Study shows self‐interest spurs men to give

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30057
• Published date: 01 April 2015
• Date: 01 April 2015

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Conferences & Events: 2015 Nonprot Capacity

Conference; BCCCC’s International Corporate

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Annual Meeting; Philanthropy Southwest Spring

Summit ......................................................................... 4

Fundraising: Mind the ‘little things’ when planning

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Leadership: Expert: Today’s nonprot leaders should

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FEATURE

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(See PLANNING on page 2)

Study shows self-interest

spurs men to give

New research from Stanford University sheds

light on what motivates—or fails to motivate—men

and women to give to charity. Perhaps the most

signicant nding, the researchers said, is that men

are more likely to give to a cause that aligns with

their self-interest, reecting what the study’s au-

thors said was a lack of empathy reported by men.

The study, which was led by associate sociology

professor Robb Willer and published in a recent

online issue of Social Science Research, looked at

data culled from an online survey of over 1,700

participants and explored the various reasons why

men and women supported a charitable cause.

The survey respondents were asked to donate

to a hypothetical charity focused on poverty re-

lief, and the group was divided up and exposed to

several appeals, running the gamut from efcacy

through conformity, injustice, and self-interest,

which focused on the impacts of poverty on

broader society.

The study found that, generally, men were less

willing to donate to, or volunteer with, a poverty

relief organization than women. However, the one

appeal focused on self-interest was effective at clos-

ing that gender gap in giving.

A link to the full study can be found at news

.stanford.edu. ■

Take time in the new year to revisit

organizational planning

“When they say they don’t have the time, what

they’re really saying is they don’t want to go through

all of the hassle to produce a plan that will never see

the light of day,” Smith said.

Based on what he sees in his consulting work,

Smith said it’s quite common for nonprots to either

have an outdated strategic plan that gathers dust on a

shelf or have no plan at all—even though the process

With the new year underway, it makes sense

for businesses and nonprots alike to re-evaluate

strategic plans to ensure progress is being made

on long-term organizational goals. Unfortunately,

experts say, previous planning efforts that yielded

little more than frustration often stand in the way

of this critical exercise, and nonprot effectiveness

suffers as a result.

According to nonprot consultant Hardy Smith,

the most commonly cited reason that nonprots give

for taking a pass on planning is a lack of time—but

that’s not quite accurate.

Vol. 307 April 2015