Summer Allen: Reputation

One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:24-25

“Another social factor that influences generosity and has been a popular topic of research is reputation or social image. In one study, undergraduate study participants were given the opportunity to give money to and receive it from other anonymous participants. Before deciding whether to give to a particular partner, participants were provided with that person’s past donation decisions. Receivers with a history of past generosity received significantly more frequent donations, suggesting that people are more generous toward people whom they perceive as generous.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

Today’s Scripture reveals the counterintuitive and paradoxical nature of generosity in God’s economy. Those who give gain even more and those who don’t experience poverty.

And today’s research reinforces this. Good comes to those who give to others. I pray this truth motivates at least one person reading this to take steps to build a generous reputation.

I arrived safely home. Thanks for your prayers.  I am grateful to God that GTP now serves workers freely in 123 countries, turning dependency to discipleship and building trust to grow local giving.

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Corinthians 8:1

“Studies show that people are sensitive to information about the generosity of others. For example, in a field study that looked at voluntary contributions to a national park in Costa Rica, subjects who were told that the typical contribution was 10 dollars contributed an average of four percent more money than did subjects who were not given a reference amount. Telling subjects that the typical contribution was two dollars, however, increased the number of people who donated, but compared with when no reference amount was provided, it actually decreased the average contribution amount.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

Notice the implications of this Scripture and helpful information.

The Apostle Paul inspired the Corinthians by sharing about the generosity of the Macedonians.

And the research shows that how we share about the generosity of others can shape the response by percentage and by total giving.

If we want to encourage people to give more, we should suggest a “typical contribution” amount. If we want more people to give, we should suggest a low amount, realizing that while more people will give, it will likely decrease the total raised.

This inspires those of us in ministry to provide information carefully to grow generosity.

When there is a great need, we should suggest a “typical contribution” amount. When we need to rally many people to give, we should suggest a low amount.

I am thankful for Paul’s example and this helpful research.

And I appreciate your prayers for safe travel home today from Eastern Europe. It’s been a fruitful GTP. Reply if you’d like a copy of my trip report.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

“Several studies have also looked at how religion influences another form of generosity: volunteering. A number of these studies have found that religious individuals volunteer more than non-religious people, and attending religious services has frequently been reported as a strong predictor of volunteering. For example, one study of 50,000 Americans found that religious people are 23 percentage points more likely to volunteer than are secular people (67 to 44 percent)…

A study of 9,464 people from 15 Western European countries offers more evidence that religious attendance is significantly—and positively—associated with volunteering. This study also found that greater “religious salience” (believing that religion is an important part of one’s life) and more frequent prayer were associated with increased volunteering, but to a lesser extent than religious attendance, while religious belief was associated with less volunteering.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

Here’s what the data reports: Belief appears as empty words. Attendance leads to action. And salience and prayer unleash generous service. From this research and my own discernment time with God, I determined to increase regional prayer with GTP.

At present we have Monthly Global Prayer Hour. Please join us on the third Wednesday every month at 5am Denver / 11am GMT at this link (Meeting ID: 820 2592 7614 and Passcode: PRAY). But we will start regional prayer in the next month.

We will do this in the areas where the need is greatest: Latin America, Anglophone Africa, Francophone Africa, Portuguese Africa, Middle East/North Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Asia. That’s what I can do. What about you?

How might you increase salience and prayer where you serve to unleash greater generosity?

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

“One study found that people who were born before World War II (1924-1938) gave more money to religious charities as they aged, and this giving grew faster than their income. However, according to this single study, baby boomers give less to religious and secular charities in middle adulthood than expected (as extrapolated from the giving of the prewar cohort). Both giving patterns appear to mirror changes in religious attendance—the prewar cohort was increasingly involved in religion as they aged, whereas the boomers have been markedly less involved in religion.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

As I share this research, let me remind everyone not to point fingers or take pride in the results but to consider how each of us relates to the findings. We must also spur each other on to growth. Are you increasingly involved in God’s work or engaged markedly less?

The author of Hebrews reminded us to spur each other on to love and good deeds and not to give up meeting together. That habit surfaced in the early church and prevails today. Studies like this inspire us to tell people exchange cultural trends for Christian truths.

Don’t grow increasingly selfish and greedy but pursue selflessness and generosity. This can happen to any of us. We avoid this, in part, by staying connected to others. How do your connections to others help you grow in generosity?

Today I have meetings with key Christian workers in Poland related to accountability and generosity. Our partner 4D Ministries set up these important connections. My posture focuses on asking questions and offering assistance.

I appreciate your prayers for favor for GTP in Eastern Europe. So far the response has been great, thanks to God’s grace and the prayers of many people. Please keep praying and support GTP as you are able to advance this important work.

Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it. 2 Corinthian 8:24

“Are religious people more generous than non-religious people? Do people of one religion tend to be more generous than others? Several studies have sought to answer these questions, with somewhat disparate results.

