Reasons for Giving: Understanding Why People are Philanthropic

Over the course of this blog, we’ve written about various ways that philanthropy can be manifested here in the Balkans and elsewhere. You can give in both small in big ways. (Yes, I say that a lot, but it’s a pretty major thing to remember.) Going back to our definition of philanthropy in a broad Read more

October 28, 2016

Portrait of a Donor: Nikola Koprivica or The one who gives should be thankful!

Last year, PP brought you portraits of two major individual donors, both from out of our region. We thought it might be time to show that there are such donors in Western Balkans too! This post is about Nikola Koprivica, businessman and philanthropist from Montenegro, who, in memory of his father, established Foundation “Ćano Koprivica” in Niksic in Montenegro.

His father, Stanislav-Ćano Koprivica was widely known in Montenegro for his philanthropic giving and is considered as one of the greatest Montenegrin philanthropists. The first Montenegrin Iskra Award for Individual Philanthropy was given to him, posthumously, for outstanding life contribution. Often are quoted his words: “it is not important how much money you have, what is important is to know what to do with it.”

This is Nikola’s (Stanislav’s son) story:

June 20, 2013

Inside the Minds of Donors: Portrait of a Donor – Ladislav Kossar

I have been following the Philanthropy Posts for some time and what really interests me are the articles about the „new donors“ in our region. New donors are successful people who made their fortunes and decided to focus and invest part of it in the philanthropy. Of course, there are not that many Bill Gates around but I am glad to say that even in Slovakia we hear more and more stories about the people who switched their attention from the businesses to the social realm and public benefit. I would like to share some of their stories with you.

This story is about a highly business skilled and oriented guy who has found his happiness in helping children from foster homes. I believe that his example could be an inspiration for new donors in Central Europe, too.

April 19, 2012

Inside the Minds of Donors (Part III): Portrait of a Donor – Peter Kulloi

In the fall of 2011, a friendly reference brought me an invitation to two-day workshop on philanthropy in Hungary and opportunity to meet a remarkable person: Peter Kulloi, businessman  and philanthropists. Peter’s background sounds pretty simple: he was an investment banker, first in Budapest then in London. He retired at the age of 40 and became involved in philanthropy, both as a founder of the non-profit foundation but also as a supporter/Board member of number of non-profit initiatives and causes.

Peter made deep impression on me – firstly, because he had some very interesting observations on philanthropy, charities, fundraising, but also because he was/is the first person that I’ve met that said – “I’ve earned enough money! Now I want to give it back!”

This post brings some of Peter’s thoughts on giving, non-profits, philanthropy:

February 17, 2012

Inside the Minds of Donors (Part II): Personal Perspective or Would You Walk 100 km For a Cause?

Following up on the interesting blog from last week, here is another, more personal view.

It was always more or less clear to me why a government would want to give to a common cause – their motivation is often connected to a policy goal; it can be more economical providing a service directly; or it can have a direct political benefit to those in power. Or why a corporation should do it – good practice of corporate-social responsibility or engaging in corporate philanthropy bring positive image and have a positive impact on the brand, sales, etc. I even get why a celebrity has to give – they are often subject of scrutiny for their wealth and lifestyle and giving can take the edge off of that.  Super rational, right? Easy to understand whatever we thought of these motives. 

But why does an average citizen from an average family with an average pay struggling to pay off a 25 year mortgage or put children through university give. Especially as there is no immediate and clear rational payback – no material benefit, no plaque or a school with a name, and only marginal savings through tax incentives (even that is not available in all countries!). And people still give! Significant amounts of money in the West ($211.77 billion in 2010 in US alone) and, as the last week’s blog showed, even in this region, individuals give more every year.

February 3, 2012

Inside the Minds of Donors (Part I): Researching Donors’ Behavior

The questions arising from the last post: Do we know why donors give? Do we know how they choose the recipients? Do we know how to motivate them? motivated me to search for answers. In-depth research/reports that focus on individual donors’ types, motivation, decision-making are rare, practically non-existent in our region. However, there is some interesting – and recent too – research done in USA (Money for Good I and II) on various aspects of donors behaviour that resulted in the reports that explored i.e. How can non-profits more effectively obtain donations from individuals (by Hope Consulting http://www.hopeconsulting.us/ and some of it in partnership with GuideStar). True, the research/reports were made in and for US market, but it seems to me that they nevertheless offers some insights into donors behavior – because people are people everywhere, aren’t they?

Here are some of the insights for individual donors (some of which surprised me a bit):

January 27, 2012