Giving and Philanthropy Discourse Analysis of news and social media
3-Year Key Findings Overview (2017-2020) Project Purpose Project Objectives vProvide an overview of narratives Commissioned by the Philanthropic about giving and philanthropy and Partnerships Team at the Bill & Melinda the evolution of these narratives over Gates Foundation, this work fills a gap in time research describing and understanding conversations about giving and vIdentify promising and problematic narratives philanthropy that are taking place in the news and across social media. vAnalyze the public narrative around the role of philanthropists Researchers from the Media Ecosystems Analysis Group vDetect specific moments or analyzed discourse within news campaigns that shifted narratives stories and Twitter, Facebook, and vIdentify influential news sources, Instagram posts pertaining to giving organizations, and individuals in media and philanthropy. When possible, analysis coverage and discussion about giving was narrowed to US-based content. and philanthropy vDetect trends by repeating research year-over-year vData sources employed 1. Media Cloud, for news and digital media. Targeted US publications Methodology and the websites they link to. 2. Brandwatch, for publicly viewable Twitter posts. Targeted to US tweets. 3. CrowdTangle, for public Facebook and Instagram posts.
v Search terms used to find content Complex keyword query relating to charitable giving/philanthropy. The word “election” removed to reduce the impact of political donation discussion.
v Timeframe of content analyzed 3 years, content posted or published between 8/1/2017 and 8/1/2020. What events drive increased coverage and discussion to the topic of giving and philanthropy? News Media
Political events are the most prevalent category of events driving spikes in coverage. Coverage pertains both to political donations and to grassroots fundraising efforts responding to political developments (e.g., fundraisers for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and for Brett Kavanaugh in 2018). Scandals pertaining to fundraising or notable philanthropists often cause peaks in coverage (e.g., the largest ever GoFundMe fraud in 2018). National tragedies, both natural disasters and acts of violence, consistently cause increased coverage. While point events like Hurricane Harvey (2017) or the Las Vegas shooting (2017) cause localized spikes, the coronavirus crises and the issue of police brutality and racial injustice (both 2020) caused an overall sustained increase in coverage mentioning giving and philanthropy. Twitter
Political events are also key drivers of discussion to the topic of giving and philanthropy on Twitter. One type of political event receiving special attention on Twitter is reaction to the political donations of notable individuals (e.g., reporting that the founder of Home Depot contributed to the Trump campaign in 2019) Annual fundraising campaigns #GivingTuesday and #BellLetsTalkDay cause peaks in Twitter discussion. In 2020 in particular, instances of viral Tweets from wealthy individuals offering cash giveaways to followers caused breakout spikes in conversation. National tragedies, both natural disasters and acts of violence, lead to increased Twitter conversation as users circulate fundraising links. Facebook
The #GivingTuesday campaign – including, in 2020, #GivingTuesdayNow – is the only event that drives a noticeable increase in conversation to the topic of philanthropy and giving on Facebook. This is explained in part by the global nature of the Facebook data analyzed for this project. In future years of this research, the data will be delineated to US-based posts for further analysis. In the spring of 2020 there was an overall increase in the volume of Facebook posts relating to philanthropy and giving in conjunction with the coronavirus crises worsening; however this was not a point-in-time peak, and the specific topics of the posts varied. Top 100 most frequently used words in #GivingTuesday Facebook posts (2019) Instagram
The #GivingTuesday campaign – including, in 2020, #GivingTuesdayNow – is a consistent driver of increased posting the topic of philanthropy and giving on Instagram. National tragedies, both natural disasters and acts of violence, lead to increased Instagram posts about giving and philanthropy (e.g., Hurricane Harvey). Events pertaining to social justice cause increased conversation to the topic of giving on Instagram (e.g. National Women’s Day, #BlackOutTuesday after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020). vNews SUMMARY • Political events • Scandals Driving Events • National tragedies by Platform vTwitter • Political events • Fundraising campaigns • National tragedies vFacebook • #GivingTuesday campaigns vInstagram • #GivingTuesday campaigns • National tragedies • Events pertaining to social justice What are the main narratives present in coverage and discussion of giving and philanthropy? How have these changed over time? Narrative Timeline
