The Phenomena of Rage Giving

Introduction

It is clear that the political and social landscape in the world has changed in the last decade, with escalating globalization and political polarization. We are contending with fake news infused into the political process, and simultaneously we have witnessed a surge in social media use and an undercurrent of anger and disbelief is employed to rally the polarized base. The public discourse has closely followed a surge in electoral activity of the radical right, observing that populist waves have contributed to electoral upheaval in the U.S., Brazil, Italy, Argentina, the Netherlands, and Mexico. This populist wave, and conflicts around the world, have added to the new landscape, igniting a fire of anger and protest and the emergence of a different kind of philanthropic impulse: donating motivated by rage.

When pent-up emotions burn out of control, rage givers experience an emotional release by channeling that rage into something positive. While rage giving appears to be novel, channeling negative energy into decisive action is not new. Studies linking negative emotions to giving reference the behavior as “civic anger,” which relates charitable giving to targeted issues resulting from government actions and politics. Civic anger manifests in charitable giving due to individuals’ dissatisfaction with events, politics, and policies in the public sphere. Other observers refer to these emotions and movements as “empathic anger” that motivate people to counter injustice. Individuals experiencing empathic anger often associate feelings of altruism with higher levels of humanitarian concern for others, increased advocacy for social justice issues, increased tolerance for others, and an inclusive approach to civic engagement. Empathetic anger can be a source of advocacy, civic engagement, and other prosocial behaviors. This report examines the determinants of charitable giving in protest of the current political climate, public policy, or government officials.

Turning Anger into Action

Empathic anger motivates individuals to take action and engage in community service and civic engagement. This type of motivation can result in rage giving as an emotional response in the form of anger that emerges from experience with politics or the political climate. In these instances, support is monetary and is often to non-profit organizations directly impacted by the controversial issues related to politics or the political climate. Polarization in society produced many news articles and blogs about giving ignited by rage. Some of the articles focused on the strategies non-profit organizations could employ to plan for and facilitate rage giving as a fundraising tool, including tips for turning anger into action.

After the upheaval following the 2016 presidential election in the United States, coupled with the advent of viral fundraising strategies, a new phenomenon in individual charitable giving has emerged. In early 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Planned Parenthood, and the Council on Islamic American Relations, among others, saw over 1000% increase in donations compared to the previous year.

Political Movements and Civic Engagement

Anger is often a central part of politics and political action. Emotion is used as a tool to motivate individuals to participate in social movements, civic engagement, and political advocacy. Anger can be interpreted as a form of communication as ideas, thoughts, and concerns are expressed through protest marches and speeches or by smaller actions such as bumper stickers on cars or donating to non-profit organizations. Expressions of anger can create public dialogue on social and political injustices, and in many ways, feelings of anger are used to transform wrongdoings into good deeds. Individuals who feel disrupted in their lives or threatened by politicians or political climates may often feel a mix of anger, concern, fear, or distress, and it is these emotions that motivate and provide a reason for people to act. Anger can transform a passive citizen into an engaged protestor and donor. If individuals are angry, they are more likely to take action and participate in protests or other forms of civic engagement, political advocacy, and social action.

This cause-and-effect connection between anger and action can also be linked to political mobilization. Anger is built into politics through the everyday activities of political parties, which continually both stoke and mobilize anger in order to gain and maintain support. Political climates, and some political candidates in particular, trigger specific emotions in individuals that may motivate individuals to take philanthropic action, one form of which is rage giving.

When thinking of the role of anger within philanthropy, charitable giving, and social capital, one can posit that an individual participating in rage giving may be doing so as a result of their interests in the collective good or community.

The Psychology of Rage Giving

Rage givers typically donate in small sums, are first-time donors to an organization, and are donating as much to make a statement as to make a difference. According to a report on the phenomenon published by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the experience of rage giving is almost always sparked by a divisive political moment, fueled by extensive media coverage around said moment, and characterized by a sudden, unexpected increase in donations and a strong emotional response in donors. Historically, philanthropy wasn’t about intense feelings of anger or outrage. People typically gave to charity as a sense of duty, or because they were passionate about the cause. That is definitively not the case in rage giving.

