Challenges for Comparative Research on Philanthropy in Europe

1. Challenges for Comparative Research on Philanthropy in Europe René Bekkers Center for Philanthropic Studies, VU University Amsterdam ,The Netherlands R.Bekkers@vu.nl ISTR Conference, Siena

2. Research Questions • How large are differences in philanthropy (incidence, amounts, causes) between nations in Europe? • How can these differences be explained? ISTR Conference, Siena

3. What we have… • Lots of data on volunteering, but much less on charitable giving • Several datasets on giving using • Different definitions of philanthropy • Different questionnaire modules to measure philanthropy • Different survey methods ISTR Conference, Siena

4. We’re in big trouble. • How many people report donations to various causes varies from one dataset to another. • Even differences in giving within the same country vary from one dataset to another. • Finally, differences between countries are explained by different variables in the two datasets. ISTR Conference, Siena

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6. What now? • Let’s start all over again. • And do it better. ISTR Conference, Siena

7. Prospects for Data Access • Tax data: legal definitions, thresholds, privacy issues • Survey data on corporate philanthropy difficult to gather • Foundations even more difficult to get access to • Getting survey data on households least problematic  let’s do this! ISTR Conference, Siena

8. What we need… • New data on giving, using: • A clear definition of philanthropy. • A validated, cross-nationally adequate instrument to measure philanthropy. • One single method of data collection; online is the only feasible option. ISTR Conference, Siena

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10. Definitions • Should be operationalized. • Definitions should identify a clearly delimited set of phenomena • Easy way out: • Exclude memberships and fees. • Exclude informal giving. • Avoid the word ‘voluntary’. ISTR Conference, Siena

11. Conceptual model ISTR Conference, Siena

12. The questionnaire should identify • Units of analysis: individuals, AND/OR households, OR foundations, OR corporations • Channels: churches, charities, foundations, other nonprofit organizations • Destinations: causes and services • Resources: money, goods, labor ISTR Conference, Siena

13. European Social Survey E1-12 a) CARD 43 For each of the voluntary organisations I will now mention, please use this card to tell me whether any of these things apply to you now or in the last 12 months, and, if so, which. E1-12 b) Do you have personal friends within this organisation? ISTR Conference, Siena

14. WARNING DATA FROM THESE MEASURES MAY BE *VERY FAR* FROM THE LIKELY TRUE VALUES ISTR Conference, Siena

15. Questionnaires on household giving • The Gold Standard: the ‘Method + Area Module’ (e.g., GINPS) • Incomplete coverage: ‘Area’ (ESS2002, EB 62.2) • Severely limited: (Very) ‘Short’ • “Methodology is Destiny”: shorter questionnaires yield (strong) underestimates of giving volume and bias parameter estimates Source: Bekkers, R., & Wiepking, P. (2006). ‘To Give or Not to Give…That’s the Question’. Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 35 (3): 533‐540. ISTR Conference, Siena

16. Donors per sector (%) ISTR Conference, Siena

17. Donors per sector in the Netherlands in two data sources (%) ISTR Conference, Siena

18. PhilanthropyEuropean Social Survey, 2002 ISTR Conference, Siena

19. Giving is under-reported in the ESS Cross tabulation of ESS direct question on political giving and marking ‘donated’ for ‘political party’ in the matrix question (US+NL) ISTR Conference, Siena

20. Correlates of giving Coefficients in bold are significantly different from each other (p<.05) ISTR Conference, Siena

21. What we don’t know… • How are France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland doing? • How much is donated to charity? • How do countries differ in the composition of philanthropy? • How do countries differ in the characteristics of donors? • Where do all these country differences come from? ISTR Conference, Siena

22. PhilanthropyEuroBarometer 62.2, 2004 ISTR Conference, Siena

23. Donors per sector in the Netherlands in two data sources (%) ISTR Conference, Siena

24. Giving is likely to be overreported in EB • 5% report giving to a ‘political party or organization’; but only 2.5% is a member and only a fraction donate • 40% report giving to an environmental organization; at best, 28% is a member • Humanitarian aid is way too high (41%) ISTR Conference, Siena

25. Correlates of giving Coefficients in bold are significantly different from each other (p<.05) ISTR Conference, Siena

26. Why do countries differ? ISTR Conference, Siena

27. What we want… • Giving Europe, using: • A clear definition of philanthropy. • A validated, cross-nationally adequate instrument to measure philanthropy, based on GINPS. • One single method of data collection; online is the only feasible option. ISTR Conference, Siena

28. Thanks, says René Bekkers Head of Research Center for Philanthropic Studies VU University Amsterdam r.bekkers@vu.nl Twitter: @renebekkers http://renebekkers.wordpress.com ISTR Conference, Siena

29. Correlates of giving ISTR Conference, Siena

30. Volunteering European Social Survey, 2002 ISTR Conference, Siena