Y1 Y2 Y3 Power of crowdfunding ◻ ◻ ◻ Everyday people helping in small ways ◻ ◻ ◻ Celebrity charity ◻ ◻ ◻ Notable philanthropists and their gifts ◻ ◻ ◻ Everyday people asking for money ◻ ◻ ◻ Hypocritical donors/institutions ◻ ◻ ◻ Donating as part of a healthy lifestyle ◻ ◻ ◻ Untrustworthy charities & fundraising scams ◻ ◻ ◻ Corporate donations ◻ ◻ ◻ Impact of new tax law ◻ Political influence through donations ◻ ◻ Everyday people helping in big ways ◻ ◻ Donations and college admissions ◻ Spending money as charity ◻ Promotion of mutual aid funds ◻ This narrative is among the most prevalent in all three years of the research, as evidenced by GoFundMe.com being the most linked-to Y1-Y3 website by news sites. Power of While there are a plethora of crowdfunding appeals on social platforms for a variety of crowdfunding personal and social causes, campaigns that respond to events that have taken on a political and social urgency are the most popular. In Y1, the most prominent causes included families separated at the border and the killing of Philando Castile. In Y2, among the most popular websites on philanthropy and giving was a campaign to raise funds to build a southern border wall. In Y3, focus turned to campaigns for protestor bail funds following the killing of George Floyd, as well as coronavirus relief funds. This narrative differs from crowdfunding in that the focus isn’t on polling the money, but on the Y1-Y3 difference one person can make alone, which may not be monetary donations. Everyday people helping in While present in Y1-Y2, it became much more small ways prevalent in Y3, as the dual crises of coronavirus and racial injustice sparked increased discourse of the many small ways individuals could make a difference.
Key examples include: sewing and donating masks and PPE; donating food and meals; directing purchasing power in charitable ways; and staying home as an act of giving during coronavirus. Philanthropic donations of celebrities do garner coverage and discussion, both positive and negative.
Y1-Y3 In Y1, celebrity donations to Hurricane Harvey relief were prominent, as was coverage of Colin Kaepernick’s charitable giving. Y2 saw a variety Celebrity charity of causes without a dominant theme. Y3 celebrity charity focused on coronavirus and racial injustice. Social posts about celebrity donations to coronavirus relief were among the most liked and shared. Interestingly, in Y1, apolitical causes tended to be more positive stories, while celebrities entering into more political causes (such as Kaepernick) was discussed more negatively; this seems to have shifted by Y3, where celebrities donating to Black Lives Matter was covered in a positive light. Coverage of donations by notable philanthropists was a consistent, if slightly smaller, Y1-Y3 narrative for all three years. Philanthropists George Soros, Bill Gates, Mark Notable Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffett were among the philanthropists most frequently mentioned individuals in stories and their gifts of philanthropy and giving. In Y2, billionaire Robert F. Smith’s pledge to pay off the Morehouse class of 2019 student debt was highlighted. In Y3, MacKenzie Scott’s charitable giving, particularly to HBCUs, was featured in news coverage. A Bill & Melinda Gates donation to coronavirus research was also covered widely. Primarily in social media, a narrative persists of individuals discussing giving and philanthropy in the context of asking for money for themselves. Y1-Y3 Such posts often personally tagged well-known Everyday people billionaire philanthropists. While posts in this vein were already common in asking for money Y1 and Y2, they increased in Y3 due to the economic hardship associated with the coronavirus pandemic. This narrative emphasizes the hypocrisy of philanthropists who give money to prosocial Y1-Y3 causes but behave in harmful ways in other aspects of their life, and of the nonprofit Hypocritical institutions that take money from these donors/ individuals. In Y1, news stories about Harvey Weinstein and institutions other #MeToo-exposed perpetrators often mentioned their philanthropic contributions in the reporting. While some social media posts called for organizations to return donations from these individuals, this was not yet the focus of the narrative. In Y2, coverage of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, arrest and death expanded to include a specific focus on the culpability of institutions that accepted his philanthropy. This