Emotions have been documented as a motivator for social movements and civic engagement, often rooted in empathy or sadness that creates a desire to help others. Empathy comes in many forms, including distress, guilt, injustice, and anger. Prosocial responses from “empathic anger” often result in individuals taking action to help others who have suffered or experienced unjust circumstances. Empathy and compassion are separate emotions that are often thought of as one. While someone may feel the empathy of an individual’s experiences, compassion takes these feelings and adds a component of action.

One who feels compassion not only feels terrible for an unfair situation but also takes effort to change the injustice. Compassion extends beyond the individual and is felt for multiple individuals who are suffering. It often connects individuals with others with shared social and political values. Compassion can, however, have a negative result in that it creates power dynamics between those who suffer and those who feel compassion, and the question of whether the actions borne from compassion can effectively lead to social justice.

Prosocial behaviors are “other-oriented” in contrast to an individual’s self interest. Philosophers, economists, and social psychologists have an ongoing debate concerning the core motivations of these helping behaviors: truly altruistic, without the expectation of reciprocity, or self-interested. Prosocial behaviors are characterized by a concern for the rights, feelings, and welfare of other people. These behaviors build an individual’s networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefits.

When viewing civic engagement and anger through the lens of political affiliation, individuals who are engaged in political participation beyond voting tend to strongly identify with their political party and are more civically engaged. These individuals are also angrier, and this anger is viewed as a modifier between party identification and civic engagement. This strong party identification is used to bring people together and to mobilize social movements. In short, negative or dividing events create rallying points for individuals to protest the political climate through several different civic engagement behaviors, one form of which is manifested in rage giving.

Rage giving provides a platform for individuals to show their dissatisfaction through a measurable action illustrating their desire to improve the political climate while also relating to the collective good or community. With monetary donations to non-profit organizations that either work on or are the target of political issues or social injustices, one can feel satisfied knowing they are contributing toward the change of an undesirable situation, or they are fulfilling the self-gratifying emotion of expressing their displeasure. It is this emotional uplift that motivates to give and participate in civic engagement activities. Crisis donors turn to philanthropy to work through grief, horror, sadness, anger, disappointment, even disgust — and charitable giving provides an opportunity to metabolize those difficult feelings into action.

Individuals who donate and volunteer do indeed believe they can make a difference in their communities. By donating and volunteering as an emotional response to the political climate, individuals are engaging in both civic engagement action and civic engagement behaviors. While a donation may be a small action in itself, the byproducts of that action can be a driving force of inspiration and motivation to other individuals and the non-profit organization receiving the donation. These small acts of armchair resistance are a release valve for pent-up feelings of helplessness, despair, and fury. Tapping a button to donate to a non-profit on the front lines makes one feel, at least for a moment, more involved and more in control.

Donating is more than just being outraged on social media or among friends and family. It is tangible, it’s something that people can do, often without much personal cost to themselves. There is a psychological effect to charitable giving – the idea that I can do something – that can alleviate feelings of guilt or demonstrate a person’s morals and values. Many news stories and public policies are rage-inducing. But every time a rage donor clicks ‘give,’ it makes them feel like they’re doing something to help. There is also an element of selfishness. It’s doing something for yourself before you explode.

The emotional utility involved in rage giving is multifaceted serving several needs: political protest, altruism, and self-healing. Rage giving can easily support established non-profit organizations that are ready to receive donations and are natural outlets for receiving rage gifts, thus producing an emotional release for donors.

Individual Benefits of Rage Giving

Rage giving . . .

• provides an opportunity to participate in civic engagement,
• creates a venue for collective action,
• offers a space to share resources and knowledge that may contribute toward a social or political movement/cause,
• results in a feeling of emotional uplift,
• makes a difference by expressing a voice and opinion,
• produces something action-oriented,
• represents a healthy way to respond to negative emotions,
• is convenient and easy to do online, and
• provides a way to contribute instead of volunteering time.

