Identity-based Philanthropy

Identity-based Philanthropy


Philanthropy is often defined by the literature through a wealthy-White-male monetary lens. An emerging area of study, both within the more general philanthropic studies literature and within the subfield exploring giving towards higher education, is identity-based fundraising. Scholars, including myself, who have explored the importance of identity within philanthropy towards higher education have engaged their research along the lines of race and ethnicity, ability, religion, and sexuality.

The identity-based philanthropy literature, often relying on Social Identity Theory, shows that minority donors’ identities are a factor in their decisions to give and how those gifts are manifested. Though there is limited research on racial and ethnic minority philanthropy, it is the largest body of identity-based philanthropy work in higher education. In the Tzedakah Lab’s research, we expand this category by including the often-overlooked identities of ability, sexual orientation, and gender.

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