Philanthropists in the public eye are often big personalities with large sums at their disposal, and they tell us about their big ideas for changing the world. There is a corresponding language of big-ness across the whole proposition: big bet philanthropy, scaling solutions, transforming systems, tackling the biggest challenges. These big visions for changing everything, of making a big difference are compelling, exciting and appealing.
Of course, there is a role for ambitious philanthropists and a need for transformational change. However, the big philanthropy mindset can favour the shiny, new, transformative initiative and overshadow less exciting needs such as a steady flow of funds to cover non-profits’ everyday operating costs. As Colburn Wilbur and Fred Setterberg write in their book, Giving With Confidence: A Guide To Savvy Philanthropy, “After many years of watching countless plans for instant transformation run out of fuel, I now embrace incrementalism as one of philanthropy’s orienting truths. Little changes for the good quickly. Unless we’re willing to support the steady work of our nonprofit partners, then not much will change period.”
It is important to remember that small and understated things also make a difference. After all, the majority of non-profits are small (over 80% of voluntary organisations in the UK have an annual income below £100,000) and they can be effective because of their smallness – which means they are accessible, known and trusted by the community. As well as small organisations, small donations from everyday philanthropists add up to large sums (in the UK 90% of donations are under £100). In this way, many small actions or contributions lead to significant change, demonstrating the important role for ‘evolution’ alongside ‘revolution’.
Focussing too much public profile on big philanthropy can be problematic in other ways. The vastness of the challenges facing our planet and society can stop people giving anything because they don’t know where to start. Feeling too small to make a difference is another barrier to people giving - what’s the point when my donation is just a drop in the ocean? The recent drop in everyday giving has in part been linked to people feeling that philanthropy is the role of the wealthy and not for them1. In short, if the profile of philanthropy is only about those with millions, it may keep others from acting.
But in contrast, feeling small can also be a good thing in philanthropy. Research into awe (see for example, this paper2) has found that witnessing nature’s wonder makes us feel small and increases our sense of inter-connectedness with others. It also affects people’s giving choices: in one study3 people induced to feel awe and a ‘small self’ donated proportionately more money to a global charity versus a local one. In this way, feeling small can ensure we think about our connections to others. It can guide us towards collective efforts, such as pooled funds, giving circles or funder collaboratives, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. So, feeling small does not always create inertia, but can help us to value every little act, first step, or minor donation in the full knowledge that “great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” [Vincent Van Gogh]
1 Donor Participation Report - https://give.org/docs/default-source/donor-trust-library/2023-dtr-report_final(d)_06272023.pdf
2The Science of Awe: A white paper prepared for the John Templeton Foundation by Summer Allen of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley September 2018
3Seo M, Yang S, Laurent SM. No one is an island: Awe encourages global citizenship identification. Emotion. 2023 Apr;23(3):601-612. doi: 10.1037/emo0001160. Epub 2022 Sep 8. PMID: 36074621.