Hello fellow classmates,
This blog will serve as a platform to discuss the effects of charitable giving. I will specifically focus on the donor, not the recipient and reflect on my understanding of how giving influences us.
We’ve all been there. You are checking out at the grocery store and the cashier asks if you are willing to donate a small percentage of your total to a charitable organization. Suddenly, thoughts are running through your head. You ask yourself questions like: “will the people standing behind me in line judge me if I reject the donation?”, or “did I not just donate a couple of days ago the last time I was here”? This entire thought process is concluded in seconds, as the cashier is awaiting a response to their question. You decide to donate, on the premise of not wanting to be judged by surrounding bystanders. In the following, I will elaborate why I believe that these methods of donation are minimally significant in regards to increasing personal utility.
Giving to a charitable cause is undoubtedly a noble thing to do. Beneficiaries of our donations are often able to turn their lives around, suddenly able to provide for their families and live a healthy life. Giving is not only important, because it provides necessary support for people in need, but also because altruism is good for the benefactor. This idea is supported in “The Neuroscience of Giving.” The argument is made that “giving to others makes us happy, and leaves us healthier able to live a longer life” ( p. 236). This is something I only partially agree with. The way I see it, giving only makes us better humans, when we are emotionally attached to a cause. We become better beings, when we engage with the issue, possibly build follow up relations, and wholeheartedly believe that we contributed in a meaningful way.
Let’s go back to the case example of donating at the register. Yes, you contributed to a good cause, which is an honorable thing to do, but it does not make you a better human being in a bigger sense. Realistically, how many people actually follow up on the donation they made? How many people engage in further research after making the donation? To be honest, a select few. I am not criticizing these forms of donations in a way that I believe that they shouldn’t exist. In fact, I believe that they are important to increase overall frequency of donations. I am merely saying that doing something for the wrong reason does not make us better human beings, leading to an increase of our own utility. One of the most famous philosophers of our time, Immanuel Kant, was a firm believer in the idea that our intentions matter, not the results. In the case of donating to a charitable cause results obviously matter, but from a moral standpoint, I do not see how it makes us a better person, when we donate on the premise of social pressure. It constitutes that we donate because we have fear of being judged, not because we intrinsically believe that we are supporting a good cause.
https://www.dipjar.com/blog/checkout-charity
The above link leads to the website of a company called DipJar. The company’s goal is to optimize the process of giving. This includes checkout charity. The proposals made to optimize checkout charity include a variety of approaches that get people involved with the organizations they donate to while checking out.
To conclude this blog post, I want to reiterate my belief that we become better beings when our donations are meaningful and are made with the right intentions. DipJar provides some solutions to how we can continue checkout charity, while at the same time upholding values that make our donations matter, effectively not only benefiting the recipient, but also ourselves.
Do you believe that every donation makes us a better and happier human being? Or do you agree with the points made in the blog? Let me know what you guys think.
Dear Michael,
ReplyDeleteI can see your perspective and I like the way you constructed your argument. However, I will have to disagree that by giving a donation while being under social pressure does not work positively for your personal growth.
If I decide to donate within the seconds after I am asked to donate, I do not entirely think about the logistics behind the deed. As you mentioned, people who are put in those situations donate mostly without having strong feelings towards the cause. However, as a person who has been in the same situation, I personally think that the key difference is when you leave the store, do you reflect on what you just did? Every time i have donated in the store, I felt positive on my way home. Did I have time to think about what I was actually donating to at that moment? Not really, however its the deed itself that makes you a better person. You mentioned Kant, so I will quote him as well "Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination". Have I ever followed up on the charity that I donated while buying my groceries? No, I haven't. But, the fact that I am true to myself and I hold the belief that I contributed towards a good cause brings me the happiness, not the reasoning behind the donation.
