Publications

Article

Happiness Runs in a Circular Motion: Evidence for a Positive Feedback Loop between Prosocial Spending and Happiness

By: Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn and Michael I. Norton

We examine whether a positive feedback loop exists between spending money on others (i.e. prosocial spending) and happiness. Participants recalled a previous purchase made for either themselves or someone else and then reported their happiness. Afterward, participants... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Spending; Happiness; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

November–December 1999
Article

Philanthropy's New Agenda: Creating Value

By: Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Value

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Spring 2014
Article

The Market for Blood

By: Robert Slonim, Carmen Wang and Ellen Garbarino

Donating blood, "the gift of life," is among the noblest activities and it is performed worldwide nearly 100 million times annually. The economic perspective presented here shows how the gift of life, albeit noble and often motivated by altruism, is heavily influenced... View Details

Keywords: Altruism; Philanthropy; Analysis Of Health Care Markets; Market Design; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Health

01 Jun 2001
News

Point, Click, Give: Internet Fuels Philanthropic Fundraising Revolution

host of Web-based social enterprises (WEBSEs): nonprofit information hubs, online giving directories, click-to-donate sites, workplace-giving centers, charity shopping malls and auctions, and volunteer clearinghouses. These start-ups are... View Details

Keywords: Anne Kavanagh; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

12 Aug 2010
News

You Can’t Take It with You

Last week, The Giving Pledge announced that forty of the wealthiest families and individuals in the United States have committed to give away at least half their fortunes to View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations; Personal Services

01 Sep 2013
News

Shining Knight

his pet passion, educational philanthropy." The article reported how in 1998, Ogden went public on the London Stock Exchange with Computacenter, the giant computer services company he cofounded, with all proceeds from its 3.5 million shares going to his education View Details

Keywords: Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services; Finance

Web

Real Estate - Alumni

Giving Real Estate Giving Real Estate You can use a personal residence, vacation home, commercial property, or undeveloped land to make a gift to HBS. How It Works There are three ways to make a gift with... View Details

01 Mar 2013
News

HBS alumnus Philip Rettger on partnering with the Harvard endowment

Philip Rettger (MBA 1985) has focused his career on renewable and sustainable energy. "While none of us knows what the future will offer for investment returns, I am pleased that the charitable remainder trust that I established several... View Details

Keywords: Trusts; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities

February 2011
Article

It's the Recipient That Counts: Spending Money on Strong Social Ties Leads to Greater Happiness Than Spending on Weak Social Ties

By: Lara B. Aknin, Gillian M. Sandstrom, Elizabeth W. Dunn and Michael I. Norton

Previous research has shown that spending money on others (prosocial spending) increases happiness. But, do the happiness gains depend on who the money is spent on? Sociologists have distinguished between strong ties with close friends and family and weak... View Details

Keywords: Happiness; Relationships; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

02 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Spending on Happiness

Can money buy you happiness? Yes—so long as you spend the money on someone else. According to new research, giving other people even as little as $5 can lead to increased well-being for the giver. That's the insight into the secret of... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

January 10, 2022
Article

The Link Between Income, Income Inequality, and Prosocial Behavior Around the World: A Multiverse Approach

By: Lucia Macchia and Ashley V. Whillans

The questions of whether high-income individuals are more prosocial than low-income individuals and whether income inequality moderates this effect have received extensive attention. We shed new light on this topic by analyzing a large-scale dataset with a... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Behavior; Income Inequality; Behavior; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Income

2007
Report

From Insight to Action: New Directions in Foundation Evaluation

By: Mark R. Kramer, Rebecca W. Graves, Jason Hirschhorn and Leigh Fiske

The field of philanthropy is undergoing a fundamental transition and is moving toward more performance-centered and forward-looking evaluation approaches that provide foundations and grantees with timely information and actionable insights. Based on nearly 100... View Details

Keywords: Foundation Evaluation; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Performance Evaluation

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November 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

SBC Foundation, The

By: Diana Barrett, Sarah Aaron and Cassandra Hanley

Examines the role of the corporation as it makes philanthropic donations. Questions raised include the connection between corporate strategy and giving, the degree to which grant making should be decentralized, and the size and focus of grants. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

01 Dec 2002
News

The Campaign for Harvard Business School

Two years into The Campaign for Harvard Business School, there is notable success to report. Giving to the School is at an all-time high — annual and reunion gifts and pledges topped $94 million in fiscal 2004, as more than 12,000 alumni... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations; Personal Services

Spring 2024
Article

One Aspirational Future for India’s Higher Education Sector

By: Tarun Khanna

Several recent encouraging experiments in Indian higher education suggest a plausible aspirational path toward a more salubrious future than that suggested by an otherwise struggling system. Four case studies of privately conceived and funded universities each exhibit... View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; India

2015
Working Paper

Wisdom or Madness? Comparing Crowds with Expert Evaluation in Funding the Arts

By: Ethan Mollick and Ramana Nanda

In fields as diverse as technology entrepreneurship and the arts, crowds of interested stakeholders are increasingly responsible for deciding which innovations to fund, a privilege that was previously reserved for a few experts, such as venture capitalists and... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Decision Choices and Conditions; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

SSRN

01 Jun 2008
News

Kash Rangan

an organization creates significant social value, we don’t care how it sustains itself — with internally generated surplus or with donor funds. Americans give roughly $300 billion a year to nonprofits, yet we really don’t know much about... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Finance

October 2000
Case

New Schools Venture Fund

By: Jeffrey L. Bradach and Nicole Tempest

A new approach to philanthropy, led by venture capitalists and the "new wealth" has emerged in the last two years. They are applying the same accountability criteria from results as they would with their investment portfolio. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

Educators

May 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Supplement

The Freedom Fund (B)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Courtney Han

The Freedom Fund (B) case describes the management’s plan of how to use the windfall of $35 million granted by philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. The case also describes the process by which the decisions were arrived at. View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Spending; Decision Making