Doing good or having fun?
Exploring claims about 'enjoyment' as a driver of philanthropic behaviour
Dr Beth Breeze, Warwick University 10th April 2013
Overview
1. Review of existing explanations of philanthropic behaviour
2. What is the evidence for ‘enjoyment’ as a driver of philanthropic behaviour?
3. Why might ‘enjoyment’ be a red herring as an explanatory factor?
4. Public perceptions of what motivates philanthropists
5. Towards an alternative theory of Enrichment
Some existing theories of philanthropic behaviour
Economic theories
Personal benefits
Future benefit/Public Good theory
Enlightened self-interest
Warm glow
Psychological theories
Empathy-altruism hypothesis
Negative-state relief model
Identification/In-group membership
Sociological theories
Social embeddedness
Network ties
Cultural contexts
Role modelling
Identity work
Why do rich people give? The UK research
1. Belief in the cause
2. Being a catalyst for change
3. Self-actualisation
4. Duty and Responsibility
5. Relationships
Source: Theresa Lloyd (2004) Why Rich People Give. London: Philanthropy UK
Why do wealthy people give? The US research
•
Because they can: They have made more money at a younger age and they recognise
they are financially secure.
•
Because they want to limit the amount of inheritance left for their heirs.
•
Because they want to apply their entrepreneurial skills in the social and environmental
realm.
Paul Schervish (2008) In Sargeant (ed.) ‘Routledge Companion to Nonprofit Marketing’
“Philanthropy grows out of the donor’s sense of identity… [Philanthropists wish to leave]
footprints in the sand of time”
Francie Ostrower (1995) Why the Wealthy Give
“Philanthropy exists because of two truths about the human condition: things often go
wrong and things could always be better. The philanthropic tradition is the history of
the response to these two facts”.
Payton and Moody (2008) Understanding Philanthropy: It’s meaning and mission
Philanthropy – a smiles better way to spend money?
The evidence for ‘enjoyment’ as a driver of philanthropy
1. The Giving Pledge (2010 - date)
2. The Million Pound Donors Report (2008-2012)
3. Shop-floor study, 2010-11
The Giving Pledge
A campaign initiated by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to encourage
the wealthiest people (billionaires) in the United States to make a
public commitment (moral rather than legally enforceable) to give most of
their wealth to philanthropic causes either during their life or at death.
2010 – 40 signatories committed a combined £125 billion
2011 – 69 signatories
2013 (Feb) – 12 new signatories from 8 countries outside the USA
2013 (April) - 105 billionaires have now committed a total of $500 billion to
philanthropy.
“The idea of the pledge came out of discussions we had with other givers
about what they were doing, about what had worked in philanthropy and
what had not worked. Everyone shared how giving had made their lives
richer.”
Bill Gates
Giving Pledgers explain their philanthropy
“Over the years, the emotional and psychological returns I have earned from charitable
giving have been enormous. The more I do for others, the happier I am. The happiness
and optimism I have gained from helping others are a big part of what keeps me sane… A
number of my closest friends, partners and advisors I met through charitable giving… Life
becomes richer the more one gives away… I get tremendous pleasure from helping
others. It’s what makes my life worth living.”
Bill Ackman
“Making a difference in people’s lives — and seeing it with your own eyes - is perhaps the
most satisfying thing you’ll ever do. If you want to fully enjoy life — give.”
Michael Bloomberg
“Philanthropy should be fun, otherwise it will not be sustainable. Seeing results flow from
my gifts is my greatest pleasure as a philanthropist---whether exonerating a jailed innocent
or completing a Frank Gehry Building. I want to enjoy my philanthropy.”
Peter B. Lewis
Giving Pledgers (cont)
“I get much more pleasure giving money to what I consider worthwhile causes than
making the money in the first place. As I checked with other philanthropists, I found this
was a very common experience”
Peter Peterson
“For five generations my family has experienced the real satisfaction and pleasure of
philanthropy”
David Rockefeller
“Watching the product of one’s giving is one of life’s greatest pleasures”
David Rubenstein
“Helping is a joyful experience and enriches the giver as much as those who receive.”
Edgar M. Bronfman
“our pleasure and pride in life come from working with valued partners, not owning things
or totaling up our net worth… It’s our pleasure at least as much as our obligation”
Thomas F. Steyer & Kathryn A. Taylor
Giving Pledgers (UK)
“‘Stuff’ really is not what brings happiness. Family, friends, good health and the
satisfaction that comes from making a positive difference are what really
matters.”
Richard Branson
“philanthropy gives me far more pleasure and satisfaction than making money.
In fact, making money is now largely driven by the knowledge that I will be able
to leave even more wealth behind for charitable causes when I go… My
message to those who have not yet found philanthropy is that they may well find
that it becomes a drug that gives far more pleasure than the creation of wealth.”
