According to an independent poll of 200 charitable organizations, overall donations of money to nonprofit groups increased last year, but educational institutions did not fare as well as other organizations. Donations to international aid groups increased the most (30 percent), followed by donations to environmental groups (23 percent), whereas donations to educational institutions actually decreased slightly (3 percent). Meanwhile, all of the major economic indicators suggest that consumer spending is higher than average this year, showing that potential donors have ample disposable income. Therefore, the clearest explanation for the decline in donations to educational institutions is that people actually value education less than they did in the past.
Write a response in which you discuss one or more alternative explanations that could rival the proposed explanation and explain how your explanation(s) can plausibly account for the facts presented in the argument.
When approaching the topic of charitable giving, we should always keep in mind the ‘why’ behind it. While some argue that people donate money to specific types of charities because of a desire to help a particular group of people or a particular part of the world, others believe that people donate money to charity simply because others do. This is particularly true when a large area of the country experiences a dramatic economic downturn, as happened in the United States in 2008. In early 2009, Forbes magazine published the results of a poll that asked Americans about the purpose of their charitable donations. The respondents were grouped into two categories: those who gave money to a charity for the first time, and those who gave money to charity in the previous year. The ‘new’ donors were asked about their decision, and the ‘returning’ donors were asked about why they decided to give.
For the ‘new’ donors, the reasons they gave were varied. Some said that they had encountered the charitable organization through a friend or relative, while others said that they had heard about the charity in the media. Some gave money to the charity because it had done good work in the past, while others gave because the organization’s cause was personally important to them. The ‘returning’ donors shared similar reasons, but they also had additional motivations. Some said that they were concerned about the state of the world, while others said that they had donated money to charity to support their church or other religious organization. Others said they were inspired by a television program or special they had seen, or that they had visited a charitable organization’s Web site.
The data tell us that Americans continue to donate money to charitable organizations. However, the data shows that while the number of people who give money to international aid groups and environmental groups continues to increase, donations to educational institutions have decreased. What can explain this?First, we must examine why donations decreased to educational institutions. One possible explanation is a decline in the value of the American dollar. In 2008, the buying power of a dollar in the US was 50 percent less than it was in 1999. This decline in value, combined with a decrease in the number of jobs in the US economy, means that many people became less able to afford the costs of higher education. Another explanation is inflation. Between 2008 and 2012, the price of commodities increased 23 percent, and 10 percent more between 2012 and 2014. This means that American consumers have less money to spend than they did just a few years ago.
Both of these explanations are valid. However, we may offer an additional explanation: Americans no longer value education as much as they once did. The Forbes article referenced above notes that 62 percent of respondents to the Forbes poll said that education was very important, but 54 percent said that education quality has declined. This evidence is anecdotal, but it fits with statistics that show a decline in average SAT scores since the late 1980s. The decline in the SAT scores is an example of a phenomenon known as ‘cognitive sorting.’ As society becomes more affluent, its members place more value on things that they perceive as luxury goods and entertainment. This perceived value tends to lead to a decrease in demand for education, which is no longer viewed as a necessity. These effects could be part of the reason why donations to educational institutions decreased last year.