What Types of “Change Agents” Are Your Donors?

For a while all the rage on Facebook were those short personality quizzes that tell you which Star Wars character you most resemble, which superhero you would be, etc. But there is a real research-based quiz out there that curious donors can take to identify what type of “social change agent” they are—and the seven-question quiz could be a good conversation starter for planned gift officers.

The quiz is the result of a 2013 study from Walden University that identifies six types of social change agents:

• The Ultra-Committed Change-Maker
• The Faith-Inspired Giver
• The Socially Conscious Consumer
• The Purposeful Participant
• The Casual Contributor
• The Social Change Spectator

It’s not easy to read that list without wanting to know which one you are, especially when you know that there’s research behind it rather than the tongue-in-cheek (but still enticing) quizzes on social media. The six profiles were established based on interviews with more than 9,000 persons in eight countries, including about 2,000 people in the United States. Walden, an online university based in Minneapolis, found that 80 percent of those interviewed had participated in a “positive social change activity” in the past six months, such as:

• Volunteering or providing some other form of service.
• Donating money, goods, or services.
• Educating others about a particular issue or cause.

The study did not ask questions about specific types of charitable gifts, but from the detailed profiles of the six social change agents it appears that those most likely to consider planned gifts include the two most committed change agents: Ultra-Committed Change-Maker and Faith-Inspired Giver, both of whom have lifelong commitments to social causes. Here are brief descriptions of those two:

Ultra-Committed Change-Makers believe it is a moral responsibility to help others, and nearly half engage in regular volunteer activities, well above the rate for all study participants and a predictor of planned giving. Ninety-two percent said they “want to make a difference in people’s lives because others have made a difference in theirs,” according to the study. This group made up 13 percent of Americans in the study.

Faith-Inspired Givers on average tend to be older than other study participants and also attend far more religious services—two key predictors of planned gifts. Like the Ultra-Committed Change-Makers, they volunteer more than the study average and are more likely to be motivated by making a difference in people’s lives. This group made up 17 percent of Americans in the study.

Links to the quiz and to detailed survey results can be found here: http://www.waldenu.edu/about/social-change/impact-report-2013?RedirectMobile=false