Hi Michael,
ReplyDeleteI would also have to agree with you that donating as a result of social pressure does not always make people happier. Coming from personal experience, whenever I am asked to donate to a charity that I have never heard of, the reason I donate comes more from a place of guilt rather than happiness. However, when it is a charity I know makes a difference with their donations I am able to feel good about my decision. This is because I believe the real benefit for a donor is understanding the impact their donation will have on the group it is intended to help. You mentioned how many people do not follow up with research after they have donated, but I believe it is more important to fully understand the charity before you donate. Unfortunately, this is normally not the case in the cash register situation and others like it. My biggest issue with donating at registers is-how do I know my donation is being put to good use? Sadly, there are many charities that mismanage the donations they receive. This article-
https://www.moneytalksnews.com/2-reasons-rethink-charitable-giving-the-cash-register/
mentions that 12 out of 3,000 nonprofits examined by Charity Navigator paid their CEO at least 1$ million. Although this may be a small percentage, it goes to show that there are organizations that do not use their donations efficiently. As a result, before I donate even a dollar of my money, I want to ensure it is helping people who actually need it and is not funding seven figure salaries. Therefore, I believe giving does not always make you a happier person if you do not know where the money is going and how/if it is helping others. Personally, I feel happiest with charitable givings when I am well informed and know my donation is being used in the best possible manner. Therefore, I think some of the questions you need to ask yourself before you donate at a register is- do you know the charity and agree with how it manages its donations? If your answer is no then you must decide if you are okay with not being sure how your money is being used by an organization.
Hi Micheal!
ReplyDeleteI think you made a very compelling argument about giving and it not necessarily making you a better person. I believe everyone has a reason or a motivating factor behind why they give. Does it make you a better person is definitely subjective. My personal belief is that giving in whatever form should come from a place of genuine desire to give but the truth is that it is not always the case. Some people give simply because they think they "look" like a good person because they give and not necessarily because they wanted to give. This can be seen in the case of giving at the register and some people succumbing to the pressure to give rather than the desire to give. I think either way, giving is always appreciated and beneficial to the recipients whether or not the person that donated actually wanted to donate. On the other,I agree with Immanuel Kant that our intentions do matter, especially when it comes to long term giving. I say this because having good intentions when giving allows us to make more educated donations as opposed to simply giving because of social pressure and it certainly won't make us happier. I believe doing something because it's coming from with in is what truly makes a person happy and not doing it because you feel compelled to do so. So to answer the question, I don't think every donation makes us a better human being. I think being a good human being is something hard to define and is intrinsic rather than an action that can be seen with the naked eye. Whether or not it makes us happy may vary based on the person. Some people may feel happy because they donated to a good cause while others may not because they might not see the need for for giving or the impact their donation may make but rather gave simply because they felt like they had to.
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Michael's argument that donating to an organization that one feels passionate about may feel more satisfying than donating to an organization one is unfamiliar with and donated to under pressurized conditions. In terms of such conditions, there definitely exists a social pressure in society which affects almost everyone, including philanthropists . We are always comparing ourselves to others and trying to portray ourselves in the best light possible. However, I believe that when it comes to genuine philanthropy the only people involved in the giving equation should be the donor(s) and the receiver(s)--not the overarching societal pressure of trying to seem like a "good person" or the opinions of others.
I am most certainly not proposing that these strategies of obtaining donations through societal pressure should be banned, or that they are ineffective in raising money or helping those in need. I do believe, however, that there most certainly is a difference in giving a dollar to a charity one is unfamiliar with out of fear of judgment and donating to a charity which one has researched and feels passionately about. Although I do think it is important to be informed of where your money is going and what difference your donation will make in the world, to simply donate to the same charities advocating for the same issue areas you are interested in simply because you feel more attached, connected, or like a better person is a selfish take on an ideal founded principally on selflessness.
I'm not necessarily saying donating to causes you are interested in is a bad thing. I believe any donation (to a good organization/cause) is a good donation regardless of intentions. When did we start making philanthropy about the philanthropist? True philanthropists shouldn't care whether they are viewed as good people or not, and that most certainly should not be used as motivation to donate. After all, as Natassia argued, donating to a charity doesn't make someone a "good person"--it just makes them a philanthropist.