A study of nearly 30,000 people across 50 communities in the United States found that religious people were 25 percent more likely to donate money to a charity than were secular people, and a 1998 study of giving across the American population, focused predominantly on different Christian traditions, found that self-identified nonreligious people gave less money to organizations who help the poor.

This study also found that more frequent church attendance and the degree of importance that people assigned to their religious beliefs were associated with increased giving, while how religious one’s family was during childhood was not.

For the participants in this study, being religious appeared to have more of an effect on giving than did belonging to a particular religious tradition; the “other religious” group—which lumped together Jews, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other religious identities—actually gave the most in this study, although small numbers in this group prevented a more detailed analysis of which denominations were responsible for this high level of giving.

In contrast, another study using data about income and religious identity for a cross-section of Americans found that there were not statistical differences in giving to charities that support basic human needs across Christian denominational identities and nonaffiliated families.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

The Apostle Paul urged God’s people demonstrate proof of their love. On this Lord’s day from Czechia, I want to proclaim the same thing to Christians around the world.

As the data appears disparate or mixed, it seems that our collective Christian behavior has left the jury deliberating whether or not we are more generous than others.

The part that stung was hearing that “Jews, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other religious identities—actually gave the most in this study” when we would hope that would have been the Christians.

Rather than push back or refer to a different study that gives us the results we want to hear, let’s take this one on the chin and resolve to do our part to move the needle. Let’s give in statistically different ways.

The people I am meeting in Europe will likely help underwrite efforts to activate a peer accountability movement here. But that’s not the case in most of the world. At GTP need your help to go and teach and train in those places.

If you have given to GTP, I want to challenge you today to take the step to set up monthly giving. If you live in America, use this portal. And if you live overseas use the Visa or PayPal options on this page.

Thanks in advance for your monthly partnership which demonstrates proof of your love and to sends a message to our global staff that you want to help set up accountability structures and grow generosity in every nation.

Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors? Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. Joel 1:1-3

“Interestingly, results from a more recent study examining charitable giving by young adults in the United States found evidence that some aspects of marital giving decisions may be changing across generations. This survey found that the average amounts given by young single men and young couples is lower now than it was four decades ago, whereas the amount given by young single women is about the same. It also found that for couples where the man made the giving decisions, the average amounts of giving were lower among GenX/Millennial couples than among pre-Boomer couples but were higher among couples where women influenced giving decisions.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

This study reports that across generations giving has changed more among men than women. As I stated previously, rather than make generalizations and point fingers, we must each ask ourselves, like the Prophet Joel, questions like this one: What we are telling to our children and our children’s children about generosity?

Thanks for your prayers for me as I have strategic discussions with influential workers in Eastern Europe about multiplying faithful stewards and helping ministries follow standards with peer accountability. I am resting in Czechia this weekend at the home of my friend, Milan Hluchy, in Vranov, north of Brno (pictured above).

But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:7

“If men and women have such different opinions and tastes when it comes to giving to charity, how do heterosexual married couples make giving decisions? A study using self-reported data collected from 3,572 American households found that single men and women displayed their generosity differently.

Men’s giving was more sensitive to income and tax incentives, and they tended to give more money to fewer charities, whereas women tended to give less money to a greater variety of charities. When it came to married people, donations varied depending on who was making the giving decisions.

In households where one spouse took on the responsibility, the decisions tended to mirror that spouse’s expected preferences and influences. However, in households where husbands and wives made joint decisions, these decisions more closely resembled the husband’s expected preferences. Joint decision-making also depressed the overall amount of money donated by an estimated six percent.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

Thanks to all those who have expressed gratitude for this interesting research.

All glory to God for guiding me to look at recent studies. Also thanks for all those who prayed for a great “Leaders Dinner” last night in Sliač, Slovakia (pictured above). It could not have gone better. A peer accountability movement is taking shape in Eastern Europe.

The data about giving decisions with couples grips us.

Men go deeper in their giving, while women spread donations more widely. And yet, ouch! It’s sad to hear that when men lead the decision making process the results get depressed rather than driven upward.

Instead of drawing any personal conclusions or point fingers, please consider your situation.

Do you give with your head or your heart? How can your spouse strengthen your giving deeper and/or wider? What year over year impact do you want to see? Why aim together at growing in the grace of giving?

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Matthew 26:6-13

“Researchers have reported several gender differences when it comes to generosity, although the findings have been inconsistent. While many survey studies have reported that women volunteer more and give more money to charity, the magnitude of these differences varies and is often not very big, and some studies have found evidence of men being more generous than women.

Beside surveys, lab experiments are another way to look at gender differences in giving, although here too there have been inconsistent results. Experiments with “public goods games”— where people can choose to contribute money to a central pot and the money is then multiplied by a factor and divided among all participants—have reported both that all-male groups are more generous and that all-female groups are more generous…

One study did not find any significant differences between male and female players, while another reported that women gave, on average, twice as much to their anonymous partner as men gave. However, one particular modification of the dictator game did discover an interesting gender-specific difference in giving. In this version of the dictator game, players were given a number of tokens that they could divide between themselves and another player, as per usual. However, in different rounds of the game, the payoff for the tokens differed so that in some rounds one token would be worth more when kept and in other rounds it would be worth more when given to the other player.

