Marie Hladká

Motives for Donating: What Inspires Our Decisions to Make a Donation to Non-profit Organisations?

Abstract Motivation represents a foundation cornerstone on which analyses in a number of humanities and social sciences are built. For a long time, economists have seen motivation as connected with the act of giving, trying to interpret it in the context of the neoclassical economics assumptions. The objective of this paper is to find answers to the question of what mainly motivates the Czech population in their decisions to make a donation and whether there is any interdependence among such motives. We also ask what the relationship is between the determining motives and the rate or frequency of donating. The donation models that we analyze and use as the basis of our research are nowadays considered being the principal or at least interesting donation models commonly taken into account by economists in their work. We have only focused on selected microeconomics models to make the text clearly targeted; specifically, we are examining the public goods model, private consumption model investment model and impure altruism model. The data were collected through a questionnaire survey and analysed by means of mathematical-statistical methods that are commonly used in similar cases, such as descriptive statistics, the Pearson correlation coefficient and the ANOVA method based on the F-test. The empirical testing confirmed several assumptions connecting with this type of a research; however, our paper opened a space for a follow-up research, too.

Philanthropy in a Changing World: An Evolving Attitude to Giving?

Even though philanthropy tends to be considered a sociological theme rather than an economic one, it poses a number of questions that challenge economists as well. We chose to address the following: How can economists contribute to the theories related to philanthropy? Can we consider voluntary giving a demonstration of generosity rather than a market-based solution? We examine some terms that are used in public economics theory and use them to explore the issues of philanthropy. The terms we reviewed are: the Samaritan’s Dilemma, the Prisoner’s Dilemma, and the Free-Rider Problem, which we consider to be interesting and inspiring (Stone 2008). We answer the second question by means of sociological theory. The economists who investigate philanthropy are repeatedly faced with the obvious fact that it does not involve any buying and/or selling; it is not a marketplace operation. We have to find and identify the social values of donors and volunteers rather than their economic values, because economists are not fully able to explain empathy, altruism, and helpful behaviour using traditional economic principles (Rutherford 2008). The theoretical frame should be supported by relevant empirical data. There is, however, a lack of both theoretical and empirical work in this area in the Czech Republic. Before starting a large-scale survey, we decided to conduct smaller pre-research probes into people’s attitudes towards altruism, philanthropy, and giving. Even though our sample was not fully representative, the responses that we collected generated interesting findings about people’s views and attitudes. The first wave of data was collected between February and April 2009; the second wave between February and April 2010.

Na penězích záleží. České neziskové organizace v 21. století

Pro neziskove instituce v Ceske republice i ve světě je charakteristicke vicezdrojove financovani. Ackoli role různých typů přijmů a jejich vliv na chovani neziskových organizaci byly v zahranicni literatuře již mnohokrat zdokumentovany, situace v (post)transformacnich zemich je specificka. Probihajici proces redefinice role neziskových instituci a souvisejici otazka významnosti podpory z veřejných rozpoctů se obvykle nemůže opřit o dostatecnou datovou zakladnu. Nejuplnějsimi a nejspolehlivějsimi zdroji dat jsou rocni narodni ucty (ANA) a Satelitni ucet neziskových instituci Ceskeho statistickeho uřadu, shromažďujici makroekonomicke udaje za neziskove instituce. Otazkou zůstava, do jake miry zachycuji tyto udaje přijmove toky neziskových instituci na mikrourovni a nakolik reflektuji skutecnou strukturu jejich zdrojů. V knize na zakladě rozsahleho empirickeho výzkumu prezentujeme, jak se mezi lety 2008 a 2013 změnil objem a struktura zdrojů neziskových instituci v CR, cim byly tyto změny ovlivněny a jak se jednotlive typy neziskových organizaci v tomto obdobi chovaly při ziskavani přijmů. Jelikož výzkum v tomto rozsahu nebyl v ceskem kontextu dosud realizovan, kniha představuje významný přispěvek k pochopeni situace neziskových organizaci v (post)transformacni zemi.

Model dárcovského chování v České republice

The article examines the variables underlying an individual’s decision to donate money to a nonprofit organisation. Based on a content analysis of leading foreign research, we identify and systematise factors that may affect an individual’s decision to donate money, and we carry out an empirical testing in the Czech Republic. This article presents answers to the following question: which determinants affect significantly the willingness to donate? What does the model of donor behaviour look like on a selected sample? The authors apply a theoretical justification set of variables affecting donor behaviour to a questionnaire survey. Multiple linear regression analysis and binary logistic regression are used to determine which of the variables is the most influential. Among the statistically significant variables we can include: respondent’s income, age, relations with the organisation and employees, the final beneficiary, religious orientation, affection, compassion and solidarity, gratitude, social responsibility and moral obligation, self-centred, feel good, pity, faith in justice.