type of coverage persisted into Y3. There was also similar coverage of institutions returning or refusing gifts from the Sackler family. Coverage and discussion of corporate philanthropy – both positive and negative – was present in all three years of research. Y1-Y3 Y1 content of this narrative was primarily focused Corporate on corporations sharing their donations for Hurricane Harvey relief. There was some critical donations social media discussion about if brands were using the tragedy for marketing purposes. Y2 saw a shift to focusing on “outing” corporate donations (or donations of individual CEOs) to Republican politicians. This discourse was more prominent on Twitter than on other platforms. In Y3, the narrative took the form of numerous statements from corporations themselves sharing how they were giving back to address the coronavirus pandemic and racial injustice. Fundraising scams did drive coverage to the topic of philanthropy and giving, and there was Y1-Y3 persistent social media discussion of charities Untrustworthy that might be untrustworthy. This small but powerful narrative often failed to charities and contextualize how rare or common such fundraising wrongdoing is within the sector. scams In Y1, the primary focus of this narrative was backlash toward the Red Cross for alleged mishandling of funds in disaster relief. In Y3, the narrative centered on scams related to coronavirus relief solicitations. This narrative is found more on social media, with posts emphasizing the positive benefits of giving Y1-Y3 back. Some articles point to scientific research about the power of altruism and giving. Donating as part In Y3, this narrative took on a nuance of giving of a healthy back as a way to cope with the stress of the times, in particular being confined to home lifestyle during coronavirus shutdowns. This narrative touches on wealthy individuals or groups making donations to elected officials, Y1-Y2 and possibly receiving political influence and Political favorable legal or policy outcomes. In Y1, a major focus of this narrative was influence politicians who continued to receive donations through from the NRA following the Parkland school shooting. A Washington Post interactive story to donations view if an elected official received NRA donations was among the top shared stories on Twitter within giving and philanthropy that year. This narrative was far less prominent in Y3, given the dominant presence of narratives more pertinent to the coronavirus pandemic and racial injustice. Story and posts about everyday people helping in extraordinary ways were more prevalent in Y1 Y1-Y2 and Y2 than in Y3. In Y1, the stories were primarily about individuals Everyday people responding to Hurricane Harvey, such as a helping in big furniture store owner who allowed hundreds of ways Texans to shelter in his stories. A cross-platform effect was observed in that news stories covering a story of an individual doing a heroic act of charity received a lot of traction on social media platforms. In Y1, there was a thread of discourse of backlash to the 2017 tax reform legislation. Some social media posters stated they would be less Y1 only likely to donate if it passed (which it did). Impact of new In this narrative, there was frequent use of the term “donor class” to mean wealthy, political tax law donors to Republicans who pushed for tax reform advantageous to them. The narrative positioned this donor class as opposite to working class. This narrative did not persist beyond Y1. The nationwide college admissions scam revealed in 2019 and the Harvard admissions trial in late 2018 brought critical attention to the Y2 only connection between wealthy donors and Donations and college admissions. There was widespread social media ridicule and college holding account of celebrities involved in these actions, as well as associated critique of the admissions benefits that come with philanthropic donations. This narrative receded from discourse when the arrests of celebrities involved in the admissions scam were no longer emphasized in the news cycle. It was not found in Y3 analysis. A narrative emerged in Y3 emphasizing the ways that spending money, outside of a traditional financial donation, can be a charitable act. Y3 - Key examples include: Spending money § Paying for services not rendered due to as charity coronavirus • Such as house cleaning, child care, admission price to cancelled events § Directing funds towards black-owned businesses in response to racial injustice § Purchasing gift cards from businesses closed to due coronavirus restrictions § Buying goods from companies that donate a portion of the proceeds to charity (most commonly coronavirus relief or charities focused on Black communities) • Companies promoted these arrangements and this narrative heavily on Facebook and Instagram The economic devastation associated with the coronavirus saw new discourse in Y3 about grassroots mutual aid funds, often hyperlocal Y3 - and clearly delineated as addressing basic Promotion of needs. § Google documents of community mutual aid funds resources hosted by mutual aid networks landed Google Docs among the top linked-to domains within coronavirus giving
