Red Cross Blogs

Charitable parents raise children who give back

By Katrina Crew
April 11, 2011 at 3:48 pm

You’re far more likely to donate your time or money to charity if you saw your parents do so when you were growing up.

A study conducted by Grey Matter Research & Consulting has found that parents’ behaviour is a major factor in whether adults decide to volunteer or donate – bigger than their religious or political beliefs, or other personal factors.

Ron Sellers, president of Grey Matter Research, said “While the research doesn’t show an absolute one-to-one correlation, in real terms today’s volunteers are 125 per cent more likely to have come from parents who encouraged their children to volunteer, and 145 per cent more likely to have come from parents who frequently volunteered, than they are to have come from parents who really never did those things.”

The same goes for donations. When parents talked to their children about the charities they financially supported and why, their kids became more likely to donate their own money as adults.

I’m approaching my fourth anniversary at the British Red Cross, and in my time here I’ve met dozens of volunteers who’ve told me their parents used to be – or still are – active volunteers. I’ve met several families who volunteer together, giving back to their community while also spending valuable time together.

I’ve also heard stories from many people who donate to the Red Cross because the charity became important to them when they were children – often because their parents talked to them about life-saving help the Red Cross gave them when they needed it.

Did your parents show you the importance of supporting charities when you were growing up? If you have children, do you share your charitable activities with them?

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Tags: donations, volunteer, Volunteering

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 11th, 2011 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Fundraising and events, Volunteering. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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