Geven m/v & 1941-1980

Ralph-Friso Belksma, student in de master Public Administration in Leiden, schrijft:

“Voor een onderzoek voor mijn studie ben ik op zoek naar enkele gegevens met betrekking tot geef gedrag. Ik kan hier alleen moeilijk gegevens over vinden. Vandaar mijn vraag: Geven vrouwen meer geld uit aan goede doelen dan mannen? Hoe oud zijn zij en hoeveel geld geven zij gemiddeld uit?

Ik had deze gegevens graag in 1 tabel willen zien. Het verbaasde mij dat deze gegevens zo moeilijk te vinden zijn.”

Toch mooi dat we deze gegevens allemaal in 1 tabel hebben staan in ons laatste Geven in Nederland-boek.

We zien:

• Vrouwen geven (iets) vaker, maar lagere bedragen.
• Ouderen geven vaker, en ook hogere bedragen.

De vergelijking van mannen en vrouwen in deze tabel is overigens niet erg informatief. Het gaat om het geslacht van de respondenten in ons onderzoek die antwoorden over het geefgedrag van het hele huishouden. Je zou eigenlijk alleenstaande mannen en vrouwen moeten vergelijken en rekening moeten houden met verschillen in mogelijk verstorende factoren zoals leeftijd, opleidingsniveau, aantal kinderen en inkomen om te weten of vrouwen en mannen van elkaar verschillen. Huishoudens maken vaak (impliciet) gezamenlijk beslissingen over giften. Het kan best iets uitmaken wie de macht heeft in die besluitvorming, zo suggereert Amerikaans onderzoek. In Nederland lijkt dat  minder uit te maken, zo vond ik samen met Pamala Wiepking in eerder onderzoek.

Wealth and Giving in the Netherlands

This post in pdf

How generous are the wealthy? Surely wealth enables citizens to give higher amounts to charitable causes, but does wealth also make people more generous? Do the wealthy give a higher proportion of their income?

Using data from the High Net Worth supplement to the 2012 wave Giving in the Netherlands Panel Survey we can answer this question. Nearly all of the 1,307 respondents (95%) reported donations to charitable causes in the calendar year 2011. Average giving amounted to €5,195.

Donations represent 1.88 of annual income and 0.3% of total wealth among respondents in the sample. The proportion of income donated by the wealthy respondents is twice the proportion donated by respondents in the sample representative of the Dutch population (0.94%).

Among the respondents in the HNW supplement, donations as a proportion of income decrease with income, from 2.2% of income in the first quintile to 1.6% in the top income quintile.

Donations as a proportion of wealth also decline with wealth: in the first wealth quintile, donations represent 0.7% of wealth, declining to 0.1% in the top wealth quintile. As a proportion of income, however, donations increase with wealth. In the first wealth quintile, donations represent 1.7% of income; in the top wealth quintile, donations represent 2.5% of income.

The source of wealth is consistently related to the level of generosity: both measured as a proportion of income and as a proportion of wealth, donations are highest among ‘New Wealth’ respondents, who earned their wealth primarily with their own business. In contrast, amounts donated were lowest among those who inherited wealth.

Methodology – Data presented here are based on a sample from a privately held database provided by Elite Research of 10,000 addresses in the Netherlands with wealth exceeding €60k. Fieldwork took place in May-June 2012 through an online survey and written questionnaires; response rate: 13%.

What works in crowdfunding? Field experiments will tell

Crowdfunding is a new model of financing public goods. In the Netherlands it has become highly visible by the cutbacks in public funding for the arts. Crowdfunding has grown exponentially in the past years, not just in projects for the arts, but also in financing commercial startups and recently also in funding for science. However, the success of projects advertised on crowdfunding platforms varies enormously. What are the characteristics of successful crowdfunding projects? How can crowdfunding be made more effective as a fundraising tool? How does crowdfunding change the way nonprofit organizations raise funds? These questions will be answered in new research funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, NWO. Together with Marcel Veenswijk, Irma Borst (postdoc) and Barend Vernooij (PhD candidate) from VU University Amsterdam and with crowdfunding experts Douw&Koren and crowdfunding platforms Flintwave.com, Seeds.nl, and Voordekunst.nl I will conduct large scale field experiments to test what works in crowdfunding.

Here is a press release (in Dutch) describing the project.

