As the holiday season begins, WVU research shows donors give more to good causes when they consider how their gifts will help create meaning in their lives. (WVU Photo/David Malecki)
Research from a West Virginia University expert on consumer behavior shows the human desire for connection is a factor in many charitable donations.
When people choose causes and organizations to support, many will be in search of a payoff much bigger than the satisfaction of having done a good deed, according to Julian Givi, associate professor of marketing at the WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics.
Givi has found charitable giving is driven by a desire to connect with others — and that people give the biggest sums when they feel their gifts add meaning to their lives.
Quotes:
“My colleagues and I did one of the first studies looking at the intersection between the urge to live meaningfully and the size of charitable gifts. Our research shows donors give more to good causes when they’re thinking about how their gifts will help create meaning in their lives. It’s the human desire for connection with others that links the search for meaning and the act of giving.
“If you see your life as ‘meaningful,’ you believe it has significance, purpose and impact. Benevolent actions that will be long remembered, like donating money for the construction of a library, can provide a life with meaning.
“When we asked study participants what making meaningful choices meant to them, many emphasized achieving a sense of fulfillment and acting according to deeply held values. In their appeals for donations, nonprofit organizations commonly try to evoke the joy or ‘warm glow’ that giving can inspire. But our work shows that leading donors to think about making choices that bring meaning to their lives will result in larger gifts. That’s the opposite dynamic from what we see in personal consumption spending, where consumers focused on meaning tend to spend less than those focused on pleasure.
“Anyone fundraising on behalf of a good cause should be framing charitable appeals like emails and advertisements in a way that focuses on meaning and emphasizes social connections — by featuring names, photos and personal stories of donation beneficiaries, for example.” — Julian Givi, associate professor, WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics
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