How Married Couples Make Charitable Giving Decisions

This research note reports the results of interviews with 29 married couples about how they make charitable giving decisions. Most couples in the sample made decisions about donating small amounts separately and large amounts jointly. Most couples engaged in cooperative, not competitive, bargaining, as they tended to support the same charities and rarely disagreed about giving decisions. When couples did disagree, it was usually about the amount given, not the target, for large donations, and the target, not the amount given, for small ones. Sometimes one partner would act as the “gas pedal” and tend to want to donate money, while their spouse would act as the “brakes” and argue in favor of making a smaller donation or no donation. Cooperative bargaining also marked the process of increasing a donation, as one spouse would make a small initial decision and would later consult with the other about increasing the amount.