Monetary Donations Research Articles

Workforce Configuration in Charity Settings: A Forward-Looking Approach

Problem definition: Volunteers, the primary workforce for many charities, represent a complex labor pool; they are unreliable and exhibit substantial heterogeneity in both performance and affinity to the organization. Additionally, many volunteers engage not only to contribute but also to immerse themselves in a volunteering experience that, if rewarding, can inspire them to become future donors. However, practical approaches to volunteer management commonly neglect these traits and the consequential impact that tactical decision-making can have on nurturing potential future donations. Methodology/results: Building on a previous study, we propose a forward-looking volunteer scheduling model that accounts for the heterogeneity among volunteers, mitigates both understaffing and overstaffing costs, and explicitly correlates individual time contribution with their monetary donations. We provide analytical solutions when the charity can reliably estimate distributions (e.g., uniform distribution) from data and suggest a distribution-free method to offer actionable insights where data are limited or uncertain. Managerial implications: At the strategic level, by viewing volunteers as potential donors, the optimal staffing strategy balances meeting the charity’s labor needs and maximizing volunteers’ satisfaction, as this satisfaction influences their likelihood of becoming future donors. We show that charities could avert substantial losses by adopting an integrative approach, thereby challenging conventional organizational structures that compartmentalize volunteer and donor management. Our model suggests that building robust data infrastructures can significantly advance the charity’s core mission. Paradoxically, efforts to increase labor productivity may inadvertently undermine this objective. At the operational level, we provide an Excel-based decision support tool and a decision-tree framework to navigate optimal policies, determining when and how a charity can rely on episodic (less reliable) volunteers. Our results confirm that reducing uncertainty in volunteer turnout benefits charities. However, we also find that when labor value is low, episodic volunteers are preferred, whereas formal (reliable) volunteers are favored when labor value is high. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0363 .

Alfred Labinjoh: Edinburgh doctor, Nigerian Pan-Africanist.

Standing at an imposing 6"2, Dr Alfred Labinjoh was a man of considerable stature in Edinburgh - physically, socially and politically - between the 1920s and 1950s. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, he studied medicine in Edinburgh during the early 1920s and subsequently lived in the city until 1957, working as a popular family doctor. By the 1940s, he ran surgeries in Fountainbridge, Pilton and Newlandrig, as well as the Carnegie Nursing Home at 29 Morningside Road. A prominent freemason, philanthropist, and baritone singer, he was also politically active during the 1920s and 1930s, working with the local Edinburgh African Association to raise money for the Red Cross mission to Ethiopia after fascist Italy's invasion. Although monetary donations and military volunteers from Scotland to Republican Spain are well known, there were also important earlier precedents set by West African students and graduates in Edinburgh in support of Ethiopian resistance fighters which helped galvanise a new form of popular politics in explicit opposition to colonialism and fascism, at home and abroad.

Observational evidence for groundwater influence on crop yields in the United States

As climate change shifts crop exposure to dry and wet extremes, a better understanding of factors governing crop response is needed. Recent studies identified shallow groundwater-groundwater within or near the crop rooting zone-as influential, yet existing evidence is largely based on theoretical crop model simulations, indirect or static groundwater data, or small-scale field studies. Here, we use observational satellite yield data and dynamic water table simulations from 1999 to 2018 to provide field-scale evidence for shallow groundwater effects on maize yields across the United States Corn Belt. We identify three lines of evidence supporting groundwater influence: 1) crop model simulations better match observed yields after improvements in groundwater representation; 2) machine learning analysis of observed yields and modeled groundwater levels reveals a subsidy zone between 1.1 and 2.5 m depths, with yield penalties at shallower depths and no effect at deeper depths; and 3) locations with groundwater typically in the subsidy zone display higher yield stability across time. We estimate an average 3.4% yield increase when groundwater levels are at optimum depth, and this effect roughly doubles in dry conditions. Groundwater yield subsidies occur ~35% of years on average across locations, with 75% of the region benefitting in at least 10% of years. Overall, we estimate that groundwater-yield interactions had a net monetary contribution of approximately $10 billion from 1999 to 2018. This study provides empirical evidence for region-wide groundwater yield impacts and further underlines the need for better quantification of groundwater levels and their dynamic responses to short- and long-term weather conditions.

