, an organization that advocates for access to abortion, saw a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/donations-us-abortion-rights-groups-clinics-surge-after-supreme-court-leak-2022-05-04/">1,400% increase in donations within 24 hours</a>. </p>
<p>Likewise, the Brigid Alliance, a nonprofit <a href="https://theconversation.com/abortion-funds-are-in-the-spotlight-with-the-end-of-roe-v-wade-3-findings-about-what-they-do-182636">abortion fund</a> that provides financial and logistical help for people seeking abortions, saw the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/funding-increases-for-abortion-related-causes-as-rage-giving-continues">number of its donors quadruple</a> from May to July. The gifts ranged from $5 to $50,000.</p>
<h2>Growth following 2016 election</h2>
<p>Rage giving isn’t limited to guns or abortion. Nor is it new. </p>
<p>But there are many signs that the phenomenon grew ahead of, <a href="https://www.theringer.com/tech/2018/6/22/17494052/rage-giving-trump-immigration-twitter">during and after</a> the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2016/11/05/500782887/donald-trumps-road-to-election-day">heated 2016</a> and <a href="https://afpglobal.org/news/engagement-all-rage-philanthropy-amid-crisis">2020 presidential elections</a>. Many people who were concerned about immigration, civil rights and sexual assault and harassment during those highly polarized periods sought out opportunities to give to nonprofits and political action committees as <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/11/21/rage-donate-becomes-anti-trump-balm/7t4pJvnlbfAW3A3NeItmyL/story.html">quick and easy ways to express their outrage</a>.</p>
<p>The ease and growth of online giving, <a href="https://institute.blackbaud.com/charitable-giving-report/online-giving-trends">up 42% in the three years ending in 2021</a>, makes it simpler for rage givers to express their outrage. There’s no longer a need to mail a check or make a phone call.</p>
<p>Rage giving is, to be sure, partisan in that anger and outrage can provoke political mobilization, action and higher voter turnout.</p>
<p>But nonprofits on both sides of the political and cultural divide have reaped windfalls from rage giving in recent years. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43884698">Giving to pro-gun organizations</a> like the National Rifle Association, for example, can surge when gun control measures are in the news –as is generally the case after mass shootings. </p>
<h2>More likely to be women and Democrats</h2>
<p>In 2017, we commissioned a survey that identified 520 people who said they had donated to a nonprofit of their choice after feeling <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108951036">unbridled anger during the 2016 presidential election</a>. Based on that data, we estimated that about 58% of these rage givers were women and 80% were white.</p>
<p>About 44% said they were Democrats, roughly 35% said they were Republicans and the remaining 21% identified as independent voters. Because the shares of Americans who <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx">lean toward one major political party</a> or the other is more evenly matched, we found that, at that moment in time, Democrats were more likely to donate this way than more conservative Americans.</p>
<p>When thinking about the candidates in the 2016 presidential election and the stances each candidate takes on social and environmental issues, one rage giver from North Carolina said in response to our survey, “I’m just sick about it,” she said. “We’ve got to do something.”</p>
<p>We also found the surveyed rage donors were likely to be civically engaged – through behaviors such as volunteering, voting, contacting elected officials and participating in marches and protests. Rage giving, as a form of collective action, aligns with other helping behaviors by giving a voice to the underserved and unheard.</p>
<p>More research is needed to get a clearer picture of why certain people do this. But based on what we’ve learned so far, we believe that people who engage in rage giving see philanthropy as a type of civic engagement and that their gift, along with other donations, makes a difference.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185841/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>These donors can experience an emotional release by channeling their feelings into something they consider positive.Jennifer A. Taylor, Associate Professor of Political Science, James Madison University Katrina Miller-Stevens, Associate Professor of Management, Colorado CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1826312022-07-01T12:15:51Z2022-07-01T12:15:51ZWhat are bail funds? Two social policy experts explain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470664/original/file-20220623-51579-21qkuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C4985%2C3338&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">These funds help people stay out of jail while awaiting trial.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-photo-illustrations-handcuffs-and-hundred-us-dollar-news-photo/1230511420?adppopup=true">SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When someone charged with a crime is eligible for release but cannot afford cash bail, they typically will <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/arrest_pretrialdetention.html">remain in jail</a> until they are sentenced or released – unless someone makes a payment on their behalf.</p>
