What motivates giving?
I have decided to revisit the subject of giving but this time in form of a question “What motivates giving?” There were two events last year that nudged me into asking the big question.
Towards the end of the year, we had the ‘Friend of the Year Gift Exchange’ in our Rotary Club, as has been the routine every Christmas season for the previous 8 or 9 years. The exercise did not pass without excitement as usual. Some of us who received gifts expressed our sentiments about the gifts while those who did not receive anything expressed their disappointment on missing out. I was privy to some of the sentiments expressed and that’s why I stopped to contemplate over the question - Why does one give?
My position on this is very well known but I will admit that I am probably swimming against the tide. Studies have been conducted that suggest that it is actually true that giving is motivated by recognition. The Philanthropy News Digest of 9 May 2000, quoted a research published by the Salt Lake Tribune of the same Month which suggested that Philanthropy is indeed motivated by social recognition. That notwithstanding though there is hope that the trend is changing. In her book ‘Over Goal (2006), Kay Sprinkel Grace argues that although recognition, peer pressure, guilt and the quest for immortality are still the biggest motivations for giving, there is a changing trend (most probably in the Author’s native country- the US) among thirty some-things and forty some-things who want to give because they feel connected to the recipient or the suffering he/she is going through. She further argues that scions of wealthy families are now giving to programs with a higher social impact than those that come with high social recognition. I can only hope that is the way to go for everybody. I pray that we can all start giving not because we will be recognized but because we feel passionate about the needs of the communities we live in.
I think the point of giving, be it a gift (to a friend or relative) or essential (to those in need) should be because one cares or is concerned not because he/she wants to be recognized. I believe in the spirit of sharing and I believe in one big happy family. I am what I am because of other people and they are what they are because of me being around. I believe that Rotary gives us an opportunity to affirm those beliefs, though sometimes I feel uncomfortable about the hype that goes with it. The value of the gift from me to someone comes from the psychological satisfaction that I care about him or her not from the amount of appreciation I will get. I buy chocolate and flowers for my wife not because that is the value I attach to our relationship or that she cannot afford it (she has enough money to buy herself chocolate throughout the year) but it is a sign of affection and on a more subtle level to show that I care. When I give money for a Rotary program, it is not because I wish to be recognized (and therefore that does not motivate me) but because I think it will make some one’s life better. Of course I am not so deluded and unreasonable to assume that people don’t seek recognition from other human beings. I am aware of that fact and I take some considerable care to ensure that the gifts I buy for others are appropriate and that they can portray the message to the receiver that I care about them. I do this within my budgetary constraints, which I expect the receiver to take into consideration.
I will sign off by quoting these words from an anonymous source:
“A good deed is significant unto itself. Whether done for the right reason or wrong reason, the main thing is that it is actually done.”
Whatever your reason for giving, please keep giving.
Towards the end of the year, we had the ‘Friend of the Year Gift Exchange’ in our Rotary Club, as has been the routine every Christmas season for the previous 8 or 9 years. The exercise did not pass without excitement as usual. Some of us who received gifts expressed our sentiments about the gifts while those who did not receive anything expressed their disappointment on missing out. I was privy to some of the sentiments expressed and that’s why I stopped to contemplate over the question - Why does one give?
My position on this is very well known but I will admit that I am probably swimming against the tide. Studies have been conducted that suggest that it is actually true that giving is motivated by recognition. The Philanthropy News Digest of 9 May 2000, quoted a research published by the Salt Lake Tribune of the same Month which suggested that Philanthropy is indeed motivated by social recognition. That notwithstanding though there is hope that the trend is changing. In her book ‘Over Goal (2006), Kay Sprinkel Grace argues that although recognition, peer pressure, guilt and the quest for immortality are still the biggest motivations for giving, there is a changing trend (most probably in the Author’s native country- the US) among thirty some-things and forty some-things who want to give because they feel connected to the recipient or the suffering he/she is going through. She further argues that scions of wealthy families are now giving to programs with a higher social impact than those that come with high social recognition. I can only hope that is the way to go for everybody. I pray that we can all start giving not because we will be recognized but because we feel passionate about the needs of the communities we live in.
I think the point of giving, be it a gift (to a friend or relative) or essential (to those in need) should be because one cares or is concerned not because he/she wants to be recognized. I believe in the spirit of sharing and I believe in one big happy family. I am what I am because of other people and they are what they are because of me being around. I believe that Rotary gives us an opportunity to affirm those beliefs, though sometimes I feel uncomfortable about the hype that goes with it. The value of the gift from me to someone comes from the psychological satisfaction that I care about him or her not from the amount of appreciation I will get. I buy chocolate and flowers for my wife not because that is the value I attach to our relationship or that she cannot afford it (she has enough money to buy herself chocolate throughout the year) but it is a sign of affection and on a more subtle level to show that I care. When I give money for a Rotary program, it is not because I wish to be recognized (and therefore that does not motivate me) but because I think it will make some one’s life better. Of course I am not so deluded and unreasonable to assume that people don’t seek recognition from other human beings. I am aware of that fact and I take some considerable care to ensure that the gifts I buy for others are appropriate and that they can portray the message to the receiver that I care about them. I do this within my budgetary constraints, which I expect the receiver to take into consideration.
I will sign off by quoting these words from an anonymous source:
“A good deed is significant unto itself. Whether done for the right reason or wrong reason, the main thing is that it is actually done.”
Whatever your reason for giving, please keep giving.
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