Sonja Caffe
Par’b, 07/29/15
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The science of giving
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The art of giving
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How can we maximize our giving?
Understanding giving and ourselves will help.
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Giving, selflessness, philanthropy
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The origin of philanthropy – the desire to promote
the welfare of others – has long been something of
an enigma
Why do people give?
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Humans as a whole are neither entirely selfish, nor
entirely selfless, says David Rand, a psychology and
economics researcher at Yale University in New
Haven, Connecticut
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In the US, 74 per cent of people donate to
charity but give on average only between 2 and
6 per cent of their household income.
“People give, but they like to give a small
amount,” says Rand
If we were purely altruistic, we would give
everything we truly do not need to others who
do
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But there is enough variation in giving habits
to raise questions over why.
To investigate this, economists and social
scientists have designed field experiments that
test how different factors affect people’s actual
giving behavior in a variety of situations:
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Findings:
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Social factors are crucial according to Anya Samek,
an economist at the University of Chicago:
For example, people are more likely to donate if they
are told that many others are also donating.
Similarly, repeat givers will increase or decrease
their donations if told that others gave less or more
(American Economic Review, doi.org/crxrzd and
Experimental Economics, doi.org/ftc3hj).
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Findings continued:
Some people donate because it gives them a “warm
glow” – they genuinely feel good seeing others do
well.
 Others give because of the direct social pressure that
arises when, for example, a collection plate makes
the rounds at church.
 Ohers focus on their reputations – giving can bring
status and access to higher rungs of the social
hierarchy.
 Social learning: if a child grows up seeing that
cooperation is the norm, his or her gut response will
be to cooperate
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Question to us: which of these apply to me?
Why did I give in the past? Why will I give in
the future, and how much?
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Another movement is not so much in
agreement that there is a science of giving.
In their view, giving is more of an art: an
articulation of values and passions.
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Another movement is not so much in agreement that
there is a science of giving.
In their view, giving is more of an art: an articulation of
values and passions
They state that, if a donor loses sight of the passion, the
context, the reason for giving in the first place, then the
philanthropic act is empty and the risk of doing harm
exponentially increases.
The art of philanthropy offers that needed context, fills
in the void, and gives voice to the gift within the gift
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Fundamental are the ethical and moral
assumptions that are at the core of
philanthropy—the integrity of purpose, and of
process and practice.
The concept of moral imagination, which
Robert Wright beautifully defined as “putting
yourself in someone else’s shoes.”
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Understand my own reason (s) for and
strategies of giving
Combine the art with the science of giving in
our own giving: find the passion, the moral
imagination, and the systematic approach
Multiply yourself; create strategies that will
mobilize both the “artists” and the “scientists”.
Be a role model: “The role models of giving are so
very important.”
THANK YOU