Dag van de Filantropie en Boekpresentatie Geven in Nederland 2013 op 25 april

Op de Dag van de Filantropie 2013 – het jaarlijks terugkerend evenement op de laatste donderdag van april – is dit jaar het boek ‘Geven in Nederland 2013’ gepresenteerd. Dit jaar kreeg een bijzonder tintje door het aanvaarden van een bijzondere leerstoel met het uitspreken van de rede ‘De maatschappelijke betekenis van filantropie’ door René Bekkers.

Kiezen om te Delen: Filantropie in Tijden van Economische Tegenwind

Nu het economisch niet voor de wind gaat zien we allerlei verschuivingen in de filantropie in Nederland. We zien een  terugval in het geefgedrag en verschuivingen in bestedingen van bedrijven en huishoudens. Zij moeten bewustere keuzes maken; onderscheid maken tussen wat écht belangrijk is en wat niet. De dynamiek binnen de bronnen van filantropische bijdragen en maatschappelijke doelen vormden het hoofdthema van het symposium. De presentatie van het onderzoek naar geefgedrag door huishoudens en vermogende Nederlanders vindt u hier. De resultaten van het onderzoek naar bedrijven, sociale normen rond filantropie en de trends in de cijfers van de bijdragen van huishoudens, bedrijven, en loterijen vindt u later op de Geven in Nederland website.

De Maatschappelijke Betekenis van Filantropie

De groeiende aandacht voor filantropie wordt meestal verklaard uit het feit dat de overheid moet bezuinigingen. Men vergeet echter dat de sector filantropie zich vanaf begin jaren ‘90 in rap tempo heeft ontwikkeld. Het “Geven in Nederland”onderzoek maakt deel uit van deze ontwikkeling. Van bezuinigingen was in die periode geen sprake, eerder het tegendeel. Particulier initiatief liet weer van zich horen. Met het sluiten van het Convenant “Ruimte voor Geven” in juni 2011 tussen het kabinet en de sector filantropie is een nieuwe situatie ontstaan, waarin filantropie de ruimte krijgt om meer maatschappelijke betekenis te krijgen.

Wat is de maatschappelijke betekenis van filantropie? Die vraag beantwoordt René Bekkers in zijn oratie. Bekkers is per 1 januari 2013 aan de Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen van de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam aangesteld als bijzonder hoogleraar Sociale aspecten van prosociaal gedrag. De leerstoel is mede mogelijk gemaakt door de Van der Gaag Stichting van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW) voor een periode van vijf jaar. Bekkers gaat in op de herkomst en bestemming van filantropie in de samenleving. Waarom zien we meer filantropie in sommige sociale groepen, landen en perioden dan in andere? In welke sociale omstandigheden doen mensen vrijwilligerswerk en geven ze geld aan goededoelenorganisaties? In welke mate en in welke omstandigheden zullen Nederlanders overheidsbezuinigingen op kunst en cultuur, internationale hulp en andere doelen compenseren?

De volledige tekst van de oratie vindt u hier.

Frequently Unanswered Questions (FUQ)

Dear journalists, before we embark on a journey along all too familiar landscapes, please read this.

Q (Question) 1. Mr. Bekkers, you study ‘giving to charities’. How do you know whether a donation to a charity is well spent?

• U (Unanswer) 1. Well, I don’t, actually. Indeed my research is about giving to charities. I do not study how charities spend the funds they raise. I can tell you that donors say they care about how charities spend their money. In fact this is often an excuse. People who complain about inefficiency of charities are typically those who would never donate money in a million years, regardless of whatever evidence showing that donations are efficient.

Q2. Mr. Bekkers, what is the reason why people give to charity?

• U2. There is not one reason, there’s 8 different types of reasons, also called ‘mechanisms’, buttons you can push to create more giving. You can read more about them here. You said you wanted fewer reasons? Well, I can give you a list of four reasons: egoism, altruism, collectivism, and principlism. Oh no, there’s only three types of reasons: emotions, cognitions, and things we are not aware of. Wait, there’s only two reasons: truly altruistic reasons and disguised egoism.

Q3. Speaking of altruism, isn’t all seemingly altruistic behavior in the end somewhat egoistic?

• U3. Yes, you’re probably right. I would say about 95% of all giving (just a ball park figure) is motivated by non-altruistic concerns, like being asked, knowing someone who suffered from a problem, knowing someone who benefited,  benefiting oneself, getting tax breaks and deductions, social pressure to comply with requests for donations, feeling good about giving, having an impact on others, feeling in power, paternalism, having found a cookie or something else that cheered you up, or letting the wife decide about charities to keep her busy and save the marriage.

Q4. Sorry, what I meant to ask is this: does true altruism exist at all?

