Who Gives Charitable Donations for Overseas Development?

Abstract

Individuals' donations to overseas charities are an important source of funding for development assistance from rich industrialised countries. But little is known about the nature of these charitable donations. The literature on giving focuses on total donations to all causes and does not identify separately the pattern or the determinants of giving to any particular cause. We investigate giving to overseas causes using UK survey microdata that record individuals' donations to different types of charity. We establish a picture of overseas giving, comparing this with giving to other causes. Socio-economic correlates of both types of giving are analysed, including gender, marital status, occupation, education and, especially, income. We also investigate the relationship between individuals' overseas giving and their attitudes towards poverty in developing countries.

Does Charity Begin at Home or Overseas?

“…An alternative to analysing data drawn from a charity's records, is to use survey data on individuals' reported charitable contributions. This is the approach followed by both Schnepf (2009), andWiepking (2010). Based on survey data for the UK, Micklewright and Schnepf (2009) Atkinson et al's (2012) focus is primarily on analysing trends over time in giving to overseas development, not drawing inferences about whether donors prefer to give to local or international causes.…”

“…Wiepking (2010) One reason for the low levels of giving to overseas causes compared to domestic causes found in studies such as Schnepf (2009), andAtkinson et al (2012) could be that in many countries there are far more charities with a domestic focus than there are charities with an international focus. This is consistent with Wiepking (2010) who reports that only 16 of the 64 Netherlands charities included in the GNPS data set have an international focus.…”

How donors choose charities: the role of personal taste and experiences in giving decisions

“…Research that has explored decision making by donors has tended to focus on a specific cause area, such as the factors that influence decisions to donate to overseas development (Micklewright and Schnepf, 2009) or different disaster appeals (Zagefka et al, 2012), or the role of specific benefits to prompt donor decisions (Sieg and Zhang, 2012).…”

Travel philanthropy and sustainable development: the case of the Plymouth–Banjul Challenge

“…Simply addressing the symptoms of poverty and underdevelopment, rather than proactively confronting their root causes, has turned traditional philanthropy into an unsustainable form of superficial charitable assistance, unable to deliver meaningful social change or to produce long-term results (Desai & Kharas, 2008;Frumkin, 2000Frumkin, , 2006. Indeed, commentators question the motives of many modern philanthropists and argue that charitable gift-giving and volunteering has become a palliative for the Western liberal conscience and a way for individual and corporate philanthropists to 'buy' redemption in the form of psychological reward; that the 'feel good factor' and enhanced self-image associated with giving outweighs altruism (Bailin 2003;Bekkers & Wiepking, 2011;Lyons & Wearing, 2008;Mahrouse, 2011;Micklewright & Schnepf, 2009;Micklewright & Wright, 2005;Seglow, 2004).…”