Browsing by Subject "Charity"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Charitable Giving During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    (Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress, 2020-06-08) Osili, Una; IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
    My written testimony will focus on addressing three crucial questions: 1) What are the current trends in charitable giving during the COVID-19 pandemic 2) How should these trends be interpreted in light of overall charitable giving patterns? 3) What are the policies that can strengthen charitable giving by American households now and in the future?
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    The Effects of Social Information, Social Norms and Social Identity on Giving
    (2008-06-09T19:41:30Z) Shang, Yue; Sargeant, Adrian; Burlingame, Dwight F.; Gunderman, Richard; Lenkowsky, Leslie
    This philanthropic studies thesis aims to “increase the understanding of philanthropy, improve its practice, and enhance philanthropic participation” (Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University Overview) by studying the effects of social information, social norms and social identity on giving. It connects philanthropic studies research with theoretical developments in motivations for giving in economics, nonprofit management, nonprofit marketing, consumer behavior, and social psychology. It utilizes personal observations as well as quantitative methods including experiments and surveys on multiple samples including donors, undergraduate students and samples of the U.S. population. It generates actionable and efficacious knowledge to improve the practice of philanthropy. It contributes to the formation and growth of the young field called philanthropic studies - in theory, in methodology and in practice. This thesis includes five chapters. Chapter I will explain how the research question, philosophy and methodology are selected. This discussion will be for the entire thesis. Specific research questions, hypotheses, research designs, findings and implications will be explained in the subsequent chapters. Chapter II demonstrates the immediate and long-term effects of social information on donations and its boundary conditions in existing nonprofit donors in two field experiments. Chapter III shows that the psychological mechanism through which social information influences subsequent giving is perceived descriptive social norms in one field survey of donors and one laboratory experiment on undergraduate students. Chapter IV investigates how social identity congruency moderates the effect of social information on donations. It reports three field experiments on donors and samples of the general U.S. population and two laboratory experiments on undergraduate students. It shows that donors give more money to a public radio station if told that a previous donor with a similar identity also made a large contribution. This effect is more likely to occur when donors have high collective identity esteem and when attention is focused on others. Each chapter provides original fundraising techniques developed from these studies. Chapter V concludes with a discussion of the theoretical, methodological and practical contributions of this thesis and suggests directions for future research in philanthropic studies, and philanthropic psychology in particular.
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    Empty pews take a financial toll on many US congregations
    (The Conversation US, 2020-04-29) King, David; Fulton, Brad R.; Munn, Chris; Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
    Most Christian churches were relying heavily on 'collection plates' to pay their bills before the pandemic struck. And less than half were doing any online fundraising as of 2018.
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    Gifts of fire: an historical analysis of the Promethean myth for the the light it casts on the philosophical philanthropy of Protagoras, Socrates and Plato; and prolegomena to consideration of the same in Bacon and Nietzsche
    (2012-03-19) Sulek, Marty James John; Lampert, Laurence, 1941-; Burlingame, Dwight; Lyons, Timothy D.; Peterson, Ursula N.
    The history of Western civilisation is generally demarcated into three broad epochs: ancient, Christian and modern. These eras are usually defined in political terms, but they may also be differentiated in terms of fundamental differences in the nature of the organisations that constitute civil society in each age, how they defined the public good, and even what they consider philanthropic. In the nineteenth century, for instance, 'Scientific philanthropy' displaced 'Christian charity' as the dominant model for charitable giving; a development accompanied by a number of other secularising trends in Western civil society, generally understood as a broad cultural shift in conceptions of public good, from religious to scientific. From the fourth to the sixth century CE, by comparison, another broad cultural shift, from paganism to Christianity, also led to fundamental changes in the nature and composition of ancient civil society. A central premise of this dissertation is that fundamental historical transformations in Western civilisation – from pagan to Christian, to modern, to post-modern – may be traced to the influence of some of the most important philosophers in the Western philosophical tradition, among them: Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Francis Bacon and Friedrich Nietzsche. Each of these philosophers may be seen to have promulgated their teachings in a consciously Promethean manner; as gifts of fire, understood as philosophical teachings intended to be promulgated for the wider benefit of humankind. In Greek myth, Prometheus, whose name is traditionally thought to have literally meant 'forethought', is the one who steals fire from the gods and gives it to humans. Prometheus is also the first figure in history to be described as "philanthropic" (Prometheus Bound, 11 & 28). Plato, Bacon and Nietzsche all employ significant variants of the Promethean mũthos in their philosophical works, and may be seen to personally identify with the figure of Prometheus, as an allegorical figure depicting the situation of the wise, particularly in relation to political power. This dissertation thus closely analyses the Promethean mũthos in order to cast light on the philosophical philanthrôpía and Promethean ambitions of Protagoras, Socrates and Plato, and to provide the basis for consideration of the same in Bacon and Nietzsche.
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    Giving in Puerto Rico
    (2016-09-14) Osili, Una; Ackerman, Jacqueline; Bergdoll, Jonathan; Garcia, Silvia; Li, Yannan; Kane, Addison; Roll, Abe
    Giving in Puerto Rico is the first study of its kind to examine the charitable giving patterns, priorities, and attitudes of Puerto Rican households. This report presents details on the Puerto Rican households that give to charity, why they give, what causes they are supporting, and how much they are giving. In addition, this report includes information about Puerto Ricans’ knowledge of the nonprofit sector, informal and formal giving behaviors, volunteering trends, and barriers to giving. Results regarding the impact of tax policy on Puerto Ricans’ charitable giving are also provided.
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    Philanthropy in a Different Perspective: Voices from Ethiopia, Nigeria and Serbia
    (IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 2022-05-25) Wiepking, Pamala; Handy, Femida
    In this edited volume scholars describe philanthropy and civil society in their country of expertise: 1) Kidist Yasin - The Organization of Civil Society and Culture of Helping in Ethiopia: Amid; 2) Challenging but Improving Legal and Fiscal Infrastructure; 3) Anastesia Okaomee- Giving in Nigeria: Strong Cultural and Religious Traditions of Generosity and Donor-dependent Civil Society Sector; 4) Bojana Radovanović - Civil Society Sector and Philanthropy in Serbia: Informality, Institutionalization and Changing Environment.
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    “Traditional” charity versus “modern” development : philanthropy and communal boundaries in the Coptic Orthodox Church
    (2016-03) Barsoum, Kirollos A.; Craig, David; Wittberg, Patricia A.; Burlingame, Dwight F.
    Traditional Coptic charity, as I call it, is not just a flawed attempt at humanitarianism, as many believe. It is not just “giving a man a fish” as proponents of “human development” argue. Traditional Coptic charity, as I hope to explain, is an integral part of a larger social system that works together to maintain (and grow slowly) a religious community whose very salvation rests in the practice and transmission of its complex Liturgical body. By merit of its theological peculiarity, and the soteriological significance it gives the practice of sacraments and other religious activities, the Coptic Church effectively hems in the community in perpetuity. This contrasts with the other side of the philanthropic coin—development. Development, which is championed by certain organizations stands as a bulwark of “modernity” in the face of charity’s traditionalism, does not fit into the soteriological orientation of the Church’s Liturgical life. In essence, development’s ultimate goal is to “develop” individuals to the point of “financial independence”—a goal that does not fit into the Church’s communal ethos or exclusively contribute to salvific ends. In recognizing these facts, I began to reevaluate my initial stance on human development as the best way of engaging non-Copts. Overall, this thesis is can be read as a continuation of an ongoing debate between modernity and tradition—and the philanthropic tools they deploy—development and charity.