Individual monetary donation behaviour has attracted the attention of many researchers from many different disciplines. The literature can be classified into three main approaches; sociological, psychological and multi-dimensional. The Sociological Approach Sociologists emphasise the importance of social norm in promoting monetary donation. The effect of social norm on monetary donation behaviour can be explained in at least two ways. In the first explanation, social norm reside outside the individuals and become visible through the actions of other persons in intermediary groups and social networks of which the individuals are a part. This explanation is sometimes labelled as a “structural interpretation” because it emphasises the role of group structure (Bekkers, 2004). According to this explanation, individuals are more likely to obey social norm when they are more strongly integrated into intermediary social groups, such as the family, mosque, or church. In the second explanation, which is referred to as a “cultural explanation”, social norm reside inside the individual through their beliefs and internalised value system (Bekkers, 2004). According to this explanation, individuals are more likely to obey social norm when they have internalised these norms through socialisation in intermediary social groups, including when they are no longer part of these groups. Although the two interpretations lead to different predictions of the conditions under which social norm affect behaviour, they are complementary. Both structural and cultural interpretations claim that social norm affect behaviour in a larger number of situations. In most social contexts, a monetary donation is rewarded with approval while not donating may damage an individual’s reputation (Bekkers, 2010). Individuals, therefore, may give to charity to achieve a social reward. Lee, Piliavin, and Call (1999) confirm that perceived expectations are a consistent positive predictor of the intention to give money. However, this sociological interpretation does not explain monetary donation behaviour under all conditions. For example, some individuals may prefer to give without disclosing their identity. If individuals only obey norms when their behaviour can be observed, they would not give to COs through bank transfers, for example. Therefore, individuals may give not only when there is approval from others but also for internal reasons, which are the focus of the psychological approach. The Psychological Approach Psychologists identify the conditions that affect monetary donation through understanding the cognitive and emotional processes of the donor. In this approach, individuals who give to others experience a number of psychological rewards. In general, the literature distinguishes between two psychological motivations: altruistic and egoistic motivations. Sherry (1983) highlights this, arguing that motivation for donating to charities may extend from “altruistic, where the.

1. Individual monetary donation behaviour has attracted the
attention of many researchers from many different disciplines.
The literature can be classified into three main approaches;
sociological, psychological and multi-dimensional.
The Sociological Approach
Sociologists emphasise the importance of social norm in
promoting monetary donation. The effect of social norm on
monetary donation behaviour can be explained in at least two
ways. In the first explanation, social norm reside outside the
individuals and become visible through the actions of other
persons in intermediary groups and social networks of which the
individuals are a part. This explanation is sometimes labelled as
a “structural interpretation” because it emphasises the role of
group structure (Bekkers, 2004). According to this explanation,
individuals are more likely to obey social norm when they are
more strongly integrated into intermediary social groups, such
as the family, mosque, or church. In the second explanation,
which is referred to as a “cultural explanation”, social norm
reside inside the individual through their beliefs and
internalised value system (Bekkers, 2004). According to this
explanation, individuals are more likely to obey social norm
when they have internalised these norms through socialisation
in intermediary social groups, including when they are no
longer part of these groups. Although the two interpretations
lead to different predictions of the conditions under which
social norm affect behaviour, they are complementary. Both
structural and cultural interpretations claim that social norm
affect behaviour in a larger number of situations.
In most social contexts, a monetary donation is rewarded with
approval while not donating may damage an individual’s
reputation (Bekkers, 2010). Individuals, therefore, may give to
charity to achieve a social reward. Lee, Piliavin, and Call
(1999) confirm that perceived expectations are a consistent