John Caudwell
The Million Pound Donors Report
Aim
An annual effort to collate and analyse data on all donations worth £1 million or more –
made by UK donors or to UK-based charities – in order to assess the scale and impact of
these gifts and to get a better understanding of who is making them and what causes they
are supporting.
Methodology
1. Secondary analysis of charity accounts and media reports
2. Primary research with philanthropy intermediaries, advisers and fundraisers
3. Interviews with those giving and receiving million pound donations
The Coutts Million Pound Donor Report
“I like to have something worthwhile to get up for each morning… I find that the larger and
more strategic the gift, the more pleasure I get out of it”.
Stephanie Shirley, 2010 report
“[my donation of $150m to Oxford University] has really been the most exciting and
fascinating opportunity and it has changed my life for the better”
James Martin, 2010 report
“The huge pleasure and satisfaction that is to be gained from spending one’s time in giving in
your later years far outweighs any pleasures that you can possibly gain on the golf course, on
the beach or on the back of the yacht in the Mediterranean sipping martinis.”
Mike Oglesby, 2010 report
“For me, it is not just a case of giving away money, it’s about meeting the researchers we
fund. Meeting people like neuroscientists is more interesting than anything I will ever do in any
other part of my life”
Richard Ross, 2011 report
“I can’t get over it; I’m still shaking when I talk about it. It’s just incredible… I feel a bit guilty
about getting so much pleasure out of giving”
Terry Bramall, 2012 report
“When I get thanked and hugged, I always say: “I’m actually getting as much benefit and
happiness out of it as you are!”
Barrie Wells, 2012 report
Shop floor staff talk about their giving & fundraising
“You’ve got to make it fun, cos you don’t get many fun days down there, believe me. Down
there on the shop floor. You know, it’s hard work. People are working constantly. They
come in and do a long shift, lugging boxes, putting things on the shelves, bringing things
out of the chillers you know, and they do work hard.
So it’s nice to have a bit of fun. You go down the chilled meat, and there’s some guy
standing there in a blue wig and some Elton John blue sunglasses. It’s just a bit of fun and
the customers love it as well, they comment and they chat to them then.”
“Last year we had all of our section leaders and half our managers having their legs
waxed and chests waxed. [More animated voice] Yeah! It was cool. We were meant to
have a waxer come in, but she let me down at the last minute so we let the colleagues
come and do it [lots of laughter]. Yeahh! [more laughter]. Some of them had their chests
done, some of them had their backs done, some of them had their legs done.”
“We did a sponsored bike ride where we just had to keep two exercise bikes going in the
banking hall all day”
“It was really good, cos we got a load of the soldiers up from the barracks, didn’t we?”
[laughter]
“But they wanted a go, everyone wanted a go. It was good fun.”
A slightly different take – money as a barrier to enjoyment
“With laughter we read on a physio's wall a caption "Those with the most toys
when they die, still die". How true. It took us back to the time long ago (at least
in our children's eyes) that we shared the fundamental understanding as a
family, that to do your best in life, to achieve, to make a real and positive
difference, and as importantly to enjoy our few days on this earth, then
considerable inherited wealth could more than likely just get in the road.”
Andrew Forrest (Australian signatory of GP)
“I’ve long stated that I enjoy making money, and I enjoy giving it away. I like
making money more, but giving it away is a close second. To date, I’ve given
away nearly $800 million to a wide-range of charitable organisations, and I look
forward to the day I hit the $1 billion mark. I’m not a big fan of inherited wealth.
It generally does more harm than good.”
(T. Boone Pickens)
Might the idea of ‘enjoyment’ be a red herring?
1. It’s normative and no more than the cultural script to claim to ‘enjoy’ it – whether or not
that’s true. Citing ‘enjoyment’ is simply more acceptable than using more value-laden, or
potentially ‘preachy’ words and phrases such as ‘morally right’, ‘
2. There are plenty of other drivers identifiable in the same date, e.g.:
• Responsibility / social contract
• Reciprocity
• Religious beliefs
• Parental example
• Anger, e.g. at governmental policies or perceived stinginess of others
3. The role of enjoyment as a driver is ultimately un-provable, like guilt, and therefore not
legitimate as an explanation.
4. Even if evidence can be found, it’s too banal an explanation to be satisfying.
5. If it’s so enjoyable and enriching, how come so many rich people still don’t give?
6. It’s unnecessarily reductionist to try and find a unified theory of philanthropy.
3 reasons why ‘enjoyment’ / enrichment theory might have legs
1. Because donor benefit is historically typical, despite being ‘hushed up’ in
some eras.
2. Because non-participation in an enjoyable activity is explicable if
philanthropy behaviour is understood as phenomenologically transformative.
3. Because talking openly about the enriching aspects of philanthropy is a
useful counterbalance to cynical/negative interpretations.
