RFP Details

The Science of Generosity initiative is particularly interested in better understanding three basic aspects of generosity:

• The sources, origins, and causes of generosity
• The variety of manifestations and expressions of generosity
• The consequences of generosity for both the givers and receivers involved

For purposes of this project, generosity is defined as the disposition toward and practice of giving good things to others freely and abundantly. Generosity might involve the giving of money, possessions, time, attention, aid, encouragement, emotional investment and more. As a research topic, generosity is related to but not identical with the areas of charitable financial giving, volunteering, altruism, philanthropy, informal helping, corporate giving, voluntary service, bequests and estates, relational commitment, love, social exchange and so on.

We invite proposals from scholars and teams of scholars in the fields of anthropology, behavioral economics, business and finance, communications, cultural studies, economics, education, family and developmental studies, geography, law, political science, psychology, religious studies, social psychology, sociobiology and sociology.

The cumulative knowledge generated from the grant awardees’ research will begin to answer such questions as:

• How do people come to believe that generosity is important?
• How are people generous with time, money and attention?
• How does giving anonymously versus publicly affect generosity?
• What difference does generosity make to the giver, recipient and to society as a whole?
• What are the costs of a lack of generosity?

For a downloadable version of the request for proposals information contained in this website, click here.

To see the press release for this project, click here.