Declining number of donors: What we know and what we need to know but don’t

​Join us for a conversation with Mark Ottoni-Wilhelm is Professor of Economics at IUPUI and an Affiliate Professor of Philanthropic Studies at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

​Professor Ottoni-Wilhelm’s research interests are in the social science of prosocial behavior. His recently published research confirms the importance of the dual-motive theory of charitable giving, investigates whether large fundraising campaigns succeed by shifting giving from other causes, and solves puzzles about how matches work. His work in progress is about the effect of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act on giving, the relationship between empathy and dual-motives to give, and what adolescents know about their parents’ giving.

​Professor Ottoni-Wilhelm was the Founding Director of the Philanthropy Panel Study, the generosity module in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, that has measured the giving of U.S. families since 2001. He has also led the design of generosity modules in the American National Election Study 2008-2009 Panel, the National Study of American Jewish Giving, and the National Study of American Religious Giving.

​Ottoni-Wilhelm joined the IUPUI Economics Department in 1998. From 1990-1998 he was Assistant Professor of Economics at The Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from New York University in 1990.

About: Lunch Analysis is a program of the Donor Participation Project, a fundraiser community of 2,400+ who meet monthly to learn together how to grow donor participation in our nonprofits.