Environmental Philanthropy: Is It Similar to Other Types of Environmental Behavior?

The authors analyze environmental philanthropy as a form of environmental behavior that has received scant attention in the literature. Environmental philanthropy refers to the giving of time and money in support of environmental issues through environmental nongovernmental organizations. The authors examine the way values, knowledge, political orientation, and a variety of sociodemographic variables are associated with environmental philanthropy and compare it with several other forms of environmental behaviors. Results from analysis of a sample of 1,565 American students indicate that environmental philanthropy is not shaped by the typical set of variables influencing environmental behavior that are reported in the literature. They conclude that the personal traits that shape environmental philanthropy should be theorized differently than other environmental behaviors.