The Psychology of Giving

Friend’s fans, this is one for you. Do you remember the episode where the gang discuss whether true altruism exists?

Here’s a little reminder:

Joey argues that all good deeds are selfish, while Phoebe is on a mission to prove otherwise.

So, she comes up with what she thinks is the perfect selfless act by donating to a telethon that Joey takes part in. She hates the network it’s broadcast on, so isn’t happy about it, but knows her money will help people in need.

However, her plan backfires when Joey is singled out by the telethon host and congratulated for taking the highest donation of the night.

Phoebe is delighted that her donation got Joey on TV, until he reminds her that her happiness negates the selflessness of the act. Doh!

What does Friends have to do with giving?

Good question. As well as being a nice trip down TV memory lane, this clip raises a key question – what motivates people to give?

In 2021, researchers in Alaska ran an experiment to find out, by testing two of the most common motivations for charitable giving:

·        Pure altruism

Pure altruists are selfless. They help others without expecting anything in return. They’re motivated by a genuine joy of giving.

·        Impure altruism

Impure altruists are egoistic. They help others to improve their own well-being i.e., to feel a sense of self satisfaction. This is also known as “warm glow”.

To see which motivation produced most donations, the researchers sent postcards to 540,000 households in Alaska. Half received postcard (a) representing impure altruism or “warm-glow” and the other half were sent postcard b, (highlighting the benefits of giving to others selflessly (pure altruism).

The results were interesting: The individuals who received the warm glow appeal were 6.6% more likely to give, and gave 23% more than their counterparts in the control group. Meanwhile, the message that appealed to pure altruists had no significant effect on average donations relative to the control group. 

The takeaway

Although there’s a lot more research to be done around the psychology of giving, and there are lots of other motivations for giving, the takeaway from this experiment is that you’re going to receive more donations if your fundraising campaigns appeal to the warm, fuzzy feeling people reap from donating.

In a practical sense, this means tweaking the focus of your campaign messaging by highlighting the mood benefits of giving - empowerment, joy, and satisfaction.

It’s a win-win for the donor and your organisation. By promoting the benefits of "self-interested giving," you’re enabling people to experience that lovely ‘warm glow’ while increasing contributions to your charity at the same time.

The bottom line: If you want people to donate more, remind them how good it feels to give.

Hopefully this has given you something to think about – in terms of the psychology of giving and how you can use it to create more effective fundraising campaigns.

Fancy testing out a ‘warm glow’ campaign? We’ve got experienced fundraisers waiting in the wings to help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 to get started.