In this issue (click image to download):
The Power of the Panel: the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (COPPS) illuminates
philanthropy in new ways that can change business as usual for nonprofit
professionals.
- For the first time, researchers reveal the proportion of people nationwide who switch between giving and not giving in different years.
- COPPS reveals how charitable giving and volunteering by young adults relates to family stability and income during adolescence.
- New results from the Panel Study show that women are highly influential when couples make donating decisions, particularly regarding gifts to education.
- Younger people are less likely to give and are giving less, and COPPS brings important pieces of the generational giving puzzle into focus.
- An increasing number of researchers are using COPPS data to explore exciting and innovative questions about giving and volunteering.
Philanthropy Matters is a semiannual magazine that provides busy
professionals and volunteers with quick and easy access to ideas and news they
can use. Each issue contains practical, need-to-know results from the latest
research conducted by faculty and staff at the Center on Philanthropy at
Indiana University and by other practitioners and scholars around the world.
Sometimes controversial, always thought-provoking, Philanthropy Matters will
help inform your decision-making and aid you in meeting your organization's daily
challenges.
The Revolving Door reveals that nearly one third of U.S. households has shifted
between donating and not donating in recent years. About six in 10 households
gave in each year studied, and these "persistent donors" give much more on
average than others. Critical information about the factors that influence
these behaviors may affect nonprofits' strategies to encourage donors to keep
giving in order to fulfill their missions.
Teach Your Children Well examines the groundbreaking work of Mark Wilhelm, an
economist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), associate
professor of Philanthropic Studies, and COPPS co-principal investigator. Using
COPPS, Wilhelm provides new insights that can inform family decision making
about philanthropy. His work reveals associations between income and family
stability during adolescence and giving and volunteering in young adulthood.
Leading the Way examines couples’ decision making with regard to giving. As
discussed in the article, a new COPPS study by Center scholars Debra Mesch
and Patrick Rooney, along with COPPS co-principal investigator Eleanor Brown
of Pomona College, provides an innovative look at the significant influence of
women on couples' giving patterns and donations to education.
Faith and Family highlights key findings about observed differences
in giving patterns between generations. Because COPPS follows the giving habits
of the same 8,000 households over time, it is the only survey that measures
parents' giving and their children’s giving as adults. Invaluable for fundraisers
approaching new donors and trying to understand future trends, the results show
that the transmission of religious giving values, a large decline in religious
giving by younger generations and significant shifts in religious attendance
are major contributing factors to those observed differences.
Finally, Innovation Clearinghouse discusses results from an increasing number
of researchers turning to COPPS data to explore exciting questions about giving
and volunteering. A growing group of academics want to get that analysis into
the hands of nonprofit professionals and experts believe that more practitioners
using theory-based research will lead to more efficient organizations.
Each issue of Philanthropy Matters will be posted to this site in Acrobat format
shortly after publication. If you need to download the free Acrobat Reader to
view the issue, click the "Get Acrobat Reader" button below to go to the Adobe
Web site. Back issues currently available are:
Vol. 15, #2
Vol. 15, #1
Vol. 14, #2
Vol. 14, #1
Vol. 13, #1
Vol. 12, #1
Vol. 11 #2
Vol. 11, #1
Vol. 10, #2
Vol. 10, #1
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We invite you to share your thoughts with us. Please e-mail comments and suggestions to
or mail them to Josh Sprunger, Philanthropy Matters, The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, 550 West North Street, Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3272, or call (317) 278-8932.
