What makes people give?

Posted by German, Google Grants Team

From time to time we'll be noting articles we think would be useful to our readers. We thought we'd start with a recent article entitled "What Makes People Give?", by David Leonhardt of The New York Times.

This article discusses how non-profits can benefit from behavioral economics research on philanthropic giving. Leonhardt highlights a few field experiments, conducted by economist John List, which uncover some of the factors that influence philanthropic giving:

• Do donors care about seed money?
• Are they affected by how much other donors give?
• Though donors seem to be influenced by gift-matching, does the size of the match matter?
  

We hope the findings help enhance your fundraising efforts, both with your Google Grants AdWords accounts and beyond.