The difference between men and women when it comes to giving to charity

NGOs should keep in mind gender differences in charitable contributions and volunteer activities. Photo: Collected

As the third or independent sector of our economy, the nonprofit sector - which includes NGOs, educational and religious institutions, social and recreational groups, health and human services, etc. - plays a leading role in providing various public services to our community. 

In order to build financial resources for their operations, nonprofits have to rely on various sources of funding, such as fees and charges, government grants, earned income, institutional and private giving, etc. However, in recent times, nonprofits have turned to private and individual giving due to the paucity of government funding. 

However, these private and individual donations or volunteer services are gender-sensitive. The majority of the research conducted around the world indicates that there is a gender difference in charitable contributions and volunteer activities. 

Men and women have distinctive and different motivational factors that drive them to give their time and money to charitable causes. Therefore, fundraisers must take these motivational factors in men and women into consideration and align them with their organisational goals and objectives for a robust collection.

But why do people give their hard-earned money and invaluable time to nonprofit organisations? To answer this question, Vesterlund (2006), in his article 'Why do people give?' argues that people give in order to get benefits that may be either public or private. He states that people are not always concerned about the output of the organisations they donate to; sometimes they give to get some private benefits such as recognition, welcome, free tickets to events, naming any establishment after them, access to a certain circle, reputation, prestige, social equality, avoiding criticism, alleviation of guilt, etc.; sometimes they find giving a way to pay back to the society that made them fortunate. 

Some researchers found these motivations to be present in men and women to varying degrees, creating gender differences in charitable contributions and volunteer work. Therefore, a good understanding of the gender differences in charitable giving and volunteering will help fundraisers approach men and women differently and persuasively.

Who is more charitable—man or woman—is still a debatable issue. Researchers found that women are more charitable than men in terms of altruistic and prosocial behaviour and more helpful than men in relation to friends, families, and strangers. 

Affiliation with the organisation is another concern for women when donating; they prefer to contribute to organisations with which they are involved. Women tend to choose education and human services charities, while men will pick sports or recreational groups for their charitable contributions. 

Women are found to be responsive to the call for donations to help others, whereas men are drawn to areas that will yield personal benefits. Women tend to employ their hearts more than their heads when giving. 

Women like to work voluntarily for organisations assisting needy people, children, and youth, whereas men like to involve themselves in risk-taking enterprises. Men tend to affiliate themselves with secular voluntary organisations, whereas women are likely to align themselves with religious ones. 

Women tend to give to an organisation with a single purpose. During an organisational crisis, they take more time to get to know the organisation well before deciding to donate.

Gender differences in charitable giving also vary from country to country. A study paper titled 'Gender differences in volunteering and charitable giving in Europe" by Wiepking and Einolf (2012) reveals that women in Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden and men in Greece, Ireland, Poland, and Slovenia are more likely to donate money to charities. In contrast, no substantial gender difference was found for the other 13 countries that experimented.

Women are helpful by nature and are easily moved by any emotional appeal. This particular attribute of women makes them more likely to contribute to charitable organisations that aim to help the needy and distressed. 

On the other hand, men want a return on their contribution, which is deemed an investment. They want recognition in the form of a name, fame, or various tangible benefits from their contribution. 

Compared to women, men enjoy much more social and human capital, which enables them to earn more and be well-placed in society. With the predominant quality of helpfulness, women were found to be involved in charitable work more than men in every respect. However, the social and human capital that men have in abundance pushes them to go beyond the extent of women's overall contribution.

The discussion above suggests that men and women differ from each other in their choice of charitable giving. That is to say, the psyche, motives, and behaviour patterns of women differ from those of men with regard to charitable contributions. You must understand and analyse their psychological differences to approach them about collecting donations. 

Your success in fundraising will depend on the appropriate strategy you take based on the differences in choices between men and women in charitable giving. Therefore, a deep insight into the gender differences in charity will help fundraisers pursue men and women differently when collecting donations or receiving volunteer services from them.

The writer is a Deputy Secretary at the Planning Commission, Dhaka

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.