More than six in 10 married or cohabitating couples make charitable-giving decisions jointly, according to a new study published by the IUPUI Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
When one partner makes giving decisions for the household, women are slightly more likely to do so — 15.3 percent — than men — 12.1 percent. The remaining couples — 11.1 percent — make giving decisions separately.
The implications of the study are significant for development officials, says Jacqueline Ackerman, associate director of research at the Women’s Philanthropy Institute.
“Fundraising can’t be one size fits all,” she says. “We know anecdotally that even in 2021, fundraisers are still making the assumption that the man in the household is the one in charge of giving decisions.”
In May 2020, the Women’s Philanthropy Institute conducted a survey about charitable decision making that had 3,499 respondents. Survey results were weighted based on the Current Population Survey, using age, income, race, ethnicity, and region of the country. This study, “Women Give 2021: How Households Make Giving Decisions,” was based on the 2,115 respondents who reported they were married or unmarried but living together.
The sample included people in LGBTQ couples. Their responses are part of the survey findings, but the number of LGBTQ respondents wasn’t large enough to pull out and analyze separately, according to Ackerman.
“It’s definitely imperfect,” she says. The answers of a man who reported he was LGBTQ and married or unmarried and cohabitating could appear in the categories of couples who give jointly, couples who give separately, or couples in which a man is in charge of giving decisions.
Different Thresholds
The study found that certain demographic characteristics are associated with how couples make giving decisions. Older couples and households with children under the age of 18 are more likely to make giving decisions together. A man is more likely to make giving decisions alone in younger couples and in more religious couples. When there is a difference in education, the partner who has more education is more likely to make giving decisions alone, whether that partner is a woman or a man.
On average, households in which a man makes donation decisions alone give the most, and households in which partners make those decisions separately give the least.
The average amount respondents felt comfortable giving without consulting their partners varied considerably. For example, people in couples who decided jointly or in which a woman decided alone for the couple had relatively low thresholds — $239 and $311, respectively. The average amount a man who decided alone felt comfortable giving without consulting his partner was $901; that figure was even higher for people who made giving decisions separately — $1,180.
Most households seem satisfied with their approach to charitable decision making. Roughly three-quarters agree on which causes and organizations to support and on how much to give.
