Fase 5 Descripció i escriptura de la teoria Informe final.

Most historians of philanthropy refer to either altruism or self-interest as the motives behind the charitable gift….In reality, the charity

relationship is a remarkably complex and flexible social mechanism which possesses various cultural meanings. For the giver, it draws on deep-rooted impulses of empathy and compassion. It expresses prevalent social norms, such as reciprocity, beneficence and social responsibility (which are profoundly reinforced in western culture by the centrality of charity to the Judaeo-Christian tradition). Moreover,

charitable giving also offers an opportunity for self-fulfilment and self- expression, and opens up the possibilities of a public identity (Kidd, 1999, p. 69).

It is beyond the scope of this study to investigate the complex mix of motives for charitable giving identified by Kidd above. However, throughout the literature review the theme of religion was recurrent and noteworthy. The

human instinct to help those in need may be primordial, but when people discovered religion, charity was elevated to a sacred duty. As Br Val Boyle puts it: “Scriptures are very clear on the subject of giving – only those who sow into the Kingdom will reap the Kingdom benefits… Jesus equates Christians’ treatment of those in need with their treatment of Himself: what Christians do for them, they do for Him” (Boyle, n.d., p. 73). Certainly prior to and just after the turn of the 18th _{century, philanthropy had an unmistakably} religious character. “Numbers of Englishmen labored for the needy and distressed in the conviction that “it is Your Saviour Himself You assist in the persons of the Poor”” (Owen, 1964, p. 17). Many Christians followed the Old Testament concept of the tithe – pledging one tenth of their income to the Church – while others practiced tithe in its New Testament interpretation. Br Val Boyle explains the difference: “Compulsory tithing under the law in the Old Testament does not translate to giving under grace in the New Testament. The New Testament does not compel Christians, but rather invites them to give generously in response to the needs of others, and as an expression of their love for God…” (Boyle, n.d., p. 72). Evidence of tithing in Victorian England is offered by H. Taine in his Notes on England, where he applauds the privileged classes for supporting the poor.

B- says that he gives the tenth of his income in subscriptions, and that his neighbours do likewise. Count again the poor-rates which here are three shillings in the pound of the estimated territorial return, and which in certain districts are seven shillings. Voluntarily, or in accordance with the law, the propertied classes lend a shoulder with true courage to sustain the heavy burden of public poverty (Taine, 1885, p. 169). Charity was not, of course, an exclusively Christian principle. According to Phillips (1969), the custom among practising Jews was to donate one-seventh of their earnings to charity, while wealthy Hindus were expected to put about one-tenth of their incomes into a family pool to benefit less fortunate relatives. The Jewish community in Victorian England was especially adept at lifting their own out of poverty – an emphasis on social work being a distinguishing characteristic of their religion. “If so few Jews received public relief, it was because the Jewish Board of Guardians assumed responsibility for their coreligionists; and if so few Jewish recipients of charity remained that for long, it was because help was given them, whenever feasible, in the form of

business capital rather than the dole” (Himmelfarb, 1991, p. 140). In the late 19th _{century, as religious conviction waned, humanitarianism} sustained people’s zeal for philanthropy. Himmelfarb (1991, p. 4) explains: “A later generation of reformers, with a much attenuated commitment to religion, redoubled their social zeal as if to compensate for the loss of religious faith. It was then that the passion for religion was transmuted into the compassion for humanity. Humanitarianism became a surrogate religion, a “Religion of

Humanity,” the Positivists called it”. Writing in her diary on Nov 19th, 1884, social reformer Beatrice Webb also observes this transmutation of religious piety into humanitarian commitment: “Altruism is after all the creed of those who are suffering personal misery and yet do not intend to sink into abject wretchedness – it used to be devotion to God, under one form or another –

now this God is dead it must be devotion to other human beings” (Webb, 1884, p. 398).

2.1.5.1. FEAR OF GOD, OR FEAR OF LONELINESS?

A number of empirical studies have confirmed that religiosity, or religious orientation, promotes both participation in voluntary associations and

charitable giving. Lam (2002, p. 145), for example, claims that “involvement in religious organizations is positively associated with participation in secular organizations, as predicted by social capital theorists”. His finding is

supported by Brooks (2003, p. 42), who examines the role of religious practice in isolation from nonreligious socioeconomic characteristics and argues that “if two people – one religious and the other secular – are identical in every other way, the secular person is 23 percentage points less likely to give than the religious person and 26 points less likely to volunteer”. However, there is evidence to suggest that it is the practice of religion (and the communities formed in the process), rather than religious conviction itself, that is the most important factor in predicting charitable behaviour. Brooks (2003, p. 50), for example, suggests that charity might be a learned behaviour and that “people may be more likely to learn charity inside a church, synagogue, or mosque than outside”. The implication here is that charitable giving is a habit that can also be fostered by motivated charities away from places of religious worship. In his famous ‘Bowling Alone’ article, Putnam (1995) details a decline in Americans’ engagement with organized religion. Citing data from the General Social Survey, he concludes that participation in both religious services and church-related associations has seen a moderate decline since the 1960s. Churchgoing in the UK is also a waning tradition, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics – its Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom

(2001, p. 235) shows a decline in “active faith membership” by a fifth between 1970 and 1998. Yet the US megachurch defies the odds in its continued success. Putnam argues that tithing in US megachurches, which typically attract tens of thousands of supporters, is a result of people’s commitment not to the theology but to the friends they make through their church attendance. He explains: “Most of these people are seeking meaning in their lives but they are also seeking friends…These churches form in places of high mobility – people live there for six weeks and the church provides the community

connection. When you lose your job, they'll tide you over, when your wife gets ill, they'll bring the chicken soup" (Bunting, 2007, para. 17). If Putnam is right, then it seems that the challenge for charities is to foster social organisations (or social networks), where charitable behaviour can be learned across social ties outside the church and other traditional places of social gatherings. 2.2 SOCIAL NETWORKS

A social network is a set of relationships between people, through which “friendship, love, money, power, ideas, and even disease” pass (Kadushin, 2012, pp. 3-4). Although online social networks are a relatively recent

phenomenon, a review and analysis of literature on social networks has found that they have existed since antiquity, unaided by advanced technology. It has

also confirmed that social networking is a timeless fundraising facilitator. The key findings are described below: