What motivates individual donors to give to a nonprofit? Why would people want to give away their hard-earned money, and what are they thinking about when they make giving decisions?  

The generally accepted answers are as follows:  

1. People give in order to get results.
2. People give to make an impact, make a difference.
3. People give to bring about specific social change.

It turns out that for a minority subset of donors, this is true. 

That said, the truth is that most individual donors are not motivated by those factors, and this is especially true for the highest-net-worth segment of givers (who give more than $1M annually).   

In the Money for Good study, one of the largest and best-funded studies in recent years about donor behavior, researchers found that 65% of donors don’t perform any research before making a donation. Of the 35% who do some research, 75% spend less than two hours on it and the majority did only enough to validate their choice (i.e., make sure the organization is not blatantly fraudulent). Only 3% of donors undertake serious, outcomes-based, comparative research before donating. Which leads to the question . . .

What Actually Motivates Donors to Give?  

The biggest motivators the study identified were:  

1. 1. An existing relationship with someone at the nonprofit.
2. 2. The nonprofit’s location (local to the donor).
3. 3. Shared fundamental values with the nonprofit. 

Hm. Interesting. Kind of seems like there is a trend emerging here . . . a trend of community? Relationship? Trust?  

Let’s take it a step further.  

Christian Smith identified seven basic human needs, and there are two at play in the decision of where to give: identity and belongingness.  

We, as humans, are motivated to create and affirm a particular identity—we have a need to know who we are. We are also motivated to belong to something bigger than ourselves; we all crave a place “where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.”  

So this, then, is my take: A major, perhaps unspoken, benefit of giving is that it improves your psychological well-being by affirming your identity as a donor and building the community and belongingness that are vital to self-actualization and happiness.   

How Identity and Belonging Impacts Philanthropy

Effective nonprofits cultivate personal relationships with their donors and provide experiences—shared experiences, with the nonprofits and their other supporters—that build community and a sense of belonging. The more experiences you share, the more you belong someplace; the more you belong someplace, the more your personal identity is tied up in that belongingness 

This brings to mind a story from about a decade ago of a woman attending a small, exclusive gathering for policy donors. During a luncheon at the end of the multi-day meeting, people stood up to announce their intentions to support the organization. This woman stood up to announce a large, spur-of-the-moment pledge, and prefaced her pledge by saying—with tears in her eyes—“I feel like I’ve finally found my tribe.”  

On the flip side, it's interesting to note that in the study conducted by the Center for Effective Philanthropy on the outcomes of MacKenzie Scott’s giving, the only downside observed by any of the recipients of her massive, out-of-the-blue gifts was the sadness of not being able to talk to her, to know her, to understand what it was about their nonprofit that resonated with her.  

So while many in our sector hold up “trust-based philanthropy” as the gold standard, I assert that the platinum standard (if you will) is actually “relationship-based philanthropy,” in which the giver and the recipient mutually benefit from not only trust, but true relationship with one another.  

So perhaps, AT&T is right: Connecting actually *does*change everything.  

What do you think? Why do you give to the organizations that you do? Am I on to something here, or blowing hot air?

I’ll close with this reflection. As my husband and I sit down to make our giving decisions next month, I know that we’ll be asking ourselves this question as we read through the myriad emails from worthy organizations: Whose story are we a part of?

Check Out These Additional Resources

1. You can watch Smith delivering a lecture on human motivation here, which is pretty interesting if you have an hour to spare.  

2. The Money for Good study also found (not shockingly) that foundations and advisors do a heck of a lot more research than individuals do, and that they care a great deal more about impact, too. If you’d like to learn more about the impact of the groups you’re supporting, let’s get in touch—you can find our contact information here.

About the Author

Cecilia Diem is a Director and leader of Donor Advisory, AmPhil’s consulting practice serving charitable foundations and philanthropists. In this role, Cecilia advises leading individual and institutional donors on strategy, donor intent, evaluation, governance, operations, and capacity building to maximize the impact of their giving. Previously, she led AmPhil’s East Coast consulting group, where she supported over forty nonprofit clients raising more than $150 million annually. Prior to AmPhil, she held positions at The Philanthropy Roundtable, Americans for Prosperity and Americans for Prosperity Foundation, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.