• U4. No, probably not, but we don’t know. Nobody has ever come up with a convincing experiment that rules out all non-altruistic motives for giving. Many people have tried, but they have been unsuccessful. It is hard to eliminate all emotions, cognitions, awareness of the donor about the consequences of the donation.

Q5. I mean, isn’t all giving in the end also about helping ourselves, like when you’re feeling good about giving?

• U5. That could be right, we can’t rule out the ‘warm glow’ without blowing out the candle. But if you would only be interested in feeling good, then having a chocolate bar might be a lot cheaper.

Q6. Why do people volunteer?

• A1. See U2 above. In many respects, giving money is like giving time.

Q7. Are you a generous man yourself? What do you give to charity?

• U6. I am not at liberty to answer this question.

Q8. How much do we give in the Netherlands?

• A2. Read all about the numbers in our Giving in the Netherlands volume, published biennially. A summary in English is here. These estimates are about 2013. Meanwhile, we have published estimates about 2015 (in Dutch, here). Total giving in the Netherlands is worth about €5.7 billion, 0.85% of GDP.

Q9. Is it true that the Dutch are a very generous population?

• A3. Yes. We consistently rank among the top 10 in the World Giving Index. Over the past 5 years, the Netherlands is #7 worldwide on giving money to charity.
• A4. No. We give low amounts to charity. The annual average donation of about €215 per household is flattered by the 80/20 rule; the median household gives €75 per year. Giving by households in the Netherlands is only 0.8% of GDP. This means households spend about the same amount on charity as on sugar, candy & ice cream (€202 per household) and dumping thrash (€231 per household).
• U7. We don’t know. There are no comparable data on the amount donated to charity of countries around the world, let alone in Europe.

Q10. Is altruism part of human nature?

• U8. I will answer this question with the only decent scientific answer a scientist can ever give: “Well, it depends”. In this case, it all depends on what you call ‘altruism’ (and ‘human nature’ of course). If you view helping in the absence of rewards spontaneously and repeatedly toward humans and conspecifics as altruism, then chimpanzees are altruistic; if you view cooperation in order to maintain mating access to single females against other males as altruism, bottlenose dolphins are altruistic; and if you view promoting chances of survival of your genes as altruism even maize plants can be  altruistic.

Hattips to Roel van Geene and Melissa Brown

Updates: July 16, 2014; June 14, 2019

Five Years of Research Ahead

As of January 1, 2013, I am appointed as an extraordinary professor Social aspects of prosocial behavior at Faculty of Social Sciences at VU University Amsterdam. The chair is supported by a grant from the Van der Gaag Foundation of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) for a period of five years. In my research I will focus on the explanation of philanthropic behavior. Why do people volunteer and why do they donate money to charitable causes? Who gives the highest amounts and is most likely to volunteer? In which circumstances do people become more generous? How does giving behavior change over time?

The economic crisis as well as cutbacks in government subsidies have recently made these questions more relevant. But the significance of philanthropy increases not only in policy and the media. Also in academia the study of philanthropy is becoming more popular. The number of studies on philanthropy has increased strongly. The new chair strengthens the international position of VU University. Since 1995 VU University conducts the biennial Giving in the Netherlands Survey, which yields macro-economic estimates of giving and volunteering in the Netherlands. I have contributed to this research since 2000, focusing on methodological quality and explanations of philanthropic behavior. In the past decades an increasing number of studies has been published on philanthropy in a variety of scientific disciplines that are often out of touch with each other. In my research, I try to connect explanations for prosocial behavior from psychology, sociology, and economics, using a variety of methods including surveys and experiments.

After I completed my PhD dissertation at Utrecht University and a five year follow-up research taking an in depth look at the relationship between education and prosocial behavior, financed by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), I moved to VU University Amsterdam in 2010. As an extraordinary professor I will conduct research on social determinants of prosocial behavior, particularly of philanthropy. To what extent is giving behavior contagious, and transmitted through social influence? How will cutbacks in government funding affect giving behavior? Will citizens compensate declining subsidies with increasing donations to charitable causes and more volunteering? How does increasing ethnic diversity affect philanthropy? In answering these questions, the methodological quality of the new research will be of key importance. In my inaugural lecture at VU University Amsterdam on April 25, 2013, I will present this research agenda.

Klik hier voor een Nederlandse versie van deze tekst.

Vertrouwen in filantropie en de noodzaak van opleidingen

Op dinsdag 27 juni 2012 week nam staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie Mr. Fred Teeven het rapport Vertrouwen in filantropie en de noodzaak van opleidingen in ontvangst.

