The Science Behind Nonprofit Giving: What Motivates Donors to Give

▤ Summary

Much of the research into fundraising by Elizabeth Dunn of the University of British Columbia, Lara Aknin at Simon Fraser University, and Michael Norton at Harvard Business School, has centred on how people feel when they give. The other half of the subjects got a note asking them to spend the money on someone else or donate it to charity. Dr. Benartz, a professor and co-head of the behavioral decision-making group at UCLA Anderson School of Management, and Dr. Olivola an assistant professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business wrote “The Science of Giving” about donation decisions. When they asked online respondents to imagine how happy they would be if they spent a $100 windfall on themselves, their average response on a five-point scale (with 5 being “very happy”) was 3.89. I think Mahatma Gandhi said it best when he said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” This is one more good reason why so many people why work for charities consider what they do to be an admirable profession.

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