When summed across the different rounds, men and women gave the same amount of money on average; both genders were equally altruistic. However, individual men were more likely to be perfectly selfish or perfectly selfless, while women tended to be more egalitarian across the board. And when zooming in on how men and women behaved during the different rounds, a clear difference emerged: Men gave more when giving was cheaper (i.e., when a token was worth more when given away), women gave more when giving was more costly (i.e., when a token was worth more when kept).”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

I arrived safely in Vienna, Austria. When this posts I will be on the road from Bratislava to Sliač, Slovakia, with Gabriel Hakulín. I met up with him in Bratislava by the Danube this morning (where I shot the header photo). We attend a huge dinner tonight (about 200 people) at which I will connect with influential Christians in Slovakia.

After reading this study while waiting for my international flight, my mind immediately went to Matthew 26. Consider the scene. The disciples (men) think about the money being used to serve the poor (giving more when giving is cheaper) and the unnamed generous woman gives the costly gift.

What are the implications of this? They are too many to list so I will share some thoughts that come to mind at first.

Men tend to think about giving money to solve problems and women tend to think about giving as linked to their values and showing love to those in need. Men tend to think look out for themselves (hence, giving more when giving is cheaper) and women tend to think about the needs of others (hence, giving more when giving is costly).

I think the key here is for the male and female genders to work together and appreciate each others differences.

To all the men out there, let us as God to rid us of our “perfectly selfish ways” and make us “perfectly selfless” people who don’t just try to solve problems but also aim to show love while honoring the willingness and wiring of your wife to sacrifice. If, like me, you think your wife is the most selfless and generous person on the planet, thank her.

That’s me. Thanks Jenni. you are the best, most loving and generous wife in the world to me!

And women, keep giving when giving is “more costly” and honor the “problem solving” bent of your husband. He means well when exercising this trait for your marriage and family. And if you see “perfectly selfless” traits in your husband. Affirm him and stand with him as he’s going against the “perfectly selfish” flow.

Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 11:19

“Another study of 682 adolescents found evidence for a bidirectional relationship between prosocial values and high-cost prosocial behaviors, such as volunteering—in other words, engaging in those behaviors seemed to nurture prosocial values, just as prosocial values seemed to promote those behaviors.

This suggests to the authors that “it may be particularly important to engage teens in high-cost prosocial behavior in an attempt to further promote moral identity via personal values.”

Studies of adult volunteers have also found that people who volunteer place more importance on prosocial values than non-volunteers do. Appealing to people’s morality can also encourage generosity. One study found that just adding the sentence, “Note that he relies on you” increased giving in a game.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

Don’t miss what the Torah and the research are saying to us today.

We need to teach our children at home and give them opportunities outside the home to serve others in “prosocial” Christian ways. When we do this, it benefits those we serve. It also increases the probability that they will live out Christian values.

And for everyone we communicate with intentionality.

The statement “note that he relies on you” implies that each of us is part of something bigger and those of us with influence can teach people to be alert to serve others in need. Whether it’s with youth or adults, engaging in service causes us to live out our values and grow in generosity.

Think of ways to involve others, youth or adults, in what you are doing.

Get involved with me in Europe right now. When this email posts I will be somewhere between Denver and Munich, and then I will connect to Vienna. I have strategic meetings in Slovakia, Czechia, Poland, and Austria, including a huge dinner with 150-200 of the top Christian workers of Slovakia on 7 September 2023. That’s why the back to back international trips.

Reply if you want my trip schedule to see the trip aims and items for prayer.

With Gabriel Hakulín, GTP Regional Facilitator for Europe, I am engaging key people who will meet in 2024 to discuss the formation of a peer accountability group (like ECFA in USA) for Eastern Europe. These are some really important meetings and I rely on you to help me attend them. Please click here to make a gift to GTP today. Thanks.

I appreciate your prayers for safe travel, sufficient provision, and protection for my wife and family back home.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

“A study with participants from six countries looked at how a number of different properties, including personality factors, related to the frequency with which people reported giving and receiving help. It found that high levels of certain personality factors—guilt, extraversion, and religiosity—were correlated with measures of altruism in people across the different countries, whereas shame was negatively correlated with altruism. In addition, humility was a consistent and robust predictor of generosity” in three different experiments.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

I arrived safely home, changed out my suitcase, and head to Eastern Europe tonight. I have a humble, generous, and supportive wife. I need to attend a strategic dinner to attend in Slovakia on Thursday along with some other important meetings to advance peer accountability in Eastern Europe.

The international research shows that humility represents “a consistent and robust predictor of generosity.” Think about it. When we cultivate humility, we demonstrate that we understand that we exist not to be served but to serve a purpose bigger than ourselves.

But what can we do to cultivate humility and, in so doing, generosity? Focus on listening to God and others. Be content and grateful for what you have. Ask for help when you need it. Take a posture of service regardless of your position of power. Walk closely with Jesus. Start with that list.