Aside From Benevolent Purposes, Why Do Wealthy People Donate To Charity?

Billionaires around the world are fond of making huge donations to charities of their choice. In fact, wealthy people who donate to charity topping the list of Forbes have already given at least $149 Billion, as reported.

Let’s look at the studies involving philanthropy and the question as to who really benefits from this.

Past research from 2012 showed that people belonging to the lower income groups are more connected with other people because they have to rely more with them everyday. This leads to the conclusion that the wealthier a person is, the less likely they are going to donate to charity as their compassion and connection with others decreases. However, it already looks like this conclusion is ready to be abandoned. 

A recent study by psychologists Ashley Whillans, Eugene Caruso, and Elizabeth Dunn was conducted to identify as to who are more likely to donate to charities when given a request. At the end of the survey, there was a “Donate Today” button for the participants to click and donate, should they desire to. 

Researchers found that participants with an income of $90,000 or above were the ones who were more likely to click the said button when presented with a request containing an appeal that each person can do something individually to help ease poverty. Participants who are earning $40,000 or below were the ones who are more likely to click it when presented with an appeal containing appeal statements that everyone can do something together to ease poverty. The study concluded that there were no significant relationships between the chances of donating and the demographic profile of the person.

There are a number of reasons why people donate to charity. Studies show the effects of giving money and donations to the poor or other charities of their choices. This leads to the conclusion that these intended effects are usually the reasons why wealthy people donate to charity. 

Philanthropists And Donors Are Recognized 

Studies suggest that donating to charity benefits the rich donors more than anyone else. When these individuals donate huge amounts, the people honor and laud them for such act. Most of the time, even the media highlights their charitable acts, resulting in a good image and publicity. In fact, even without the TV coverage, some people would upload their deeds in social media causing instant fame of the donors

Donations are Taxable Deductions

Contributions made are deducted from the taxable income of the donor. US donors can subtract up to 60% from their taxable income after making contributions from qualified organizations. The question now is: do donors really save money when their supposed taxes would also go to charities? Well, not really. Technically, the money supposedly to go to taxes would go to the poor. However, the donors have now more control of where their money would go. 

These, however, are findings of the researchers after their studies and surveys. Of course, there are still people with pure intentions who are not after the recognition, the tax deductions, and fame. This post is not meant to discredit the donors who have donated so much and helped a lot of people in need.  We still laud their good acts especially in the time of the pandemic.