Getting the Rich and Powerful to Give

Getting the Rich and Powerful to Give. Judd Kessler, Katherine Milkman & Yiwei Zhang. University of Pennsylvania Working Paper, June 2017, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2994367

Abstract: What motivates the rich and powerful to exhibit generosity? We explore this important question in a large field experiment. We solicit donations from 32,174 alumni of an Ivy League university, including thousands of rich and powerful alumni. Consistent with past psychology research, we find that the rich and powerful respond dramatically, and differently than others, to being given a sense of agency over the use of donated funds. Gifts from rich and powerful alumni increase by 200-300 percent when they are given a sense of agency. Results suggest that motivating the rich and powerful to act may require tailored interventions.

Keywords: charitable giving, agency, natural field experiment, wealth