The Role of the New Media in Spreading the Culture of Volunteering in the Iraqi Society: Facebook as a Model

Volunteering is considered and continues to be the cornerstone of building society, spreading love, and fostering social cohesion among its members. This practice varies from time to time and from one community to another. Sometimes it decreases, and other times it increases. It can take the form of monetary donations or other charitable deeds. Volunteering is a humanitarian act closely tied to all the meanings of goodness and pure, righteous deeds for the sake of Allah. It is connected to the religious aspect, as Allah says: 'So whoever volunteers good, it is better for him. So volunteering has become a necessity among life's necessities due to its social message aimed at participation in building, developing, and strengthening the foundations of society. Consequently, the culture of volunteering has become an integral part of the cultures of developed societies, representing a system of principles, ethics, standards, and practices that encourage initiative and positive actions that benefit others (1). At the global level, volunteering has received increasing attention from the United Nations through its programs and institutions that provide assistance to the poor, marginalized, afflicted, and refugees. December 5th has been designated as International Volunteer Day as a tribute by the international organization to the significant role that volunteering can play in all areas of humanitarian and developmental work (2). In this research, the study indicates a significant increase in the number of donors among both young and adult individuals. The study seeks to shed light on the role of new media in promoting a culture of volunteering within Iraqi society, especially among the audience in Thi Qar province. The aim of promoting the culture of volunteering through new media platforms is to instill positive values of volunteering, encourage active participation in volunteer programs at the individual, institutional, and community levels, and extend this to regional and international levels. It emphasizes that volunteering is not merely about good intentions; rather, it has evolved into a professionally performed activity that employs new skills in management, finance, service delivery, and communication with others. The study emphasizes the importance of setting performance standards and evaluation criteria to develop, renew, and innovate new mechanisms for volunteering (3).

CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION USING RFM ANALYSIS

This research presents a comprehensive approach to customer segmentation using Recency, Frequency, and Monetary (RFM) analysis, combining statistical insights, data visualization, and machine learning techniques. The study utilizes a real-world dataset obtained from a retail environment, aiming to categorize customers based on their recent purchasing behavior, visit frequency, and monetary contributions to the store. The code begins with data preparation and exploration, ensuring data integrity by addressing issues such as negative quantities and missing customer identifiers. Following this, the Recency, Frequency, and Monetary metrics are computed, providing a holistic view of customer engagement and spending patterns. Visualizations, including violin plots, histograms, and box plots, are employed to intuitively convey the distribution of these metrics. The research then delves into the quantile-based segmentation of customers, allowing for a more granular classification. Quantiles are calculated to divide customers into four segments for each RFM metric. The resulting quantile labels are applied to the dataset, enabling the creation of a compound RFM quantile that combines recency, frequency, and monetary information. This combined quantile facilitates the definition of distinct customer segments. To further enhance the interpretability of customer segments, the study introduces a set of rules for labeling customers based on their RFM quantiles. These rules yield segments such as "Best Customer," "Loyal Customer," "Big Spender," "Dead Beats," and "Lost Customer." The resulting customer segmentation is presented visually through histograms and a pie chart, providing a clear and concise representation of the distribution of customers across different segments. Moreover, the research integrates machine learning models, including XGBClassifier, and CatBoostClassifier, to explore the potential of automating the segmentation process and predicting customer segments based on historical data. However, the machine learning aspect is introduced with commented-out sections, leaving room for further exploration and experimentation. In conclusion, this research contributes a comprehensive and detailed code implementation for RFM-based customer segmentation. The integration of visualization techniques aids in the interpretation of customer behavior, while the inclusion of machine learning models opens avenues for predictive analytics in customer segmentation. The presented approach provides valuable insights for businesses seeking to tailor marketing and customer relationship strategies based on individualized customer segments. KEYWORDS— Customer Segmentation, Frequency, Monetary Value, Recency, RFM Analysis.

