Identity and Charitable Giving The Six-Self Framework

Abstract

Data from the Giving USA Foundation (2016) shows that individuals gave about $9.66 billion in 2015. This is only about 2% of GDP. It has not grown for 50 years since the record at Giving USA began. This chapter asks how a better understanding of identity relevance can be used to drive up and sustain charitable giving without detracting from how good people feel about their support. I do so by proposing a six-element self that includes the I/me-self, the meta-self, the not-I/me-self and the united self. I will explore how they shape donors’ sense of who they are, how they motivate giving, how giving can shape the adaptation and development of donors’ sense of self and how they together can increase psychological wellbeing (Ryff, 1995; Ryff and Singer, 2008).