<p>One option is to enlist the help of a <a href="https://theappeal.org/i-worked-as-a-bail-bond-agent-heres-what-i-learned/">private bail bondsman</a> to pay the court the cash <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-cash-bail-works">used as a guarantee that a defendant will return for a hearing</a>. But bail bondsmen <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/31/us/bail-bonds-extortion.html">charge steep fees</a>, and many engage in <a href="https://mtstandard.com/opinion/columnists/troy-downing-bail-or-jail-montanas-wild-west/article_d6f1715c-6dea-5bea-934f-3debd28b7e35.html">abusive</a>, or even <a href="http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2022/release044-2022.cfm">criminal</a>, practices.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/the-bail-fund-moment/">Bail funds</a>, which pool money from donors to pay bail for people who can’t afford it, are a better option. </p>
<p>These funds can be relatively large. The Minnesota Freedom Fund <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/style/minnesota-freedom-fund-donations.html">received over US$30 million in donations</a> from over 900,000 donors in a four-day period to bail out protesters responding to George Floyd’s murder in 2020. Others are much smaller and operate through crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe. Individual donations also range widely: Gifts to <a href="https://bailproject.org/">The Bail Project</a>, for example, range from a few dollars to millions.</p>
<p>We, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-DWRhN4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">two social</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=VdY-QtoAAAAJ">scientists</a>, are describing what are sometimes called “community bail funds.” More than 90 of these nonprofits are affiliated with the <a href="https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/en/nbfn-directory">National Bail Fund Network</a>, which operate as part of a broader strategy to end pretrial detention.</p>
<p>Bail is only meant as a guarantee that an accused person will show up in court. Most of the money, aside from court fees, is typically repaid once all conditions are met. That means these funds get back the bulk of what they spend to bail people out of jail, and the same money can then cover someone else’s bail. Bail funds, that is, <a href="https://www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/the-bail-fund-moment/">recycle most of their donations</a> after paying potential court fees. </p>
<p>Bail funds often are local and may specialize in helping a specific community, as is the case with the <a href="https://www.lgbtqfund.org/">LGBTQ Freedom Fund</a>, <a href="https://www.blmokc.com/">Black Lives Matter Oklahoma</a>, <a href="https://reprolegaldefensefund.org/">Repro Legal Defense Fund</a>, <a href="https://www.mibfc.org/">Midwest Immigration Bond Fund</a> and the <a href="https://www.swopbehindbars.org/donate">National Sex Worker Bail Fund</a>. <a href="https://www.nationalbailout.org/history">The National Black Mamas Bailout</a> pays the cash bail owed by Black caregivers around Mother’s Day, and several mass bailout <a href="https://theconversation.com/juneteenth-freedoms-promise-is-still-denied-to-thousands-of-blacks-unable-to-make-bail-98530">initiatives exist for Juneteenth</a> and <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-expungement-works-new-strives-to-free-our-fathers-this-juneteenth-with-fathers-day-bailout-301569190.html">Father’s Day</a> as well.</p>
<p>The practice of collectively funding the use of money to free loved ones and friends has a long history in the United States that began in the days of slavery. Before the Civil War, Black communities <a href="http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/emancipation/text1/text1read.htm">raised funds to purchase the freedom</a> of themselves and their families.</p>
<p>One of the first large bail funds emerged in 1920, when the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/American-Civil-Liberties-Union">American Civil Liberties Union</a> established one in response to anti-communist prosecutions known as the “<a href="https://www.ushistory.org/us/47a.asp">Red Scare</a>.” Other bail funds arose in the following decades, often led by civil rights and anti-war activists.</p>
<h2>Why bail funds matter</h2>
<p>More than 80% of the <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2022.html#slideshows/slideshow1/2">over 650,000 people in jail</a> in the U.S. have not been convicted and are presumed innocent but can’t afford bail.</p>
<p>Helping people pay bail is important because it means that they can return home and remain employed or in school. They are also less likely to be pressured to accept a <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_related_education_network/how_courts_work/pleabargaining/">plea deal</a>, in which they plead guilty to a lesser charge to serve less time, whether they committed the alleged offense or not.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/incomejails.html">median amount for bail is $10,000</a>. But most people who can’t afford to pay bail are living well below the poverty line – defined by the government as being in a family of four earning <a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines">less than $27,750 a year</a>. </p>