Does Volunteering Crowd Out Donations? Evidence from Online Experiments

Problem definition: Conventional wisdom often cautions charities against providing volunteer opportunities to potential donors based on the assumption that volunteering crowds out monetary donations. We challenge this assumption and investigate the causal relationship between an individual’s volunteering activities and their subsequent decisions to donate. Methodology/results: We conducted three consequential experiments where participants engaged in virtual assignments and were subsequently prompted to donate to an existing charity. In the first two experiments, participants were tasked with creating affectionate cards for the homeless, enjoying full autonomy in the design of these cards. In the third experiment, participants colored patterns of varying complexity. Our results indicated that volunteering increased both the propensity and the amount of participants’ donations, pointing to a potential explanation rooted in moral consistency. However, as individuals’ volunteering efforts intensified, their subsequent donations decreased, reflecting a mental budgeting mechanism in these settings. Managerial implications: Our results suggest that (i) volunteer programs not only build up a charity’s labor source but may also increase their donation income; (ii) charities should consider developing virtual volunteering programs that increase their resources by connecting them with more volunteers; and (iii) to maximize donations, charities should carefully design light volunteer tasks.

The Warm War: The Effect of Ukrainian President’s Communal Personality Traits on Empathy and Pro-Social Behavior towards the Ukrainians

The war between Russia and Ukraine is not only over territory or security but also over public opinion. Research has shown that national leaders can leverage their personality – in a general, positive sense – to arouse, in people living beyond their countries’ borders, emotions of empathy or pro-social reactions towards their countries’ citizens. We focus on the personality of Ukrainian President Zelensky and examine which of his personality traits can promote empathy and pro-social behavior towards Ukrainians. In two experimental studies, conducted in Israel and in the US, we found that exposure to a news article that highlights Zelensky’s communal traits (warmth/morality), as compared to his agentic traits (competence/determination), led to (a) increased levels of empathy towards Ukrainian citizens, (b) willingness to help them, and (c) an actual monetary donation for their benefit. We end by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.

You Can Help Us! The Impact of Formal and Informal Second-Person Pronouns on Monetary Donations

You Can Help Us! The Impact of Formal and Informal Second-Person Pronouns on Monetary Donations

Avengers assemble: Avenger philanthropy as the new gift opportunity for nonprofit organizations

AbstractThis conceptual paper extends theories of gift giving behavior through identifying and defining the emerging phenomenon of Avenger Philanthropy. This manifests when people make individual monetary donations to nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to achieve a collective sense of moral grandstanding, usually underpinned by humor. For the first time, the paper makes sense of this phenomenon theoretically through drawing on a wide range of literature including gift giving, game theory and consumer psychology, and as a result, identifies seven distinctive hallmarks. The paper maps the importance of public expression of personal values, amplified through social media, together with risks for the NPO that benefits from the donations. Emotion underpins the giving behavior, both moral outrage and humor. This investigation contributes to the gift giving literature by identifying, mapping and anchoring current actions that potentially have far reaching consequences for future research and for nonprofit practice.