§ The term “mutual aid” was 14x more prevalent in Y3 than Y2 § This narrative is related to the Power of crowdfunding narrative, but slightly unique in the framing Which individuals and organizations are most influential on discourse? News Media
The Washington Post and the New York Times are the most influential publications on the topic in news media. They were in the top 10 publications Y1-Y3 in all three metrics of influence: number of stories published on the topic, number of in-links to their content, and number of Facebook shares of their content. GoFundMe.com was the publication most frequently linked to by news sites for all three years. Forbes also ranked highly on one or more influence metrics across all years of the research. Twitter
Politicians, particularly national level elected officials, tend to make up most of the top influencers on the Twitter discussion of giving and philanthropy. Charities are also present, such as Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence, which was in the top authors for multiple years. In Y3, wealthy individuals offering cash giveaways to followers entered the top ten most influential accounts (Jeffrey Star, Bill Pulte). Facebook
Animal charities are consistently among the top authors on Facebook, particularly pet rescue/adoption groups and wildlife protection groups. Philanthropists themselves are also included among the top authors. Zimbabwean philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa had the most liked post on philanthropy and giving for Y1 and Y2. Corporate giving is also represented, with CEOs appearing in the top authors for multiple years. Instagram
Celebrities, in particular young singers and actors, are consistently the most popular influencers in the topic of giving and philanthropy on Instagram. Actor Ian Somerhalder and singer Selena Gomez were among the most influential authors on Instagram for multiple years. Disney channel stars (Dove Cameron, Karan Brar) generated among the most liked posts for two of the three years. vNews SUMMARY • New York Times • Washington Post Influencers by • Forbes • GoFundMe.com Platform vTwitter • Politicians • Charities • Wealthy individuals
vFacebook • Animal charities and other nonprofits • Philanthropists • CEOs and corporations
vInstagram • Celebrities What other insights emerged from this work? A link between giving/philanthropy and politics persists despite Intersection with removing posts and news articles politics that contained the word “election” from the results.
Philanthropy Tweets Philanthropy News Stories • The most-mentioned people in Focused on Politics Focused on Politics philanthropy news stories were largely political figures. 14% • The top influencers on Twitter are 22% national-level politicians. • Individuals who tweeted about giving or philanthropy were found to be more interested in politics than the rest of Twitter users. Popularity of animal welfare causes
• Posts about animal welfare • Posts about animals were • When examining posts on were frequent and always more prevalent than posts Facebook and Instagram for among the most popular on about children, health, several giving campaigns social platforms poverty/homelessness, or (Giving Tuesday, Red Nose natural disasters Day, and the overall term “match giving”), posts about animals were the most prevalent by a factor of 2 Discourse about giving and philanthropy varies across Differences by platforms on key characteristics, platform such as influencers and driving events.
v Influencers varied widely by v The events that drive an platform. Whereas politicians increase in attention to the •#YangGang •#thankyou •#ad dominated the most topic of giving and •#MAGA •#fundraiser •#blackout influential posters on the philanthropy differ across •#BLM •#community tuesday platforms. While •#fundraising •#giveaway topic of giving and #GivingTuesday is the only •#Bernie2020 philanthropy on Twitter, they consistent driving event on were not influential on Facebook and a main Instagram. On Instagram, one on Instagram, it does Top hashtags in giving and young celebrities dominate not drive increased news philanthropy content that are unique coverage. each year. to each social media platform (Y3) With questions or to discuss this research, contact: Emily Boardman Ndulue [email protected]