<p>People of color are more likely than whites <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/502277-black-people-5-times-more-likely-to-be-arrested-than-whites/">to be arrested</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/juneteenth-freedoms-promise-is-still-denied-to-thousands-of-blacks-unable-to-make-bail-98530">unable to afford bail</a> and <a href="https://policyinstitute.iu.edu/news-media/stories/bail-bond-brief.html">charged higher bail and fee amounts</a>. They are also more likely to receive <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2019/10/09/pretrial_race/">biased bail decisions</a>, and more likely to be held on bail, <a href="https://jjie.org/2017/01/31/focusing-on-the-families-of-rikers-inmates-a-q-a-with-photographer-salvador-espinoza/">spend time in jail</a> and <a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/6148/">end up incarcerated</a>. </p>
<p>Bail funds can help alleviate these problems, but resolving these serious challenges will require deep reforms throughout the U.S. criminal legal system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182631/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cynthia A. Golembeski receives funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Bakko receives funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.</span></em></p>The median amount of cash bail is $10,000 – an immense sum for people living in poverty. Bail funds, unlike bail bondsmen, don’t charge high fees.Cynthia Golembeski, PhD Candidate in Urban and Social Policy, The New SchoolMatthew Bakko, PhD Candidate in Social Work and Sociology, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1850862022-06-21T13:20:05Z2022-06-21T13:20:05ZAmericans gave a near-record $485 billion to charity in 2021, despite surging inflation rates<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469584/original/file-20220617-24-c0era.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=76%2C0%2C3326%2C1897&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Charitable donations fund a wide array of nonprofits, such as Habitat for Humanity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/volunteers-participate-in-a-habitat-for-humanity-build-on-news-photo/1154518488?adppopup=true"> John Wolfsohn/Getty Image</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Boosted by <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/30/stock-marketfutures-open-to-close-news.html">a strong year for stocks</a> and <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2022/01/27/us-economy-2021-gdp-growth/9236443002/">swift economic growth</a>, U.S. giving in 2021 totaled a <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/news-events/news-item/giving-usa:--total-u.s.-charitable-giving-remained-strong-in-2021,-reaching-$484.85-billion.html?id=392">near-record US$485 billion</a>.</p>
<p>Individuals, foundations, estates and corporations gave more to charity in 2021 than before the pandemic, according to the latest annual Giving USA report from the <a href="https://givingusa.org/">Giving USA Foundation</a>, released in partnership with the <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/">Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI</a>.</p>
<p>Giving was 0.7% below the inflation-adjusted <a href="https://theconversation.com/americans-gave-a-record-471-billion-to-charity-in-2020-amid-concerns-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-job-losses-and-racial-justice-161489">all-time high of $488 billion in 2020</a> – when donors responded to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ensuing recession and an outpouring of concern over racial injustices.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&user=KbjWCpcAAAAJ">two of the lead</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=plWgMBcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">researchers</a> who produced this report, we found that inflation changed how far each charitable dollar went in 2021. We also saw that a significant percentage of giving came from extremely large gifts and that many charities whose 2020 donations declined may have experienced a rebound.</p>
<h2>Did inflation affect giving?</h2>
<p>Inflation – <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/16/everyone-knows-inflation-is-on-fire-heres-whats-really-fueling-it.html">the rate at which purchasing power</a> for food, rent and energy costs declines – was higher in 2021 than it has been in recent years. </p>
<p>When inflation heats up, <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/high-inflation-leaves-food-banks-struggling-to-meet-needs">charities need more money to keep up with rising costs</a>. Household budgets can also get strained by rising costs of living. But charitable giving doesn’t automatically fall when inflation rates rise. In <a href="https://inflationdata.com/articles/inflation-cpi-consumer-price-index-1980-1989/">1988 and 1989</a>, for example, inflation exceeded 4% annually, but <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=226702">charitable giving grew</a> in both years – even when adjusted for inflation.</p>
<p>However, higher inflation, particularly over time, can influence other economic trends that are more likely to influence how much money is donated. Those changes, in turn, can lead to declines in giving.</p>
<p>With inflation running at a <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/consumer-prices-up-8-5-percent-for-year-ended-march-2022.htm">much faster clip in 2022 than 2021</a>, we’re keeping an eye on any effects it may have on giving until rates subside. </p>
