ABSTRACT

Using a sample of 200 millionaires, a recently published book identifies personal motives underlying philanthropy among wealthy donors. Although there seem to be many different reasons for giving, what these millionaires want from charities apparently can be boiled down to different shades and mixtures of only two factors-degree of personal control and the need for public recognition. By combining these two factors together with the types of charities supported, we can identify seven giving-types that range from altruists (people who provide unrestricted funds to support social causes and wish to remain anonymous) to so-called communitarians (people who want a big say in how their contributions are used to support local cultural, religious, or educational concerns and expect generous amounts of public acknowledgment and personal attention). The basic insight of the research on wealthy donors is that both the characteristics of a charity and the personal motives of donors are important in understanding philanthropy. Our own experience in fund-raising tells us that personal involvement greatly increases when donors can see and feel a tight connection between the characteristics of a cause or a nonprofit organization and their own personal goals or values. Experience also teaches us that gaining the personal involvement of prospective donors is the key to successful fundraising.