Charitable givers motivated by search for meaning – marketing researcher

New research from a US university has found the human desire for connection is a crucial factor in getting people donate more to charitable causes, noting that donors are searching for meaning for themselves, not pursuing a ‘warm glow’. 

When people choose causes and organisations to support, many will be in search of a payoff much bigger than the satisfaction of just having done a good deed, according to Julian Givi, Associate Professor of Marketing at West Virginia University. 

Givi has found charitable giving is driven by a desire to connect with others – and that people give the biggest sums when they feel their gifts add meaning to their own lives. The research is published in the European Journal of Marketing. 

“My colleagues and I did one of the first studies looking at the intersection between the urge to live meaningfully and the size of charitable gifts,” Givi says. 

“Our research shows donors give more to good causes when they’re thinking about how their gifts will help create meaning in their lives. It’s the human desire for connection with others that links the search for meaning and the act of giving.” 

The best donations are ones that provide meaning to the donor’s life 

Givi noted that, if you see your life as ‘meaningful’, you believe it has significance, purpose and impact. Benevolent actions that will be long remembered, like donating money for the construction of a library, can provide a life with that meaning. 

“When we asked study participants what making meaningful choices meant to them, many emphasised achieving a sense of fulfilment and acting according to deeply held values,” he observes. 

“In their appeals for donations, nonprofit organisations commonly try to evoke the joy or warm glow’ that giving can inspire.” 

Givi says the research shows that getting donors to think about making choices that bring meaning to their lives will result in larger donations. 

“That’s the opposite dynamic from what we see in personal consumption spending, where consumers focused on meaning tend to spend less than those focused on pleasure,” he emphasises. 

“Anyone fundraising on behalf of a good cause should be framing charitable appeals like emails and advertisements in a way that focuses on meaning and emphasises social connections – by featuring names, photos and personal stories of donation beneficiaries, for example.” 

You can find out more about the study here.