Don’t leave ‘philanthropic journeys to chance’

Providing a formal structure to people’s ‘philanthropic journeys’ increases their willingness to making a four-figure donation by more than 50 per cent.
Research conducted with 227 ‘senior business people’ by Dr Beth Breeze at the Kent University’s Centre for Philanthropy found that 27 per cent had made donations of more than £1,000 before starting “structured volunteering placements” through Pilotlight. This is already more than four times the national average of six per cent who have made such large donations.
However following their volunteering stints – which lasted from six months to more than three years – the percentage of people who said they would have made a four-figure donation within the next 10 years had risen to 41 per cent.
Pilotlight volunteers also said they were more likely to fundraise for charities after they completed their placements (23 per cent had done so before starting their placement, but 35 per cent said they would be doing so 10 years from now). They were also enthusiastic about continuing to volunteer as trustees and in other roles.
However providing more structured support for volunteers decreases their likelihood for regular monthly giving – 62 per did this before starting their placements but only 58 per cent thought they would be doing this in 2023.
Structured placements also changed volunteers’ attitudes towards charities and fundraising, with 59 per cent saying they now took “greater care” in choosing which charities to support and 38 per cent stating that seeing how charities operate first-hand had made them “more inclined” to donate. More than a third said they donate more to charity than before they joined Pilotlight.
“If realised, these behavioral changes over the coming decade should bring significant benefits to the charity sector,” the report – Philanthropic Journeys: new insights into the triggers
and barriers for long-term giving and volunteering – says.
[quote align=”right” color=”#999999″]The role of philanthropy in modern society has become too important to be left to chance[/quote]
To bring this about, Dr Breeze’s report argues that ‘philanthropic journeys’ – an individual’s lifetime contribution of “time, talent and treasure” – need to be formally planned and structured with “skills-based and time-limited involvement” to overcome the barriers to volunteering identified the report (see box). Yet the current situation is that people often embark on their philanthropic journey by chance, “without any help to identify the best way to get involved or the most appropriate organisation to get involved with”.

“The role of philanthropy in modern society has become too important to be left to chance,” Dr Breeze argues in the report.
“It is therefore time for government, charities, employers and individuals to take a more pro-active, enabling approach so that more people can start and complete the philanthropic journeys that will bring benefits to themselves and our wider society.
“There is a clear role for policymakers and practitioners in kickstarting and continuing these philanthropic journeys.”
 

Barriers to volunteers

1 Nothing to offer people whose professional success fails to provide reassurance that they have anything useful to offer a charity.
2 Nothing to gain people who struggles to see how helping good causes can help their career.
3 Analysis Paralysis people whose concern to find the ‘right’ cause to help in the ‘right’ way has stopped them making any substantive giving decisions.
4 Burnt Fingers people whose previous experience of donating and volunteering has failed to meet their expectations of making a substantive difference.
5 Too busy at work people whose long hours at work leave them unable to get more involved with good causes.
6 Too busy at home people whose commitments at home hold them back from making a bigger voluntary contribution.