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Collective Philanthropy: Describing and Modeling the Ecology of Giving

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  • William L. Gottesman
  • Andrew James Reagan
  • Peter Sheridan Dodds

Abstract

Reflective of income and wealth distributions, philanthropic gifting appears to follow an approximate power-law size distribution as measured by the size of gifts received by individual institutions. We explore the ecology of gifting by analysing data sets of individual gifts for a diverse group of institutions dedicated to education, medicine, art, public support, and religion. We find that the detailed forms of gift-size distributions differ across but are relatively constant within charity categories. We construct a model for how a donor's income affects their giving preferences in different charity categories, offering a mechanistic explanation for variations in institutional gift-size distributions. We discuss how knowledge of gift-sized distributions may be used to assess an institution's gift-giving profile, to help set fundraising goals, and to design an institution-specific giving pyramid.

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  • William L. Gottesman & Andrew James Reagan & Peter Sheridan Dodds, 2013. "Collective Philanthropy: Describing and Modeling the Ecology of Giving," Papers 1307.2278, arXiv.org, revised May 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:1307.2278
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    Cited by:

    1. Rozélia Laurett & Arminda Maria Finisterra Paço & Anabela Rosario Leitão Dinis, 2020. "Entrepreneurship in nonprofit organizations: a systematic review of the literature," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 17(2), pages 159-181, June.

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