Charity Begins at Home? Investigating the role of national identity in donation preferences towards local, national and international charities

A growing number of charities across the UK are competing for donations from the general public, and donors are faced with a plethora of options when choosing charitable causes to support. One criteria that may be used in this respect is distance; that is, whether the beneficiaries of their donations are based locally, nationally or internationally. It has been argued that donors who feel a moral obligation to co-nationals are more likely to donate to charities closer to home. Such an obligation may be borne from a sense of national identity, a person’s sense of attachment to their home country. Equally, recent changes in the UK’s political environment, primarily the austerity measures first implemented in 2010 and growing criticism around the allocation of overseas aid, may subsequently change how donors feel about donating to international charities. This study aims to investigate if patriotism and nationalism, the two widely accepted dimensions of national identity, impact on donor behaviour towards local, national or international charities. Furthermore, the study will also explore if attitudes towards two political issues, austerity and overseas aid, are related to charity choice. The findings will have implications for charities looking to attract and retain donors.