Social Media and Fundraising

The rapid diffusion of the internet in society and the adoption of communications and marketing strategies through social media by politics, government, and non-profit organizations have enlarged and focused the landscape of the public sphere. These rapid changes in technology adoption and globalization have changed how systems, organizations, groups, and individuals work together to pursue the public interest. The growing use of social media in non-profit organizations has emerged as a niche research area and a necessary strategy in a new communication landscape for building sustainable organizations, with wide-ranging implications for organizational strategy and collective action.

Three major approaches define the changing expectations in marketing and social media strategy: transactional, relational, and value co-creation. Transactional exchange occurs when the value is exchanged between entities with no expectation of reciprocity, whereas in relational exchange, the value exchange exists between entities over time. Value co-creation as a strategic marketing paradigm originates in the customer’s willingness to participate in creating a new product or service, representing an avenue to create a competitive advantage. This is especially true in rage giving, where non-profit organizations can align their mission with a giving opportunity and civic engagement opportunities, reap the benefits of an expanded social and political capital network, and raise financial support in the process.

In the case of rage giving, many opportunities are not premeditated by non-profit organizations. An exception was the forecasting of the ACLU in the U.S. during the presidential race of 2016. During strategic planning sessions, ACLU staff modeled potential policy impacts of a Trump presidency based on his campaign rhetoric. ACLU staff developed marketing and communications plans to drive engagement with their mission and, subsequently, donations. The potential for rage giving became part of the ACLU’s communications, marketing, and, most importantly, fundraising strategy. In January 2017, and in reaction to early official actions by newly inaugurated President Trump, the unprecedented response to the ACLU’s premeditated “See You in Court” campaign resulted in several high-profile challenge gifts, and the ACLU website crashed as it struggled to cope with the internet traffic it received as people gave $24 million in one weekend.

Attaining a competitive advantage in the non-profit sector necessitates the adoption of value co-creation as an organizational strategy. By forecasting and monitoring the political climate, aligning communications and solicitations of a charitable mission provides significant promise for the development of competitive advantage. In most rage giving, while the donations have been unsolicited, the demand has been made real and apparent through current events and social media activity.

Rage Giving Marketing and Fundraising Strategies

Consider these actions when developing strategic plans:

• Target younger generations since they are more inclined to participate in rage giving than older generations

• Control the narrative on policy and community issues that impact the non-profit organization’s stakeholders:

o Train staff, board members, and volunteers to talk with donors about emotional impacts of issues affecting the non-profit’s mission
o Update the website content to clarify the organization’s position on a social or policy issue
o Put out press releases stating the position of the non-profit
o Utilize live, in-the-moment storytelling on social media

• Create long-term planning around rage donating – strategize how to appeal to, and mobilize, angry donors:

o Develop marketing and communications plans to drive engagement
o Write a non-profit advocacy plan that supports civic engagement

• Embrace strategic thinking about public policy and current events and build capacity:

o Anticipate future social and political events that might lead to rage giving
o Prepare for moments when rage giving and virtual donating might be a primary tactic of donor giving
o Have an emergency donation page ready in anticipation of an episodic moment of giving
o Think about the communications strategy for post-rage giving and develop a donor retention plan

Non-profit organizations need to determine how to appeal to and motivate angry citizens who want an outlet to express their anger.

Sustaining Support

Non-profit organizations need to determine the aftermath of a rage giving fundraising tool since the events that spawned the outrage and giving may be short-lived. Giving motivated by feelings of anger and rage places viral fundraising strategies in unfamiliar territory. The challenge with this new rage giving is keeping it going. Rage giving often does not last. Abortion access groups who received a windfall of donations following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade say those emergency grants have ended and individual and foundation giving has dropped off.

