The Relationship between Volunteerism and Charitable Giving: Intergenerational Context

The Relationship between Volunteerism and Charitable Giving: Intergenerational Context


Mersiyanova I.V

Cand. Sci. (Sociol.), Head of the Department for NGO Economy and Management, the Social Science Faculty, Director, Center for Studies of Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector, HSE University, Moscow, Russia. imersianova@hse.ru

Ivanova N.V.

Cand. Sci. (Philos.), Senior Research Fellow of the Center for Studies of the Nonprofit Sector and Civil Society, National Research University Higher School of Economics. Moscow, Russia. nvivanova@hse.ru

Malakhov D.I.

Senior Lecturer, Department for Applied Economics, the Economics Faculty, National Research University Higher School of Economics. Moscow, Russia. dmalakhov@hse.ru

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For citation:

Mersiyanova I.V, Ivanova N.V., Malakhov D.I. The Relationship between Volunteerism and Charitable Giving: Intergenerational Context. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2019. No 10. P. 94-105




Abstract

The rise of private donations, both in Russia and abroad, has become a leading factor in the formation of the nonprofits’ resource base. A considerable number of studies have looked into socio-demographic factors positively associated with charity, such as age, education and income level. This paper explicitly targets the association between parental volunteering and the participation of children in charitable donations as they grow up. The study draws on the results of an All-Russia Representative Survey (N = 1,200). The results of the survey provide solid evidence supporting the conclusion about a significant and positive relationship between volunteering and charitable givingin the context of intergenerational transmission. The results of the regression analysis demonstrate stability with the change of the model specification and a set of control variables. This paper confirms prior findings by international scholars about the twofold effect of parental volunteering: parents who volunteer are more likely to have children who also volunteer, and parents who volunteer are more likely to have children who donate. The conclusions of this study reinforce prior research that established the effect of volunteering on charity. The insights generated from the analysis of the relationship between parental volunteering and children’s charitable giving have implications for better understanding of factors that influence charitable giving. The paper has immediate practice relevance for nonprofits. Considering the results of this research, nonprofits can develop long-term fundraising strategies, including programs that allow both parents and children to participate in volunteering.


Keywords
volunteerism; charitable giving; monetary donations; intergenerational transmission; regression analysis
Content No 10, 2019