Bij de aanbieding van het rapport sprak staatssecretaris Mr. Fred Teeven over het belang van professionalisering in de filantropische sector. Terwijl het principe blijft ‘Zelfregulering waar het kan, overheidsregulering waar het moet’ zal in de toekomst de lat hoger worden gelegd voor registratie van fondsen als Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling. Er zal beter gelet worden op de professionaliteit, de ervaring en kwalificaties van bestuursleden. Teeven benadrukte daarbij het belang van opleidingen, op HBO, WO en postacademisch niveau, zoals die bestaan op de Hogeschool Windesheim en de VU.

• Meer informatie over de algemene postacademische opleiding Philanthropic Studies vindt u hier.
• Meer informatie over de postacademische opleiding Besturen van Filantropische Fondsen vindt u hier.

Religion and Compassion in the Netherlands

Recently, a study on religion and compassion published in Social Psychological and Personality Science attracted attention in the media. ‘Strongly religious people less compassionate’, a Dutch news website reported. This headline is misleading because the study did not show that religious people are less compassionate. In fact the research even showed evidence for the opposite, i.e. that more religious individuals report more compassion than less religious individuals. Analysis of survey data from the Netherlands show that these results also hold true in the Netherlands.

Read more about the data from the Netherlands here.

Who gives? Lining up the evidence

There are strong differences in the level and nature of philanthropy between individuals. Which characteristics of people are typical of generous donors? In a review of the empirical literature on philanthropy, Pamala Wiepking and I have answered this question. The review appears in two journal articles. The first paper is available online:

• Bekkers, R. & Wiepking, P. ‘Who Gives? A Literature Review of Predictors of Charitable Giving. I – Religion, Education, Age, and Socialization’. Voluntary Sector Review, 2(3): 337-365

The second paper has just been accepted, and will appear in the July 2012 issue of  Voluntary Sector Review. More information about the literature review is available on http://understandingphilanthropy.wordpress.com/.

You are welcome to use our data

Update: June 26, 2020

“Can I please use your data on giving and volunteering?” Yes you can! In fact, you are very welcome to use the data we have collected at the Center for Philanthropic Studies. The data from the Giving in the Netherlands Panel Study (GINPS) on households are currently being used by students in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht in statistics tutorials, by students in Amsterdam for Master Thesis projects, and by PhD candidates and established researchers around the world for academic research. The panel design allows for dynamic analyses of giving and volunteering, answering questions like:

• How does volunteering affect the size and composition of social networks?
• Are giving and volunteering substitutes or complements?
• How does household giving change as people age?

To get access to the data, here’s what you will need to do.

1. Go to the Open Science Framework page for the Giving in the Netherlands Panel Survey. You will find a Public Use File there and user manual describing the variables available. Page 17: The Public Use File covers the panel data from 2002 to 2019, including variables on household giving, volunteering, age, gender, marital status, level of education, province, household income, income from wealth, home ownership, religious affiliation and attendance. The file does not include the immigrant samples, the HNW samples, the oversample of Protestants and the oversample of respondents from an earlier survey for OC&W, nor does it include data from the extra wave conducted in 2015. Weighting variables are provided for each year.
2. Check whether the variables you need are included in the Public Use File. If not, send a request to the data manager at cfs [at] vu.nl, describing the goal of your research and the variables required.
3. Copy me at r.bekkers [at] vu.nl and I will get back to you.

Note that if you just need aggregate statistics on giving and volunteering you will not need access to the micro-level data. You can probably find the data you need in our biennial ‘Giving in the Netherlands’ book. A summary in English of the 2015 edition is here. The English summary of the most recent 2020 edition is here.

User manual: all waves, 2002-2019 (in English)

Original questionnaires:

• 2019 wave (in Dutch)
• 2015 wave of the GINPS (in Dutch)
• 2014 wave (in Dutch)
• 2012 wave (in Dutch)
• 2010 wave (in Dutch); description of the GIN2010 HNW oversample (in English).
• 2008 wave (in English)
• 2006 wave (in Dutch)
• 2004 wave (in Dutch)
• 2002 wave (in Dutch)

The data on corporate social responsibility and corporate philanthropy are less well documented, but also available to researchers.

A presentation of the GINPS is here: https://renebekkers.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ginps_rade.pptx. A video is available here: https://video.vu.nl/media/Giving%20in%20the%20Netherlands%20Panel%20Study/1_dx2v5o98.