1. Twenty Years of Generosity in the Netherlands
René Bekkers – Arjen de Wit – Suzanne Felix
Center for Philanthropic Studies
VU University Amsterdam
8th ERNOP Conference, Copenhagen, July 14, 2017

2. Thanks
To all the sponsors and funders of the Giving in the Netherlands Research, and its initiator, Theo Schuyt.
Work in progress – comments are welcome. All materials, i.e. the most recent version of this paper, data and code for this study are available at
December 20, 2016
M&T Lunch

3. Sharing Data is the New Normal

4. Four questions on generosity
How generous are people to others?
How is generosity related to giving and how are their correlates different?
How has generosity changed in the Netherlands in the past twenty years?
How can these changes be explained?
December 20, 2016
M&T Lunch

5. Giving and generosity
Almost all of the research on charitable giving has investigated amounts donated.
Generosity is relative – the sacrifice that a gift implies.
Our measure of generosity is the amount donated by households divided by their income.
December 20, 2016
M&T Lunch

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7. America First…
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8. Seriously…
The Netherlands has a strong welfare state, providing universal health care, education and other public services primarily paid for by fees and high and progressive taxes.
The total value of philanthropy in the Netherlands is €5.2 billion, 0.85% of GDP.
December 20, 2016
M&T Lunch

9. Understanding Philanthropy Conference
Data from the Gallup World Poll show that citizens in countries in which the tax burden is higher are more likely to give to charity, suggesting a crowding-in effect
June 29, 2015
Understanding Philanthropy Conference

10. Philanthropy as a proportion of GDP
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11. Giving and generosity of households
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13. How to lie with graphics
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14. Giving and generosity of households
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17. Trends are different among
Protestants, those with another (not Catholic) religious affiliation, more frequent church attendees and those with tertiary education
They already gave more in 1995 and they have increased their giving even more strongly in the following twenty years
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18. Amounts donated in €
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19. Conclusions
The disappearance of religiosity from Dutch society has reduced charitable giving.
At the same time those who are still religious have become much more generous.
Prosocial values have lost support, and that loss explains about 12% of the decline in generosity.
December 20, 2016
M&T Lunch

20. More conclusions
The increase in the level of education has not fully compensated the impact of the loss of religiosity.
The decline in generosity is not directly related to the decline in charitable confidence once changes in religiosity and prosocial values are taken into account.
December 20, 2016
M&T Lunch

21. Implications, suggestions
Strategies and propositions of charitable causes need modification.
Traditionally, fundraising organizations have appealed to empathic concern for recipients and prosocial values such as duty.
As these have become less prevalent, propositions appealing to social impact with modest returns on investment may prove more effective.
December 20, 2016
M&T Lunch

22. More implications, suggestions
Fundraising campaigns in the past have been targeted primarily at loyal donors.
This is not a feasible long term strategy as the size of this group is getting smaller.
A new strategy is required to commit new generations of donors.
December 20, 2016
M&T Lunch

23. René Bekkers Center for Philanthropic Studies VU University Amsterdam
Blog:

24. Understanding Philanthropy Conference
Outside Europe, there is no relationship between tax burden and the prevalence of giving
N = 111,
r = .011
June 29, 2015
Understanding Philanthropy Conference

25. Understanding Philanthropy Conference
June 29, 2015
Understanding Philanthropy Conference

26. Household giving as a % of consumer expenditure
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