2. positive predictor of the intention to give money. However, this
sociological interpretation does not explain monetary donation
behaviour under all conditions. For example, some individuals
may prefer to give without disclosing their identity. If
individuals only obey norms when their behaviour can be
observed, they would not give to COs through bank transfers,
for example. Therefore, individuals may give not only when
there is approval from others but also for internal reasons,
which are the focus of the psychological approach.
The Psychological Approach
Psychologists identify the conditions that affect monetary
donation through understanding the cognitive and emotional
processes of the donor. In this approach, individuals who give
to others experience a number of psychological rewards. In
general, the literature distinguishes between two psychological
motivations: altruistic and egoistic motivations. Sherry (1983)
highlights this, arguing that motivation for donating to charities
may extend from “altruistic, where the donor attempts to
maximise the pleasure for the recipient, to egoistic, where the
donor attempts to maximise personal satisfaction” (p.160).
Early research focused on altruism to explain the monetary
donation behaviour of individuals (Shanka and Oroz, 2009).
Altruism, in this context, refers to voluntarily helping others
without the expectation of a reward (Bierhoff, 1987). Individual
donors, according to this perspective, are motivated by altruistic
concerns about the well-being of the recipients of their charity.
Meanwhile, Bertacchini, Santagata, and Signorello (2010)
indicate that altruism may represent the driving force behind
engaging in the voluntarily contribution of collective goods. It
is evident from Table 2.2 that a number of studies indicate
altruism as a motivating factor for monetary donation behaviour
(e.g. Shelley and Polonsky, 2002; Manner and Gailliot, 2007;
Sargeant, 1999; Smith and McSweeney, 2007).
Altruistic motivation may be a good way to explain anonymous
monetary donations by certain individuals; however, researchers

3. such as Piliavin and Charng (1990) and Radley and Kennedy
(1995) argue that the existence of pure altruism in an
individual’s behaviour is debatable. In this context, West’s
(2004) posits that modern compassion is all about feeling good
and not actually about doing good (i.e. it is egotistic). Thus,
individuals may give in order to signal wealth and status in
order to gain public recognition (e.g. Glazer and Konrad, 1996;
Harbaugh, 1998), because they derive an internal satisfaction or
‘“warm glow”’ from donating (e.g. Andreoni, 1990), to release
the social pressure to contribute (e.g., Keating, Pitts, and Appel,
1981), or to experience relief from guilt (Amos 1982; Dawson
1988).
However, many researchers argue that there is no such thing as
pure altruism or pure egotism; rather motivations are on a
continuum between pure altruism and pure egotism. Thus,
Andreoni (1989) suggests that the model of “impure altruism” is
a powerful approach to explain psychological motivations to
give monetary donations. Bracha, Heffetz, and Vesterlund
(2009) support this view and illustrate that the literature of
monetary donation recognises that there may be multiple
reasons why individuals voluntarily give money to someone in
need. For example, donations may be made because individuals
derive satisfaction from improving the well-being of someone
other than themselves or because the act of donation causes the
donor to feel a warm-glow (Harbaugh, 1998). A multi-
dimensional approach is discussed subsequently.
Multi-dimensional Approach
In general, the majority of the early studies focused on
identifying demographic factors (such as gender, age, marital
status, education levels, or income levels) in order to attempt to
explain differences in monetary donation behaviour (Drollinger,
1998; Lee et al. 1999). However, this type of focus fails to
further the understanding of the factors that inhibit or encourage
monetary donation, or to provide information that might aid the
development of interventions in order to increase levels of
monetary donation (Smith and McSweeney, 2007). As is evident

4. from Table 3.2, in recent years, more researchers have begun to
consider a broader range of influences on monetary donation,
including: the motivations for giving (NCVO and CAF, 2012);
the decision-making processes in monetary donation (Burgoyne
et al. 2005); the role of trust and commitment (Sargeant and
Lee, 2004); the role of social relations (Radley and Kennedy,
1995); the impact of personal and social factors on monetary
donation behaviour (Smith and McSweeney, 2007); and the role
of a charity’s image and reputation in the donors’ decisions
(Bennett and Choudhury, 2009).
Despite the abundance of research and attempts to investigate
individual behaviour in monetary donation, there is still only
limited research on building a comprehensive model. Much of
the current research focuses on certain factors that influence
monetary donation behaviour while neglecting others. Thus,
there is still a need for further research on a range of individual
factors (such as attitudes, and social factors) that influence
momentary donation behaviour. Furthermore, most of the
previous studies of monetary donation behaviour were
conducted in developed Western economies (Shelley and
Polonsky, 2002; Ranganathan and Sen, 2012), with very few
investigating individual monetary donation behaviour in a
developing, Muslim, and Arabic country such as Saudi Arabia.
To date, there is no published study regarding the Saudi
individuals’ perceptions, motivations and behaviours towards
monetary donation to COs. Therefore, attempts to build a
comprehensive model for the monetary donation behaviour of
individuals have to take this context into account.
The next sections present a number of the most popular theories
which have adopted a multi-disciplinary approach in order to
explain the monetary donation behaviour of individuals. This
includes social cognitive theory, social exchange theory, the
theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behaviour.