All Philanthropy is personal

Charitable giving is a very personal activity. People have many different motives for engaging and expectations around recognition. This is why philanthropy planning should start with you and not with the cause that you want to support.

Philanthropy will be far more rewarding both for you and your causes when it shaped by your passions. You need to be clear about your own values as they will shape your behaviour and the way you evaluate projects. You will also want to engage with partners who share these values.

You should think broadly about what really matters to you. Some commentators have broken causes down into the following broad categories:- people; problems; places; pathways and philosophies. You need to decide what it is that you want to preserve, or change; what it is that you really care about. The reason for asking this question isn't to start defining a strategy but rather just to help you be more focused.

Good philanthropy isn’t defined by the size of the gift but by what it has achieved. Even when you know what you want to accomplish the breadth of opportunity to allow you to engage can mean that, without focus, your giving is spread so thinly that none of it ever amounts to much.

If it is change that you are interested in structural change requires input not only from the charity sector but also form business and government. For example improving education and employment opportunities for disadvantaged young people iwill need to involve business and educators if change is going to happen.

You need to decide where in the mix your own inputs can be most effective recognising that you will need to work in partnership with others to achieve results.

Being clear about what you want to contribute is also important. You might want to gift money and let others who share your values and concerns make the changes, or it may be that you want to get directly involved in the cause. You need to be clear about this. Too many substantial donors think that because they have made a gift to a charity they have a right to direct how it operates leading to dissatisfaction on everyones part. If you want to use your talents to help run an organisation say so at the start.

Clarity right at the beginning is the key to a successful personal philanthropy plan. Ambiguity can only lead to problems later.

Why People Give

Contrary to what many ancient philosophers thought recent research suggests that generosity is hard wired into very DNA. Human beings are made to be generous. Generosity has its roots not just in our individual development but also in evolutionary history.

Selfless acts, putting the welfare of others before your own can be found throughout the animal kingdom. Vampire bats are known to regurgitate blood to feed the offspring of other bats who can’t feed their own young. Nature abounds with examples of animals acting selflessly in the interests of the pack.

Acting generously has been demonstrated to activate the same reward pathways in the human brain that are activated by food and sex. Giving and helping others makes you feel good. Supporting others is associated with better health in older people and volunteering has been shown to extend life. Other studies have shown that people are happier when spending money on others than on themselves.

Not all people are equally generous. This depends on their personal empathy, their values, morals and sense of identity but the good news is that we are designed to be philanthropic. People are also driven by different motives to give.

One of the best book written on this subject is “The Seven Faces of Philanthropy” by Russ Alan Prince and Karen Maru File.  The book is based on research carried out in the USA but the types of philanthropists that it recognises are universal.

The largest group are Communitarians. People who give money and time because to them it makes sense. They make up the largest grouping of all major donors. Typically they are business owners and they tend to support local causes. They like to get involves in causes themselves and often appreciate recognition for their work.

The second largest group are the Devout. They give because it is God’s will. They are motivated by religious reasons and most of their donations are channelled through religious organisations and programs. Charities like Christian Aid and The Bible Society which have a religious motivation  benefit form this group. The Devout tend to support organisations on congregational lines and to trust the organisations they give to.

The next group are the Investors. They give with one eye on the cause and one eye on tax planning and the smooth transfer on family businesses to the next generation.  They apply the same scrutiny to the charities to which they give as they do to their other investments and expect the charities they support to be well run. They are also interested in the concepts of social investment and impact philanthropy.

The fourth group are the Socialites. They do good because it’s fun and their decisions are driven by peer-pressure. Philanthropy is a part of their social capital. This group are great at organising fundraising events.

Next, the Altruist. The classic selfless donor who doesn’t want any recognition. They quietly support the causes they believe in and are the source of many surprise legacies. They are self motivated and know what they want to support.

The sixth group are Repayers. Typically they have benefitted from, say a school, a university, a hospital treatment or from some other institution and they want to continue to support it so others can benefit. They are big supporters of university endowments and medical research organisations.

Finally the Dynast. They like to do good because it is a family tradition. Dynasts tend to be wealthier in the first place, often having inherited much of their wealth. They will frequently distribute their funds through a family foundation and tend to be quite purposeful in their giving.

No one group is better, or more generous than any other. The important thing is that they give. From my perspective as a philanthropy adviser it is important to understand what drives people’s giving as it helps me to understand how they may be wanting to benefit.