Implications of Gold Trading for the Global Economy

One of the precious metals found in the earth’s crust, whose economic value dates back several centuries and remains relevant in our contemporary socio-economic settings, is gold. Society’s veneration for the precious metal surges from one generation to the other. However, most developing economies endowed with large quantities of gold are plagued with unbridled activities of warlords, foreign-backed militias, rebels, and illegal artisanal miners, some of whom operate on behalf of political stalwarts who mask their true identity. The purpose of this research was to examine how trading activities related to gold tend to affect gross domestic product (GDP) values at the national and global levels. The quantitative approach to scientific inquiry was adapted and used in the study. Specifically, the cross-sectional design formed the basis of the research. Data required for the conduct of the research were obtained mainly from secondary sources. These included textbooks, peer-reviewed articles published in journals and grey literature. Other sources were the Google Search Engine, including databases of Macrotrends and World Bank, databases and archives of the United States Geological Survey, among other significant sources. Respective data on Ghana’s annual gold production volumes, gold revenues and GDP values from 1980 through 2020 and respective data on annual average closing prices per ounce of gold, global gold production volumes, global gold revenues and global GDP values from 1969 through 2020 were used in the research. Descriptive statistics and regression models were used to describe the research variables and to evaluate their behaviour over the stated time frame on national and global GDP values. The study revealed gold as a viable source of alternative investment and an effective portfolio diversifier in periods of volatility in the global equity markets. The average closing price per ounce of gold in 2020 was the highest since 1969. More than a third of the world’s total gold reserves (34.26%) were held by Australia, Russia and South Africa, and China remained the world’s largest producer of gold in 2019. For most developing economies with large production volumes, the percentage and monetary contribution of gold revenue to GDP was determined to be significant. However, for most advanced economies, percentage contribution was insignificant, albeit monetary contribution was found to be quite colossal and capable of impacting positively on national expenditures. Findings from the research revealed a positive and significant relationship between Ghana’s gold revenue and GDP (coefficient value = 9.574151593; p = 0.000, p < 0.05); and a positive but non-significant relationship between global gold revenue and global GDP (coefficient value = 527.3364872; p = 8.111, p > 0.05). Gold revenue accounted for nearly 97.64% of the variation in Ghana’s GDP from 1980 through 2020, while global gold revenue accounted for about 88.16% of the variation in global GDP from 1969 through 2020. During 2019, Ghana was the leading producer and highest-earner from gold sales in Africa; and the economy with the fifth-highest percentage contribution of gold revenue to GDP (9.52%); after Burkina Faso (17.37%), Mali (15.87%), Sudan (11.25%) and Guinea (10.02%) respectively. The statistical analysis confirmed and validated, to a large extent, the valuable contribution of gold revenue to national GDP, a clarion call for regulation and control of the activities of illegal artisanal miners to improve and actualise annual national estimates for total gold production volumes and revenues; the need for minerals and mining policy reforms and expeditious implementation of same to control environmental pollution and hazards. Dramatic transformation and an increase in recycling technologies are required to curb the accelerated depletion rate of gold reserves. It is imperative for the major gold-producing economies to take proactive steps towards the creation of economic parsimony in supply to positively affect the price per ounce of gold in the global market.

From empathetic hearts to digital hands: A study of compassion and donation behavior in social media advertising

In an era of global humanitarian challenges, an understanding of compassion and supportive behaviors is paramount. This study conducted an online experiment involving social media users within the United States, examining the interplay between compassion, empathetic concern, perceived impact, anticipated affect, and intentions to donate time and money. Structural equation modeling revealed that compassion influenced empathetic concern, perceived impact, and anticipated affect. Specifically, empathetic concern influenced intentions to donate time and money, while perceived impact primarily influenced monetary donations. Moreover, place attachment moderated these relationships, indicating that emotional bonds to a specific place can play a crucial role in shaping potential donors’ responses to compassion-based appeals. Our findings contribute to an understanding of how place attachment and compassion intersect in the digital age, informing innovative strategies for philanthropic campaigns on social media platforms.

Intention of filing tax claims for religious donations: Results from a Muslim American survey

AbstractThis study examined the intention to claim exemption for zakat and other monetary donations on the annual tax return among US Muslims. We used a survey of 575 Muslims living in the United States to test several exploratory hypotheses. Our statistical results suggest that after controlling for other demographic differences, (1) respondents who identified as non‐Sunni (as opposed to Sunni) Muslims, had medium or high (as opposed to low) income, and those who believed that Covid‐19 is a Zakat‐eligible cause had higher odds of claiming an exemption for their Zakat donations; and (2) permanent residents (as opposed to US citizens), high (as opposed to low) income earners, non‐faith‐based donors, and those who believed that Covid‐19 is a Zakat‐eligible cause had higher odds of claiming exemption for their non‐Zakat monetary donations. Implications are discussed.

