People pick charities based on life experiences

People pick charities based on life experiences: "Prior to this study, more attention was paid to questions concerning how many donors give, how much they give, what sorts of people give and why people give, but there was little attention paid to the specific question of how donors choose which charities to support.

'Donors retain an expectation that charities exist to serve the needy, yet in reality their own giving decisions are driven by many non-needs-based factors. Given the voluntary nature of charitable activity these findings are not actually that surprising, as the freedom to support things that people care most deeply about is what differentiates charitable giving from paying tax,' explained researcher, Dr Beth Breeze of the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy in the UK."