The first note of caution for non-profit organizations is that rage giving is episodic and tied to specific disasters and events. This reason alone creates difficulties with planning, budgeting, and the reliability of donors who give based on an emotional response to a social or political injustice that is happening during a given period. While many social and political injustices can be predicted, many cannot. For this reason, a non-profit organization may be hesitant to adopt rage giving as a tactic in their fundraising strategy, especially when resources and capacity are constrained.

Non-profit organizations must also be mindful of the negative connotation of the word “rage” in their marketing, communications, and fundraising materials. Individual donors may be turned off from a non-profit organization that gives the impression it is capitalizing on tragedy or negativity. Besides building supporters, donors may wonder why the non-profit organization is promoting negative messages, and the mission of the organization may be muted by the emotional emphasis of the episodic fundraising drive, often driven by anger.

A donor retention plan is necessary, and non-profit organizations should consider sending a quick, impactful, and powerful thank-you message immediately after the donation happens. Also, after the donation is made, consider communicating with donors about the impact of their gift through a video or visual that illustrates the effect of the contribution on the mission. Also, keeping the donor updated with information that will make them feel good about their monetary gift will encourage the individual to give again. Learning about the motivations of donors enables non-profit organizations to align their fundraising strategies with the passions of their support base.

Conclusion

In the years during and after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, giving out of an emotional response to anger received a salient and catchy label, that of rage giving. Simply put, rage giving is a phenomenon that connects negative emotions to giving. Since the election, donating as a response to the political climate has appeared to be a new and exciting paradigmatic shift in philanthropy and giving, and it is gaining traction. Rage giving illustrates that behavior and sentiment are both critical factors in motivating an individual to donate, often driven by an individual’s values.

With rage giving’s relevance to most political climates, it is evident that individual donors attempt to build social capital and participate in civic engagement by donating to non-profit organizations. Non-profit organizations are an essential component of building social capital, creating systemic change, aiding the underprivileged and underserved, and bringing citizens together with a shared goal.

With the recent wave of political discontent and the emotional tides of the rising and falling political climate, it is becoming more critical than ever to understand the emotion of anger and its connection to rage givers. The study of rage giving is essential in that it enhances our understanding of behavioral shifts and motivations related to giving as an emotional response to anger. Understanding rage giving will help researchers and practitioners in non- profit organizations ascertain how to appeal to and motivate individuals to donate online out of sentiment and behavioral responses to political and social injustices.

As a strategic planning initiative, non-profit organizations need to prepare for moments when rage giving and virtual donating might be a primary tactic that contributes to the organization’s fundraising goals, one that is spawned by a perceived social or political injustice. Non-profit organizations can strategize to create an alignment between their mission and giving and civic engagement opportunities for individuals in the community. To prepare, non-profit organizations need to train staff and board members on key messages they can use to talk with donors and other stakeholders about the emotional issues impacting the non-profit organization’s mission, harnessing any feelings of anger donors may be feeling toward a particular social or political injustice. In some cases, these issues may not relate to the political climate and may refer to an environmental or social concern.

Rage giving as a paradigmatic shift in donor behavior aligns with both prosocial behaviors and civic engagement by giving a voice to the underserved and unheard. Individuals who participate in rage giving do believe they can make a difference both in their communities and in the political sphere, and they believe their actions will bring about social and political change. Rage giving is not limited to a one-sided viewpoint, but rather the act of giving as an emotional response to anger can be in support or opposition to any cause, social injustice, or policy issue. Rage givers are progressives, conservatives, and independents alike. Regardless of political perspective, donors who participate in rage giving believe their donation will make an impact. Rage giving is a new form of philanthropy and a powerful tool of communication that creates collective action and increases civic engagement in times of despair or frustration.

The future of rage giving as a fundraising strategy for non-profit organizations is unknown, and it is unpredictable whether organizations can rely on this type of funding. But, for now, rage giving makes both individuals and non-profit organizations feel like they are part of a more significant social movement, and that may be enough to motivate rage givers to continue donating when they are feeling the need to take action for a cause. Non-profits have a responsibility to be ready. They need to strategize, they need to come up with a plan, they need to think about how they can scale multiple small gifts into real change.

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