Asides from seeming boastful, I think the other risk of talking publicly about giving is that it can risk seeming critical, or alienating people. I’ve definitely found some people respond to me talking about giving defensively—if I say I donate x%, they might look for reasons why I’m being unreasonable, or why my situation is very different from theirs. I think this is because they feel threatened—talking about giving can make some people feel like you are judging them for not giving, which provokes a defensive reaction.
Of course, in a lot of cases it may be that this risk is outweighed by the benefit of making giving seem more commonplace. And the more people talk about giving, the more of a “social proof” effect you get, and so the less likely this is to be an issue. But I think it’s something worth bearing in mind, especially in one-on-one interactions.
Definitely. I think it takes a good amount of social awareness to decide when and where to announce oneself. Perhaps a better title for this post is “To Inspire People to Give, Don’t Be Overly Anonymous About Your Giving”...
To what extent would people turn off if I told them that I give an amount that is unreasonable in their point of view? Or that I sometimes choose to deny myself something because I think I can do much more good to people far away. Making priorities that are not optimal for your own happy and comfortable lifestyle seems to be socially undesirable even if the people near to you don’t suffer from it. E.g. I tell I give $x per month, which they would not expect from any sensible person with a modest income and would definitely not see themselves doing. Would it be better if I did not mention any number?
Nice post, Peter!
Asides from seeming boastful, I think the other risk of talking publicly about giving is that it can risk seeming critical, or alienating people. I’ve definitely found some people respond to me talking about giving defensively—if I say I donate x%, they might look for reasons why I’m being unreasonable, or why my situation is very different from theirs. I think this is because they feel threatened—talking about giving can make some people feel like you are judging them for not giving, which provokes a defensive reaction.
Of course, in a lot of cases it may be that this risk is outweighed by the benefit of making giving seem more commonplace. And the more people talk about giving, the more of a “social proof” effect you get, and so the less likely this is to be an issue. But I think it’s something worth bearing in mind, especially in one-on-one interactions.
Definitely. I think it takes a good amount of social awareness to decide when and where to announce oneself. Perhaps a better title for this post is “To Inspire People to Give, Don’t Be Overly Anonymous About Your Giving”...
To what extent would people turn off if I told them that I give an amount that is unreasonable in their point of view? Or that I sometimes choose to deny myself something because I think I can do much more good to people far away. Making priorities that are not optimal for your own happy and comfortable lifestyle seems to be socially undesirable even if the people near to you don’t suffer from it. E.g. I tell I give $x per month, which they would not expect from any sensible person with a modest income and would definitely not see themselves doing. Would it be better if I did not mention any number?