<p><iframe id="nQxJU" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/nQxJU/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Role of megadonors</h2>
<p>Individual donors gave $327 billion in 2021, or two-thirds of all charitable dollars. Ten gifts of $450 million or more, which totaled $15 billion, accounted for roughly 5% of all individual giving.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469585/original/file-20220617-16-rqv41r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bald man with a thick graying beard and a bright yellow and orange tie-dye shirt looks off into the distance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469585/original/file-20220617-16-rqv41r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469585/original/file-20220617-16-rqv41r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469585/original/file-20220617-16-rqv41r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469585/original/file-20220617-16-rqv41r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469585/original/file-20220617-16-rqv41r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469585/original/file-20220617-16-rqv41r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469585/original/file-20220617-16-rqv41r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was among the nation’s biggest donors in 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jack-dorsey-creator-co-founder-and-chairman-of-twitter-and-news-photo/1321753242?adppopup=true">Joe Raedle/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some of the largest donations made in 2021 went to <a href="https://theconversation.com/charitable-gifts-from-donor-advised-funds-favor-education-and-religion-171793">donor-advised funds</a>, financial accounts known as DAFs. </p>
<p>Two billionaires who took that route were Twitter co-founder and former CEO <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/the-philanthropy-50/#id=details_628_2021">Jack Dorsey</a> and SpaceX and Tesla CEO <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-elon-musk-saved-big-on-taxes-by-giving-away-a-ton-of-his-tesla-stock-172036">Elon Musk</a>.</p>
<p>Donors who transfer money into DAFs get big tax deductions right away but can decide which causes to support later. That’s similar to what happens when someone <a href="https://learning.candid.org/resources/knowledge-base/what-is-a-foundation/">moves wealth into a foundation</a>.</p>
<p>But while <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/private-foundations">foundations are required to report every grant they make</a>, all the money distributed to a particular charity from DAFs that are held at the same DAF-sponsoring organization is lumped together. This makes it impossible to separate out one individual’s support for specific causes. As a consequence, some donors may prefer to give through a DAF rather than a foundation for the anonymity.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/business/mackenzie-scott-philanthropy.html">MacKenzie Scott</a> has given <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-mackenzie-scotts-12-billion-in-gifts-to-charity-reflect-an-uncommon-trust-in-the-groups-she-supports-173496">at least $12 billion to charity</a> since her 2019 divorce from Jeff Bezos without starting a foundation, and instead <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/04/06/mackenzie-scott-elon-musk-mark-zuckerberg-charity-donor-advised-funds/">relies partly on donor-advised funds</a>. In 2021, she continued to quickly channel large sums of money into nonprofits, especially those assisting people of color and underfunded communities.</p>
<p>We expect transparency to be an important issue for our research in the future. As megagifts grow as a share of individual giving, it is important to understand how much megadonors are giving and where the dollars are going.</p>
<p><iframe id="8pqaw" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8pqaw/11/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>A rebound for the arts</h2>
<p>Giving to the arts, culture and humanities rose by 22% in 2021 as many museums, theaters, ballet companies and other arts groups resumed in-person events and found ways to continue to make use of hybrid events. That growth, the biggest for any of the nine categories we track, marked a sharp reversal from 2020, when those gifts fell 7%. </p>
<p>Similarly, gifts related to health, a category that includes donations to hospitals, grew 2.9% in 2021 after a 6.9% decline a year earlier.</p>
<p>Conversely, gifts slated for colleges, universities and other educational causes fell 7.2% in 2021, following a 15% increase in 2020.</p>
<p>Overall, giving in 2021 stayed well above pre-pandemic levels. The total donated was at least 5% higher than in 2019 for seven of the nine categories we track. </p>
<p><iframe id="fpzii" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/fpzii/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185086/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>Some of the largest donations made in 2021 went to donor-advised funds, financial accounts known as DAFs.Anna Pruitt, Associate Director of Research, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and Managing Editor, Giving USA, IUPUIJon Bergdoll, Applied Statistician of Philanthropy, IUPUILicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.