The economics of consumers' gifts and legacies to charitable organisations

✍ Scribed by Sophia R. Wunderink

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 458 KB
• Volume: 5
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1465-4520
• DOI: 10.1002/nvsm.119

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Charity organisations in The Netherlands receive over 50 per cent of their total income from private fundraising; only a small part of this, 20 per cent, originates from legacies. The paper introduces some economic models of consumer behaviour in the neo‐classical tradition that harmonise with altruistic behaviour. Some models for analysing donations and bequests to charitable organisations are introduced and the hypotheses that follow from these theories are compared with Dutch data from 500 respondents. Most respondents had donated something to a charity during the last six months, but only a few had even thought about naming a charity in their will. Restrictions are felt by individuals due to their limited resources. More important, however, seem to be the restrictions on behaviour due to having children, or other close relatives; individuals feel obliged to leave everything to their children or other close relatives. Although the respondents have a reasonably positive opinion about the work and trustworthiness of the charity organisations, charities are not yet considered as ‘a close friend’. Around 40 per cent of respondents are not particularly happy with the information they receive from charity organisations. Communication about legacy donating is considered acceptable by most respondents, as long as the approach is not too personal. Copyright © 2000 Henry Stewart Publications.