Relational altruism and giving in social groups

Kimberley Scharf; Sarah L Smith

doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.06.001

Relational altruism and giving in social groups

Kimberley Scharf, Sarah L Smith

School of Economics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

484 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Much fundraising is done by individuals within existing social groups. Exploiting a unique dataset, we demonstrate (i) a positive relationship between social group size and the number of donations; (ii) a negative relationship between group size and the size of individual donations; (iii) no clear relationship between group size and the total amount raised. Free riding with respect to the activity being funded cannot explain the relationship between group size and donation size, since the number of social group members is only a subset of total contributors. Instead, the findings are consistent with the notion that giving in social groups is motivated by “relational altruism”.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of Public Economics
Volume	141
Early online date	15 Jun 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.06.001
Publication status	Published - Sept 2016

Keywords

Online giving
Fundraising
Social groups
Donations
Charity
Altruism

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10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.06.001

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This is the author accepted manuscript (AAM). The final published version (version of record) is available online via Elsevier at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272716300718. Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.
Accepted author manuscript, 638 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Maximising the impact of online fundraising
Smith, S. L. (Principal Investigator)
1/07/13 → 1/03/14
Project: Research

Professor Sarah L Smith
- Sarah.Smithbristol.acuk
- School of Economics - Professor
- Centre for Market and Public Organisation
Person: Academic , Member

Cite this

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title = "Relational altruism and giving in social groups",

abstract = "Much fundraising is done by individuals within existing social groups. Exploiting a unique dataset, we demonstrate (i) a positive relationship between social group size and the number of donations; (ii) a negative relationship between group size and the size of individual donations; (iii) no clear relationship between group size and the total amount raised. Free riding with respect to the activity being funded cannot explain the relationship between group size and donation size, since the number of social group members is only a subset of total contributors. Instead, the findings are consistent with the notion that giving in social groups is motivated by “relational altruism”. ",

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AU - Smith, Sarah L

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AB - Much fundraising is done by individuals within existing social groups. Exploiting a unique dataset, we demonstrate (i) a positive relationship between social group size and the number of donations; (ii) a negative relationship between group size and the size of individual donations; (iii) no clear relationship between group size and the total amount raised. Free riding with respect to the activity being funded cannot explain the relationship between group size and donation size, since the number of social group members is only a subset of total contributors. Instead, the findings are consistent with the notion that giving in social groups is motivated by “relational altruism”.

KW - Online giving

KW - Fundraising

KW - Social groups

KW - Donations

KW - Charity

KW - Altruism

U2 - 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.06.001

DO - 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.06.001

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VL - 141

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EP - 10

JO - Journal of Public Economics

JF - Journal of Public Economics

ER -

Relational altruism and giving in social groups

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Maximising the impact of online fundraising

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Professor Sarah L Smith

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