Charities Cannot Rely on the Super-Rich

On 7 March, the Dutch foundation of cooperating aid organisations ‘Giro555’ organised a 24-hour initiative to raise money for victims of the war in Ukraine. They ended with a final tally of over €106 million. This is a provisional amount. It is expected to rise even further in the coming days. The country shows that it has a large group of willing donors. Do these donations mainly come from people with a sizeable bank account or is it typically the less fortunate who want to contribute?

Maastricht University Professor of Philanthropy Paul Smeets argues that the rich often pass on the moral responsibility to donate to people with even more money. “If you ask someone with half a million why they don’t give more, the answer is often that someone with 2 million should do that. And they then look at someone with 5 million. People usually don’t realise how rich they are,” says Smeets.

His research shows that millionaires give about 8,000 euros a year to good causes. Is that a lot or a little? “As a scientist, I always find such a subjective question difficult. But I regularly talk about charities for the wealthy. They often say that they could do with a bit more. That says something to me,” Smeets responds.