Donations, volunteering, and life satisfaction in Germany

Abstract

Donations and volunteering are two important forms of non-market activities that are usually considered separately in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to work out central determinants of giving to organizations. Especially, the importance of volunteering is analyzed. In addition, the aim is to find out whether mutual dependencies exist and to what extent benefits, measured by satisfaction, can be derived from both forms. Estimates using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the years 2019/2020 lead to the following results: - Personality traits and individual assessment, under which conditions a society is judged to be just, are important for donation behavior. These two aspects are widely neglected in the literature. - If honorary offices are exercised as a major activity, a clear positive donation effect is derived in contrast to a secondary activity. - Donations to organizations and voluntary work show mutual dependencies. - Life satisfaction is increased both by donating and voluntary work.