Lessons from across the pond

People often point to a dearth of useful research in the domains of giving, donor behaviour and philanthropy. While it is certainly true that we need to know much more about how people select and interact with non-profits, the broad arena of donor behaviour is actually one of the most researched domains in the social sciences. Work conducted in the disciplines of economics, psychology, social psychology, sociology, non-profit management and marketing has now been marshalled to create a new body of knowledge for the profession of fundraising, underpinning the recent introduction of a set of national occupational standards for fundraising and enhancing public understanding of how the voluntary sector operates through initiatives such as www.charityfacts.org and the ImpACT coalition.

Much of the research on donor behaviour, however, has been conducted in the United States and many sector commentators therefore worry about the extent to which it is possible to simply transplant findings and apply them here in the UK.

This concern is legitimate; there are undeniably cultural differences between our two countries and the manner in which the voluntary sector has developed over the past two centuries has been radically different. Religious faith also plays a much bigger role in shaping giving in the US with, for example,  $97 billion being donated to religious causes in 2006. The pattern of fundraising in the US has also been very different, leading to variations in the profiles of donors supporting specific causes and, in particular, supporting these causes in different ways. Thus using US data to form a view on issues such as the profile of potential UK donors is problematic.

Where research does translate well, however, is when it examines the underlying rationale for human behaviour and the response to different fundraising ideas and techniques. In other words donors in the US and UK respond very similarly to fundraising stimuli. Where international comparisons have been undertaken, the same motives for giving predominate and individuals are concerned with exactly the same issues when they evaluate an organisation as a potential recipient of a gift. This is true of both large and small donations as well as true of the response to commonly employed fundraising media such as the Internet, direct mail and direct response television (DRTV). Thus when researchers such as Indiana University’s Jen Shang tell us that the overall revenue raised by a fundraising campaign can be increased by 12% simply by providing donors with ‘social information’ on how other donors have behaved, we can be confident that the provision of such information will provide similar utility in the UK. The percentage uplift in response may vary, but the underlying difference in behaviour will remain.

Similarly, from my own research, we know that the factors driving donor retention are identical in both countries. The three biggest drivers of donor loyalty are satisfaction with the quality of service provided to the donor, trust in the organisation to deliver on its promises and the extent to which the individual feels a genuine commitment to the cause.

The US and UK may be culturally very different, but there is a lot that we can and should be learning from that side of the pond.

Adrian Sargeant is uniquely qualified to comment on transatlantic philanthropic research issues as he currently holds two posts: Robert F Hartsook Professor of Fundraising at the Center on Philanthropy, Indiana University in the US, and Professor of Nonprofit Marketing at Bristol Business School, University of the West of England.

A European perspective

The UK philanthropy sector traditionally looks across the Atlantic for ideas and inspiration, but a new European initiative on philanthropic research may encourage us to look closer to home.

In January 2008, a group of researchers working in five European countries gathered in Amsterdam to launch the European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP). The driving force behind this new organisation is Theo Schuyt, professor of philanthropic studies at VU University, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. Having noted the growing interest in the concept and impact of philanthropy across the continent, Schuyt believed the time was right to take a cross-national approach to understanding contemporary European philanthropic culture

Schuyt told Philanthropy UK that ERNOP will be helpful to all member countries because “Our ‘Giving Europe’ research project aims to present the financial parameters of philanthropic transactions and the philanthropic sector in Europe, which is now a major ingredient in the rise of civil society in Western Europe. Philanthropists are making substantial contributions to the financing of non-profit goals like culture, research, health and education. Yet in Europe, data regarding philanthropic efforts are missing.”
 
Asked whether the UK has more to learn from Europe than from the US, Schuyt replied, “Yes, because most Western European countries are transforming into so-called ‘civil societies’, and welfare states in all Western European countries are in transition. Demographic changes, growing wealth and cultural and political developments at national and European level are all triggering fundamental shifts in economic, social and political institutions. Western Europe is moving into an ongoing process of restructuring, for example making efforts to integrate new East European countries whilst coping with the nationwide implications of ethnic diversity challenges at the other. Such transitions require continuous innovations from governments, businesses and civic efforts to keep Western Europe a prosperous and democratic community to live in. The pillars of prosperity in the future will be sustainable economic growth, political democracy and a basic level of social arrangements. The European welfare state model will therefore need to become more diversified, integrating the market, social economy and philanthropy”. 

The first publication from ERNOP, a review of the state of household giving in Europe, will be published in summer 2008. For further information about ERNOP, please contact Pamala Wiepking