The market for charitable donations in the Federal Republic of Germany: From state regulation to media influence

This article investigates voluntary giving to major foundations in the Federal Republic of Germany. These foundations compete for donations by employing businesslike strategies to attract the attention of the public. Voluntary giving is thus studied within the framework of a market analysis. From the early 1950s to the 1990s, the "charitable market" underwent significant changes. At the beginning, giving and collecting for philanthropic purposes was significantly limited by state authorities. The state allowed only a handful of foundations to collect funds for charitable causes mainly in Germany. Since the late 1950s the German "charitable market economy" was subject to an extensive liberatization which led to the expansion in the number of charitable foundations and the broadening of charitable causes (for example charities in developing countries). While the state diminished its influence on giving and collecting for charities, media gained an important role in guiding the decisions of Germans with regards to the causes they were likely to support. And although the donor's options to give have been multiplied, it must be doubted that this change can be interpreted as an expansion of civic engagement in West Germany.