Private versus Public benefits – an unnecessary dichotomy
Public benefit:
• Solving social problems, improving the world
Philanthropy enables the rich to “make a contribution to society” (Edwards 2001)
Philanthropy is defined as acts by rich people that “show their general goodwill to
society… [and] express their humanitarian impulses” (Lloyd 2004)
Philanthropy involves the desire to “spend it well, on purposes and causes beyond
themselves” in order to “create something transparently useful in society”. (Handy
2006
Private benefit:
• Personal salvation
• Reputation (individual, familial, professional)
• Social & cultural capital (eg. honours)
• Useful contacts and networking opportunities
• Social Mobility
• Self-actualisation
• Enjoyment, satisfaction
Despite changing emphasis, donor benefit is historically typical
The emphasis on ‘who benefits’ changes over time.
Medieval philanthropy focus on donor benefit, notably salvation & reputation
“Medieval charity was primarily aimed at the spiritual welfare of the donor, rather than at
improving the worldly conditions of the recipients” (Rosenthal 1972:130)
‘Golden Age’ of philanthropy - focus on the world-changing aspects of philanthropy, and
how it contributes to improving society.
Second half of 20th century – focus on donor benefits, how it is life-enhancing, enjoyable,
satisfying etc.
Start of 21st century - a shift back towards a focus on external (world-changing), rather
than internal donor benefits.
“[Philanthropy] has both private and public functions, enabling communities to solve
problems and allowing individuals to express and enact their values” (Frumkin 2006:21)
“I’ve never tried it because I don’t like it”
If it’s such fun, why are so many rich reluctant givers?
Of 1,223 billionaires (Forbes 2012) only 115 have signed the Giving Pledge.
Because of the phenomenal character of experiences such as philanthropy.
Phenomenal knowledge (or ‘what it’s like’ knowledge) = the knowledge of what it feels like
to experience something can only be obtained by having that experience.
Big decisions (such as choosing to have a child or change career (and, I argue, becoming
a philanthropist) are phenomenologically transformative – experiencing it changes you so
much that you become a different person to the one who was originally weighing up the
decision to have a child/change career/give away millions.
“If you want to know what some new and different experience is like, you can learn it by
going out and really having that experience. You can’t learn it by being told about the
experience, however thorough your lessons might be”
David Lewis (1990) What Experience Teaches. In Ludlow, Nagasawa & Stoljar p.262
“Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it” (Steven Wright)
Enjoyment is a useful counterbalance to public criticisms of philanthropy
Widespread beliefs that philanthropy is concerned with enhancing status, power, control,
reputation, networking etc.
Philanthropy is an example of ‘conspicuous consumption’ – it’s a public display of wealth
aimed at securing esteem.
(Thorstein Veblen 1899)
Philanthropy is “mere ostentation”, “a passport to the in-crowd” and “another way of
exerting power and control”
(Toynbee & Walker
2008)
Philanthropy involves “people getting credit for giving back what their ancestors should
never have taken in the first place”
(Panas
1984:49)
Disgraced, Dickensian, Philandering, Tax-ruse, Coutoure-clad, Ruthless philanthropist
(All adjectives appear in UK media coverage during 2006)
“Bill Gates is giving millions to charity. So? Why not? What else could he possibly do with
all his money except coat himself in treacle and roll in banknotes?”
The Guardian 28 November 2006
The Giving Pledge is “grandstanding” and “a publicity stunt”. “You get a bunch of very
intelligent people sitting around trying to do good, I immediately get kind of suspicious
and squirm in my seat”
(Charles Munger, business associate
of Buffett)
Might a theory of enrichment be useful?
People who live in market societies also pursue non-market goals, such as self-realisation
and enjoyment, which may be more highly valued than economic success (Bell 1976).
Philanthropy is a ‘circus tent term’ (Payton & Moody 2008); the philanthropic acts of any
given individual are motivated by a complex variety of factors across time, with respect
to different causes, and in relation to who asks. How can any single explanation
suffice?
And yet – no philanthropist disputes enjoyment/enrichment as a driver.
It can help explain why someone gives per se, as well as explaining how they choose
what to give to.
It can be utilised by fundraisers and charities who can offer more enriching experiences to
donors to encourage more philanthropic behaviour.
Post-script: why is so philanthropy so hard to study?
Difficulties in collecting credible data
• Selection bias
• Slippery concepts
• Social desirability bias / Motivational distortion
• Guilt / Embarrassment / Cognitive dissonance
• Fear of ignorance
• Lack of self-understanding
Particular problems with ‘manufactured’ qualitative data
• Over-scrutinised
• Over-reflective
• Replicates social norms
• Wrapped up with public displays of values and morals
• Participants can skillfully deploy cultural resources – aiming to say the ‘right thing’
rather than what they actually think (e.g. gold medal winners in media interviews)
Jonathan Potter’s Dead Social Scientist test
Would the respondent have said whatever they said if the researcher hadn’t asked them?
www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/cphsj
b.breeze@kent.ac.uk