GIVING AMONG SAME-SEX COUPLES: THE ROLE OF IDENTITY, MOTIVATIONS, AND CHARITABLE DECISION-MAKING IN PHILANTHROPIC ENGAGEMENT Elizabeth Jane Dale Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Indiana University June 2016 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy. ____________________________________ Debra J. Mesch., Ph.D., Chair ____________________________________ Lehn M. Benjamin, Ph.D. Doctoral Committee ____________________________________ Dwight F. Burlingame, Ph.D. May 6, 2016 ____________________________________ Nancy Marie Robertson, Ph.D. ii DEDICATION To my parents, for instilling in me a love of learning. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have often heard that completing a Ph.D. can be a lonely path. For me, I found the road through my program to be rich with people who were insightful, caring, and collaborative, giving me the opportunity to form friendships and meet new colleagues from the United States and around the world. First and foremost, I thank my chair, Dr. Debra Mesch, the Eileen Lamb O’Gara Chair in Women’s Philanthropy and director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. This dissertation was born out of a presentation on women’s giving Deb gave back in 2011 when I was the Director of Development for Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago. During the question and answer period of her presentation, an audience member asked, “What about same-sex couples?” Deb’s answer was that academic research simply didn’t know. Over the next three years, as I was accepted into a Ph.D. program, completed my coursework, taught undergraduate students, and collaborated with Deb and her colleagues on new research, I realized that important question still had not been answered. Thus, I decided to take it on. Deb, at every point through this process, you have been nothing but a positive, supportive role model, reading drafts, introducing me to your colleagues, and helping me hone my research and writing skills. I look forward to our continued collaboration as we research women’s giving in the coming years. To my research committee, Dr. Dwight Burlingame, Dr. Nancy Robertson, and Dr. Lehn Benjamin, I knew I had expertise in my corner. Dwight, thank you for offering your personal library to me many times and being incredibly patient when I asked to move books across the country because I hadn’t finished reading them. Nancy, from my first year in the Ph.D. program, you posed the most interesting and important questions iv about my scholarship and professional goals and guided me with thoughtful questions about queer identity, women’s giving, and how to bring my women’s studies background into the study of philanthropy. And finally, Lehn, you offered methodological expertise and provided encouraging notes, helpful articles, and book suggestions to this dissertation research, not to mention facilitating the monthly Ph.D. seminars that helped all of us in the Ph.D. program pass our exams, write better, and get published. I have had the pleasure to make so many friends from Indiana University who shared some or all of this journey with me: Sarah, Kori, Ruth, Richard, Jim, Pat, Barb, Peter, and Kim, I know you have much to offer this world! Dr. Gen Shaker deserves special thanks as both a mentor and collaborator in teaching and research. To my friends from ISTR, who stayed in touch via Facebook over the past two years as we celebrated graduations and new jobs, welcomed new children into the world, and faced our own personal obstacles: Emily, Carlos, Johanna, Mieke, and especially Christiane. To my friends in Indianapolis, who allowed me to build a rich life outside of academia, including the lovely Ladies of Leisure book club, our neighbors in Chatham Arch who welcomed us immediately, and the members of the Chatham Arch Community Garden, which kept us full of tomatoes in the hot Indiana summers! To my new colleagues at Seattle University, Maureen, Noreen, Angela, Peter, Lindsay, and Sarah, I feel so fortunate to work with you each day to build the next generation of nonprofit leaders and grapple with the issues of power and privilege that inhabit the nonprofit sector as they do all other aspects of life. Thank you for allowing me to make my intellectual home in a place so supportive of my teaching and research. To Liz Flores-Marcus and ChrisTiana ObeySumner, thank you for volunteering to serve v as peer reviewers on this work amid pursuing your own degrees. You both contributed valuable insights and perspective. To my parents, who have always encouraged me to keep learning and who supported me at every step. Mom, I still write everything for you. And finally, to Sarah, my wife, who said yes when I asked her if I could quit my job to pursue full-time graduate study and uproot us from our home in Chicago to a new home in Indianapolis, and then eventually across the country for a new job in Seattle. I hope we can always support each other in achieving our goals and continue to enjoy the new adventures life will bring. vi Elizabeth Jane Dale GIVING AMONG SAME-SEX COUPLES: THE ROLE OF IDENTITY, MOTIVATIONS, AND CHARITABLE DECISION-MAKING IN PHILANTHROPIC ENGAGEMENT This study investigates the philanthropic practices of same-sex couples, including their motivations for giving and how they make philanthropic decisions. Existing research has focused almost exclusively on heterosexual couples and assumes that all households are the same. Using the frameworks of the eight mechanisms of giving and social identification theory, this study investigates the role of identity in philanthropic behavior and how gender differences may be amplified among same-sex couples. Drawing on 19 semi-structured joint interviews with gay and lesbian couples in Indiana, the research uses a qualitative method to “give voice” to a marginalized population’s philanthropic experiences that are little studied. The study finds participants are highly engaged in nonprofit organizations and participate in a diverse array of philanthropic behaviors. While many couples support at least one LGBT-affiliated nonprofit, giving to LGBT causes does not constitute the majority of most couples’ philanthropy. Still, sexual orientation plays a significant role in motivating support for the LGBT community, for public policy changes and equal rights initiatives, and to HIV/AIDS- service organizations. Sexual orientation also determines which organizations many donors would not support. Same-sex couples also use their philanthropy as a way to support their communities at-large and be recognized by mainstream society. In terms of financial management, a majority of participant couples maintained independent financial vii accounts or partial pooling systems of household income, leading to more opportunities for charitable giving; at the same time, couples expressed low conflict over making giving decisions and supported one another’s interests. This study provides scholars and practitioners insights into the complex interactions of motivations, identity, and financial arrangements that underscore charitable giving, and it offers implications for nonprofit organizations and fundraisers who work with diverse populations of donors. Debra J. Mesch, Ph.D., Chair viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION ................................................................................1 LGBT Individuals in the United States ................................................................................3 Problem Statement ...............................................................................................................5 Study Purpose ......................................................................................................................7 Study Significance ...............................................................................................................7 Research Questions ..............................................................................................................8 Study Design ........................................................................................................................9 Definition of Key Concepts .................................................................................................9 Dissertation Overview .......................................................................................................12 CHAPTER TWO – REVIEW OF LITERATURE ............................................................14 Motivations for Giving ......................................................................................................14 Household Financial Management ....................................................................................21 Household Charitable Decision-Making ............................................................................25 Gender Differences in Charitable Behavior .......................................................................27 Research on LGBT Philanthropy .......................................................................................28 Current Research Limitations ............................................................................................29 CHAPTER THREE – METHODS AND RESEARCH DESIGN .....................................31 Overview