The Two Faces of Political Parties: How They Can Both Promote and Hinder Rawls’ Public Reason

This article explores the impact of political parties on a Rawlsian model of public reason. Political parties possess the potential to play a vital role in promoting public reason by connecting the background culture and the public political forum, identifying and systematizing the diverse array of opinions within a pluralist society. They can translate comprehensive doctrines into shared public values, advance electoral programs that articulate a reasonable political conception of justice and construct the deliberative arena necessary for public reason. However, it is crucial to recognize that political parties can also undermine public reason. They may prioritize sectarian interests over shared ones, appeal to non-liberal or perfectionist values, perpetuate misinformation, succumb to the influence of monetary donations, or adopt a closed-minded and rigid ideological stance. Achieving the ideal of public reason necessitates political parties striking a delicate balance between advancing their own agendas and respecting a practice of public justification.

Email Campaigns That Suit the Candidate: Leveraging Automated Text Analysis to Increase Political Donations

This research employs automated text analysis to explore how textual characteristics in campaign emails affect monetary donations received by political candidates. The authors outline a new methodological framework that combines a machine learning approach for natural language processing with fixed effect regressions, thereby enabling researchers to study and interpret the impact of textual characteristics on donations while also accounting for individual differences across candidates and their email recipients. Using this framework, the authors analyze 764 emails from 19 candidates in the 2020 U.S. Democratic presidential primary election and evaluate how certain textual characteristics (e.g., empathy, vulnerability) in campaign emails affect donation outcomes. Identifying these effects would enable candidates to improve their email text and increase their donations by 9% on average. This research provides a practical and flexible roadmap for automated text analysis in situations where political campaigns do not have clear a priori hypotheses about which textual characteristics will be effective for them.

Understanding the influence of implicit theories on donor's preference for time or money

AbstractCharitable giving depends on either time or money. Understanding what motivates donors to choose one resource over the other is crucial for various nonprofit organizations. This research, rooted in implicit theories, examines how donors' beliefs about the fixedness or malleability of human attributes influence their preference of donation resource. Three experiments revealed that donors who believe human traits are fixed (entity theory) are more inclined to donate money, while those who view human nature as malleable (incremental theory) are more likely to donate time. The results also suggest that analytic thinking mediates the monetary donations of entity theorists, whereas holistic thinking influences incremental theorists to give their time. This study provides invaluable insights for nonprofit organizations aiming to optimize their fundraising strategies, illustrating how beliefs about human nature can sway preferences for different donation resources.

A New Hellenistic Contribution List from Tymnos in Karia. The Kaletepe Inscription

This article introduces a new fragmentary inscription discovered on the hillside during the archaeological survey at Kaletepe, situated northeast of Bozburun, in 2022. The inscription, which dates to the Hellenistic period, lists eight non-natives of Tymnos along with their hometowns and monetary contributions for the augmentation (epauxesis) of an unidentified purpose. Parallel examples suggest that they may have been affiliated with a cult or a professional association.

Criminal Trial of Stanisław Barańczak

Stanisław Barańczak was an Polish outstanding poet, translator and literary scholar. In 1976, he became involved in the defense of workers repressed after the protests in Radom and Ursus in Poland. He was a co-founder of the Workers’ Defense Committee. All its members were placed under surveillance by the Communist Security Service. In December 1976, Barańczak, not having his own apartment, bought a share in the property. Under the regulations of that time, the commune had the right of pre-emption. During a meeting on this matter, Barańczak heard that the commune would most likely not use this right. Then, as was the accepted practice, he wanted to give a monetary donation. This event became the basis for accusing the poet of paying a bribe. On February 14, 1977, Stanisław Barańczak was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment with its conditional suspension for three years. The consequence of this verdict was his relegation from the university where he worked. The criminal proceedings against Barańczak were part of the severe repression used against democratic opposition activists during the times of the Polish People’s Republic. The poet – only after the political changes in August 1980 – received a passport and was able to leave the country and take up the chair of polish literature at Harvard University.

