Give to Give or Give to Gain? - A study into the motivations and expectations of private donors in the Netherlands

Cultural non-profit organisations are facing increasing pressure regarding their various financial support systems due to major crises, cutbacks in funding and the current COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, little is known about the giving-behaviour of private donors in relation to the Dutch cultural industries. The question addressed in this research is how the motivations and consequent expectations of private donors influence their giving behaviour in terms of acknowledgments and crowding effects. In contrast to earlier findings, the quantitative results of this research demonstrate that Dutch private donors are mostly driven by philanthropic motivations instead of gain motivations. Secondly, if driven by a gain, greater acknowledgments from the cultural organisations are expected by the private donors. Lastly, private donations are proven to be associated with crowding-effects in relation to the different financial support systems and the COVID-19 crisis. The limitations of this research call for a more experimental study design to confirm these findings.