Why giving money to a charity

But did you know that donating to charity might be good for you too? But just because certain economic factors may have an impact on giving, this doesn't mean that you should put off your own charitable efforts. You might be surprised to learn that, ultimately, it might be you who reaps some of the best rewards of your donation. Here are nine positive effects of giving to charity.

Getty Images Advertisement What motivates people to give to charity? Surprisingly, the most obvious answers to this question have been difficult to prove.

For example, having a desire to give is often not enough: The research is also mixed on whether people with more money are more likely to give it away. While some studies suggest that wealthier people are more likely to donate money, other studies do not. A recent paper by psychologists Ashley Whillans, Eugene Caruso, and Elizabeth Dunn suggests a potential new explanation as to what motivates people to give to charity.

When a donation request resonates strongly with our self-image, they argue, we are more likely to feel charitable.

Bolder Giving, a nonprofit aiming to encourage people to make larger charitable donations, recommends a 50/30/20 rule: Focus half your giving on one charity or a select few that are most. But that should not stop you from giving money again. We often come across many people and charity organizations that are always in need of funds that could help the community. Just giving a little every month will make a big difference. Charity does not always imply the giving away of money, one can give away anything to someone in need. People donate cars, books, clothes and even food in the name of charity and it also has its.

Across three studies, they found that people who earn less money are more likely to donate to charity when presented with a request that emphasizes social connection and community.

In contrast, wealthier individuals are more likely to give money when presented with a request that appeals to their sense of independence and self-reliance.

Whether you behave selfishly or generously may depend less on what you have and more on whether a request for help fits with how you see yourself. The survey asked participants to report their gender, age, ethnicity, and household income. Participants then read one of two donation appeals.

The researchers found no relationship between clicking on the donation link and gender, ethnicity, or age. The finding is telling, but the study was limited because they were unable to prove that the wealthier participants actually did donate money after seeing the agentic appeal that emphasized individualism.

Technical restrictions made it impossible for the researchers to determine whether those who clicked on the donation link actually gave money. To try and make a stronger case for their hypothesis, they ran two additional experiments in public places.

One study recruited participants who were visiting a science museum in Vancouver, Canada. Participants first completed the same survey asking them about their background and income, as described in the previous study.

And, as in the previous study, they were asked to read either the agentic or communal appeal to donate to charity. It was explained that the decision to donate was binding if they did end up winning. Wealthier participants appeared more generous after reading the agentic appeal — it led them to donate more of their winnings to charity.

Less wealthy individuals donated more after being presented with the communal appeal. Once again, other characteristics of the participants, such as their age and gender, had no relationship with how much they chose to donate.

Why would wealthier individuals feel more generous when presented with the agentic appeal? Past research has shown that people with higher incomes tend to have a greater sense of personal control.

Money allows people to meet their personal goals without needing to rely so much on others, and this may affect how they see themselves.

Research also shows that people with lower incomes tend to see themselves as more connected to others, maybe because they need to rely more other people in their everyday lives. These findings have led some researchers to speculate that as people become wealthier, their caring and compassion for others decreases.

Wealthy People Give to Charity for Different Reasons Than the Rest of Us - Scientific American

However, the present research suggests this may not be the whole story. Wealthy people do demonstrate high levels of caring when a request for help resonates with their greater sense of personal control. By emphasizing individual impact, charitable messages might be more effective at motivating wealthier people to act generously.

Of course, more research is needed to figure out whether tailoring messages matters for other kinds of giving aside from donating money.

It would be useful to know if the same type of framing also affects whether people commit to volunteering their time or donating blood. Still, these findings point towards new possibilities for helping non-profits and other charitable organizations figure out how to make appeals that have the highest possible chances of success.

And have you read a recent peer-reviewed paper that you would like to write about? Please send suggestions to Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook.

Gareth, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, is the series editor of Best American Infographics and can be reached at garethideas AT gmail.In our research, Why we give, a feeling of social conscience was the most widely-given reason to give to charity.

Whatever type of charity work they supported, 96% said they felt they had a moral duty to use what they had to help others, a sentiment very much rooted in their personal values and principles. In February I wrote a post positing that people give to charity as a way to satisfy their deeply held need to find meaning in life.

The post is now the number 2 result in Google for the phrase, “why do people give to charity.” The number 1 result is a publication of The Federal Reserve Bank of. Bolder Giving recommends using the 50/30/20 rule: Focus half your giving on one charity, or a select few, that are most meaningful to you.

Set aside 30% for community gifts—places like your. Most people do. And even though people work hard to earn their money, many give some of it away, often to help strangers. In fact, percent of American households say that they give to charity.

One such charity: Friends of Women’s World Banking, which collects money for a financial empowerment charity based in the Netherlands. Give, don’t receive It’s fun to get those thank-you gifts charities give in return for donations, but there’s a hidden cost.

The research is also mixed on whether people with more money are more likely to give it away. While some studies suggest that wealthier people are more likely to donate money, other studies do not.