Making a Habit of Giving
It is difficult to make lasting commitments to anything as evidenced by multiple studies which seem to resurface every year around the second or third week of January. A psychological study conducted in the UK in 2021 found that 64% of people abandon their new year’s resolutions within the first month. Another study conducted by Strava (a health and fitness tracking software) has deemed January 17th “Quitter’s Day” after tracking over 800 million activities on its network. However, the important point to emphasize is that resolutions do not work, habits on the other hand, do.
Similarly, while many people have the good intentions when it comes to giving philanthropically, it can be difficult for people to maintain those intentions when the time comes to part with money. For example, a study “asked participants to compare the amount they intended to donate in the past year to the amount they actually donated in the past year on a 7-point scale… 2 out of every 3 participants reported donating less than they wanted to and the average donation rate across all participants was significantly below the level of intention” (Meyvis Bennett and Oppenheimer, The Science of Giving). The study found that the “perceived pain” of parting with their money is one of the main impediments to donors reaching their charitable goals.
A solution to this dilemma is to create the habit of philanthropy, as opposed to intentions. It does take time to create new habits, but to start, we can give ourselves assistance by lightening the mental load it takes to make a choice. It may seem like a miniscule task to process a donation, but every decision a person makes every day adds up. The convenience of recurring donations is something that donors can still feel the emotional benefits from, while avoiding the active decision making which can be an impediment to giving. Additionally, a donor becomes distanced from the perceived pain that can often stop them from giving. With recurring donations and a habit of philanthropy the “mental accounting” a person does can ease the pain of parting with money because it is already planned and accounted for, instead of being an unexpected or additional expense.
Here are a few tips to start building great philanthropic habits:
Start with small amounts
Don’t feel pressured by anyone (organizations, solicitors, or peers) to give more than you can. The best organizations care more about building a relationship with their donors, than getting every last penny out of them.
Start with one or maybe two organizations to support regularly
It can be difficult to keep track of multiple recurring donations. Find one or two organizations to care about most to limit donor fatigue.
Engage in the donor/organization relationship
This can be a two-way street if you want it to be. Organizations want active and engaged donors, and donors will benefit from seeing the organization’s operations from a closer perspective.
Be direct about your giving intentions
It is an organization’s job to solicit their donors for more money, but it is also their job to build and maintain relationships with donors. If a donor tells an organization their giving intentions such as “I plan to give $20 a year for the next three years and then let’s talk about raising the amount.” It behooves the organization to respect those wishes.
Look for subscriptions to cut
Nearly everyone has something they are paying for that they don’t use anymore. Products like Mint by Intuit are now advertising their ability to find unused subscriptions. Instead of simply cutting that subscription, replace it with something meaningful like a recurring donation.
