Philanthropy is all in the mind
Howard Lake | 19 February 2007 | Blogs
US scientists say that they have pinpointed the part of the brain that determines how altruistic a person is. Staff at the The Duke University Medical Center say that our propensity to give without direct personal benefit is located in the posterior superior temporal sulcus. Now, how are we going to squeeze that mouthful into our recency, frequency, value analysis?
Of course, it’s not quite that straightforward. Dr Scott Huettel told the BBC: “Although understanding the function of this brain region may not necessarily identify what drives people like Mother Theresa, it may give clues to the origins of important social behaviours like altruism.”
Still, kudos to the first fundraiser that works out how to stimulate that area of the brain. Or is that what a good ask is all about anyway?
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.