Getting the rich and powerful to give
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Podcast "Philanthropy in question(s)" - Episode 23
Getting the rich and powerful to give - Kessler, Milkman & Zhang
Do rich and powerful donors react differently than others when given a sense of agency and the impression that they can choose where their donation goes?
In this last episode before the summer break, Arthur Gautier, Professor and Executive Director at the ESSEC Philanthropy Chair, presents an article by Judd Kessler, Katherine Milkman and Yiwei Zhang published in 2019 in Management Science, entitled "Getting the rich and powerful to give". This experimental field study seeks to see whether a mailing that gives the impression of being able to direct one's donation is more effective, in terms of fundraising, than the same mailing without this possibility - and whether this effect is more striking for the wealthiest and most powerful people in the sample.
A rigorous and inspiring piece of research, both for researchers and for fundraising professionals!
The two main results of the study:
Arthur Gautier highlights in this episode the two main results of the study:
Feeling able to choose where one's donation goes does not seem to have any impact on the likelihood of giving.
On the other hand, this same sense of agency has a strong impact on the amount donated by donors identified as rich and powerful.
➡️ Listen to the episode above to learn more!
Other resources on the topic
Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a Psychology of Human Agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(2), 164–180.
Abele, AE, Wojciszke, B. (2007). Agency and communion from the perspective of self versus others. J Pers Soc Psychol, 93(5):751-63.
Whillans, AV, Dunn, EW. (2018). Agentic appeals increase charitable giving in an affluent sample of donors. PLoS One, 6;13(12):e0208392.
Eckel, C., Herberich, D., Meer, J. (2017). A field experiment on directed giving at a public university. Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics, 66:66-71.
Whillans, A. V., Caruso, E. M., & Dunn, E. W. (2017). Both selfishness and selflessness start with the self: How wealth shapes responses to charitable appeals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 70, 242–250.
Other episodes with related themes
An anthropology of giving (Marcel Mauss)
Fundraising in times of crisis (John Godfrey, Alexandra Williamson)
Fundraising and social networks: the case of Facebook (Abhishek Bhati, Diarmuid McDonnell)
Listen to all episodes of our podcast "Philanthropy in Question(s)"
Every last Wednesday of the month, in an episode of about 10 minutes, we share the discoveries of a researcher on philanthropy in France or internationally, all disciplines included. The goal? To give research a place in everyday life, to contribute to critical thinking and to shed light on societal issues through the prism of philanthropy. Dive with us into the heart of research on giving!
Also to be discovered: "Towards Strategic Philanthropy"
Based on interviews with philanthropists and professionals in the philanthropy sector, this podcast from the ESSEC Philanthropy Chair introduces you to the 5 key dimensions of philanthropy strategy: value, logical framework, style, time horizon and vehicle. The embodiment of the learnings from the book Towards Strategic Philanthropy published by Peter Frumkin, Anne-Claire Pache and Arthur Gautier at Odile Jacob in 2020. To your headphones!
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