Below I have attached an article from The Telegraph on how our perspective of philanthropy (especially for the middle and upper classes) has become distorted.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10961392/Giving-money-to-charity-doesnt-mean-you-give-a-damn.html
Hi Michael,
ReplyDeleteYou certainly provide a viable argument, as it is very common these days for the average consumer to be asked upon reaching the checkout counter of their average grocery store if they would like to pay a few extra dollars for a good cause. I certainly agree with you that social pressure does not make one a better person; if anything, it results in he/she leaving with a sense that they were being, in a way, forced to donate to the right cause for the wrong reason. We have even experienced it very recently in our local dining halls. I do not know if anyone recalls, but upon the holiday season, I was asked every time I got a meal at any of the dining halls if I would like to donate a dollar for CHOW. Now, I could understand if a select group set up a post in C4 and asked students passing by if they would like to donate a dollar of their own money, but to request that they take a dollar of their meal plan, which is already very limited, is somewhat unjust in my opinion. If I truly want to donate to CHOW, I will donate a few dollars of my own money, by my own decision, on my own time. I do not want to be pressured to do the right thing for the wrong reason. Social pressure within philanthropy occurs in many different forms. Every time a commercial for the ASPCA pops up on the television, tell me you do not feel a pressure to help the shivering animals presented on the screen. The ASPCA is an amazing organization that has done many great things; however, commercials that intentionally pressure people to donate are wrong in so many ways. If someone makes a donation, it should be by their own decision and on their own time, not as a result of social pressures presented to them a a spur-of-the-moment-type situation. Otherwise, he/she walks away with a slight sense of bitterness toward the organization presented to them.
Your argument very much points to the topic of spreading a cause in a different light. Social pressures such as at the checkout counter in your local grocery store will in-fact get a few extra dollars in the short-term. In the long-term, however, it results in people feeling slight resentment toward an organization as a result of the pressure which it has caused him/her, and certainly does not make him/her walk away a better person.
Michael,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your views on being pressured by social norms to give to a charity. It seems as if you are asked when you least expect it, and by being thrown off guard, you have little time to think, and therefore you instinctively give your money. While I do understand that everyone has different ideas about this (for example, some people think that these small reminders help stimulate philanthropy in our day-to-day lives), as someone who finds it important to do my research before I give money to anything, this only makes me feel anxious and guilty. I might have donated a large sum of money to St. Jude's Children's Hospital earlier that day, but how do I know the man behind me in line doesn't have a child sick with cancer in the hospital? They wouldn't know that I already gave money, just that I said "no" to giving a donation at the store.
I also would like to comment on what you said about continuous donations. I agree that, yes, impromptu donations are usually terrible for gathering long-term givers. Neither your heart nor your head are used for this philanthropy, just your wallet and social fears. However, we also cannot expect everyone to spend time doing research and developing emotion toward certain organizations. These small donations are donations nonetheless, regardless of how they are done.
To reiterate, every person is different. Perhaps for some people, personal growth is marked by baby steps that involve small, grocery-store donations. Not everyone is the same, and that is what makes philanthropy work - there is not just one route.
If anyone needs another reason to feel uneasy about cash-register donating, here's one. In many cases, even though its random shoppers actually donating the money, the supermarket gets all the credit. They get the tax-write off (unless the donation is added to your receipt and you itemize, but who's going to itemize a $1 donation?), and they get to call themselves caring and community minded for the $29 million they donated to charities in 2016, when much of that money really came from the pockets of their pressured shoppers (looking at you Whole Foods http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/mission-values/caring-communities/community-giving).
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I still think cash register donations are important. The reality is many people don't donate to charity even though they can afford to. Being an optimist, I like to believe that this isn't because they hate animals, orphans, and poor people (or any other causes that charities support) and don't want to help them, but instead because they just aren't exposed to these issues regularly, and they don't realize the importance of giving. I think this is what "in-your-face" style charity marketing like asking for $1 at the checkout counter addresses: it reminds people, who may not otherwise think about donating, of the issues afflicting their local and global community. Yes, the method is not without many flaws. But we should be considering ways to improve the method - perhaps grocery stores can match the donations made by customers (which some do), or give other options besides blindly donating, such as handing out informational leaflets about the organization, so the costumer can make their own informed decision on their own time about whether and how much to donate. We should think about improvements to this system, rather than simply writing it off altogether.