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Around the Web

December 8, 2017  

Around the Web - Interesting articles about philanthropy, innovation, and the future... for the week ending December 8

According to a recent study, 60% of Americans Engaged in Philanthropy in Past Year. More statistics over the past year include: 47% of Americans donated to a nonprofit, 37% to a church or religious organization and 33% to a person or family in need. The typical donation was $100. Read more here.

The science of behavioral economics is challenging traditional development/fundraising strategies. A recent study showed a number of interesting, data-driven insights. Such as how naming the matching donor (versus keeping them anonymous) in a matching challenge increased the likelihood of donor participation. Also, showing progress, like as displaying a donor thermometer highlighting current donor population engagement, helps nudge people to participate. Read more here.

Are hedge fund managers using philanthropy as a lucky charm? According to this study of over 600 hedge fund managers, donations to charity seem to be a way to offset a bad year financially. Why? The researchers suppose that charitable giving is also tied to relationship building with new clients. If fund performance is down, then you'll need to increase investments coming into the fund and what better way than to donate to a new client's favorite charity to curry his/her favor and gain their investment trust?

Millennials, millennials, millennials. They're the future of philanthropy. A new study digs into the digital native generation and uncovers some interesting facts about them. Such as: 51% percent of millennials have given through a charity's website and 69% of plan to do so in the future. 72% of U.S. millennial donors are more likely to give when their gift will be matched or multiplied. Check out the study for more stats. Clearly, if millennials are in charge of our future, we're in good shape.

Finally, our friend Pascal Finette aka The Heretic, reminded us this morning of a study from Gallup released early last year about the employee engagement epidemic. According to Gallup, only 32% of employees in the U.S. are engaged -- meaning they are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace. Gallup has a few solid recommendations and insights that unpack that tragically low number. Read more here.

That's all for this week, folks! Have a great weekend.