Crowdfunding or crowdsourcing time: Exploring the willingness of private citizens to help prevent forest fires

In Europe, southern countries like Portugal lose extensive forest areas to wildfires every year. Public investment in forest conservation and wildfire prevention is crucial, and public support is necessary. In this study, we explore the adequacy of two citizen engagement mechanisms to help in the prevention of wildfires. We design a preference elicitation survey to study preferences for forests and voluntary contributions towards a fire prevention programme, either through voluntary monetary contributions (crowdfunding the prevention expenses) or by contributing with time (crowdsourcing the execution of prevention tasks). We posit that individuals who value forests and forest fire prevention may be willing to contribute directly in either way.We observe that the elicited willingness to participate in either form is high and that while some individual characteristics have an impact on elicited amounts, forest-related variables have no explanatory power. Additionally, respondents who prefer time contributions contribute relatively more time than those who prefer money contributions, who in turn contribute relatively more monetarily, which suggests that using targeted mechanisms for public involvement can optimise overall contributions to forest fire prevention. Furthermore, when comparing time and monetary contributions, as well as accounting for the cost of labour in Portugal, a crowdsourcing campaign would raise more work time than would a crowdfunding campaign to cover the cost of hiring workers to perform these activities.

Corporate philanthropy, political connections, and costs of equity capital

AbstractWe examine how investors' perceptions of firms' philanthropic behaviors alter the effect of corporate philanthropy on costs of equity capital. Using a sample of Chinese A‐share listed firms from 2007 to 2018, we find that firms making philanthropic donations have higher equity financing costs. In contrast, firms without politically connected executives, experiencing provincial official turnovers, and located in provinces with fiscal pressure do not see an increase in costs of equity capital. In addition, Chinese investors consider strategic corporate philanthropy to establish political connections less valuable after anticorruption campaigns are launched, hence requiring higher rates of return from firms making monetary donations. Overall, this paper provides evidence that investors' perceptions of firm behavior are shaped by unique institutional factors in emerging markets, resulting in unintended economic consequences for firms.

Soviet Practices of Financing the Operation of Highways in the Tyumen North: Between Regional Lobbying and Departmental Voluntarism

The article analyzes the Soviet practices of financing the operation of highways in the Tyumen North in the mid-1960s – early 1970s. Based on the materials of state and municipal archives, as well as the memoirs of road users of the Tyumen region, with the help of historical-genetic and historical-comparative methods, an attempt is made to show departmental interests and features of regional lobbying practices during the formation of contributions from enterprises of the Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets national districts to the so-called “road fund” of the Tyumen Region for the operation of highways within the framework of the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (April 7 , 1959). The main problems of financing the repair and maintenance of highways, which led to contradictions between the Soviet authorities at the regional and district levels, are identified. Interdepartmental conflicts between Tyumenavtodor’s management and enterprises of the national districts were an active continuation of regional contradictions. The essence of the main contradictions in the period under study was the departmental affiliation of the highways of the Tyumen North. They did not belong to local or regional public roads and could not be repaired at the expense of deductions received by decree from enterprises and organizations in national districts. Among the practices of administration by the road industry, directive planning for the year and the formation of a task for the shared participation of enterprises of the districts played an important role. The author comes to the conclusion that enterprises and organizations of the national districts sought to reduce the amount of monetary contributions for the repair and construction of highways and redistribute funds to the district or city budget at the enterprise’s location. However, the Soviet authorities, represented by Tyumenavtodor’s management, hindered these processes, pursuing the goals of financial support for roads under construction in the south of the region, as well as recruiting road construction equipment and enterprises’ trucks.