The password for generosity: Trust

Both donors and researchers find giving in all its forms relies on individuals experiencing generosity and learning to trust others.

The Monitor's View

For more than a decade, Airbnb has donated millions to charitable causes, sometimes with help from the hosts who rent out properties on the booking platform. The goal of these grants has been to “unlock the creative power” of hospitality based on the idea that generosity evokes emulation and is intrinsic to each individual. This year, the company’s nonprofit arm tried something different.

It allowed a board representing hundreds of Airbnb hosts to select projects in their communities worthy of a donation. That extension of trust to the hosts was widely admired in the philanthropic world as one way to create ripples of giving. Last week, the company donated $10 million to more than 120 nonprofits in 44 countries.

“It’s important for us to be stewards of our community,” Nadia Giordani, who rents out a house in Atlanta and serves on the Airbnb Host Advisory Board, told The Associated Press. She was thrilled to hear how other hosts are supporting nonprofits near them.

Trust, it turns out, can have significant influence on generosity, according to a report this month by the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland. Relying on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the institute found that trust in others, particularly neighbors, encourages people to participate in community groups and civic organizations, leading to higher rates of giving and volunteering.

Being a member of a religious congregation has the largest influence on individual philanthropy. And the report notes this: “The Internet age has prompted dramatic changes in the importance of community organizations and informal groups in people’s lives – and the pandemic has caused even more profound changes to the way people engage with groups.”

The idea that kindness begets kindness was reinforced this week by this new finding from the Christian research group Barna:

More than half of U.S. adults who reported making charitable donations within the last year (54%) said they have received “extraordinary generosity from others,” compared with only 36% of nongivers.

A similar theme is found in a new book by Chris Anderson, the curator of TED Talks for 23 years during which he put the world’s top thinkers and doers on a stage in front of a camera for anyone to listen to.

The book, entitled “Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading,” is based on his revelation that generosity is “the essential connecting thread between the most important lessons” he’s ever learned.

“It’s not just about giving away money. Simply adopting a generous mindset can make a difference. That can lead to gifts of time, talent, creativity, connection, and basic human kindness,” he writes. These gifts “have the potential to create amazing chain reactions.”

He provides an example of reaching out with compassion to listen to those with whom we disagree on issues. “If you’re successful, there’s a powerful knock-on benefit: You are helping change the tone of public discussion today. That’s a gift to all of us.” Trust wins. Again.