UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL DONORS

This chapter describes the relevance of resources for individual donors' giving. It also describe how socio-demographic characteristics influence individual donors' giving. The chapter discusses the key motivations, including values and mechanisms, that explain why individual donors give. It demonstrates the ability to implement knowledge about a donor's motivations in fundraising. The chapter explains unique motivations and giving patterns for people with different socio-demographic characteristics, including women, people who identify as LGBTQ, and people who are religiously affiliated. It explores giving among communities of color and across different generations as well as among those with significant financial resources. The chapter also discusses how resources such as income, wealth, education, social connections, and family characteristics enable donors to make charitable donations. It concludes by illustrating how fundraisers can use the research to assess donors' different motivations.