The motivations behind charitable giving (STS research paper)

For the seventh year in a row, the most prosperous country in the world based on education, health, personal freedom, and financial health is Norway. Even in the most prosperous country, charitable organizations exist to assist those in need. Indeed, even in Norway, the unemployment rate is at 6.3%, which is more than the 5.5% unemployment rate in the United States.Philanthropy is a global necessity; there are people all over the world who cannot afford or do not have access to the tools they need to thrive. For millennia, people have followed systems of organized charity. Such acts manifested themselves in the earliest religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They continued on through the Industrialization Era when the gap between the richer and the poorer increased. At this point, extremely wealthy people like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller set examples for philanthropy by donating large portions of their wealth, and encouraging others to do the same. From the 1800s to today, charitable giving has only become more popular.Charity, however, relies on people donating their time or money to the cause. Despite the overall good-heartedness of a population, difficult economic times will cause a large percentage to reconsider their donations. In that scenario, and with the high competition amongst numerous charities dedicated to the same cause, it is important that each charity use various marketing strategies to encourage donors.The STS research paper explores a more in-depth background of the origin of charitable giving, and carries on to consider various motivations behind charitable giving. From these motivations, the paper attempts to derive some techniques for charities to gain more donors. The technical paper discusses a specific charity, Meals on Wheels of Fluvanna County, more in depth. In particular, the technical report details the creation of a system to automate some of the behind-the-scenes goings-on of the charity. In a way, it is a sneak peek into how money that the charity receives is allocated to the cause the charity provides for.

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