Study Reveals Cat Owners Emerge as More Generous Philanthropists Than Dog Owners

A substantial new investigation conducted by researchers at Dartmouth College has shed light on the charitable giving habits of pet owners, challenging long-held assumptions regarding the personalities associated with choosing a cat or a dog. The findings, which were formally published in the peer-reviewed journal Anthrozoös, centered specifically on the frequency and diversity of the causes recipients donated to.

The research team, spearheaded by Professor Herbert Chang, utilized anonymized transaction data supplied by Snowflake, a major provider of cloud-based data warehousing services. This extensive dataset encompassed records for roughly 63 million donors and a staggering 788 million transactions, totaling approximately 70 billion dollars over the decade spanning 2013 through 2022. The analysis focused on donations ranging from $20 up to $100,000, carefully controlling for demographic variables such as age, gender, income level, and educational attainment. To uncover subtle patterns and hidden relationships within the data, the team employed the CatBoost machine learning model.

The most significant takeaway from the study indicates that cat owners exhibit both a higher frequency of charitable contributions and support a broader array of philanthropic organizations when compared directly to dog owners. On average, cat owners made approximately 15 separate contributions throughout the analyzed period, whereas dog owners averaged closer to 13. Furthermore, the data showed that cat owners donated roughly $80 more annually, in aggregate, than their canine-owning counterparts.

Despite the greater regularity and breadth of giving demonstrated by cat enthusiasts, individuals who reported owning no pets remained the top contributors in terms of total donation volume. These non-pet owners donated an average of about $1,060 over the nine-year span. In contrast, cat owners contributed an average of $780, and dog owners gave an average of $700. Interestingly, the group without pets made an average of 11 individual donations, suggesting that while they gave less frequently than cat owners, their individual gifts were substantially larger.

Scientists posit that these measurable differences in philanthropic behavior might stem from underlying personality traits that correlate with the choice of companion animal. Cat owners have previously been linked in psychological studies to higher levels of openness to new experiences, a trait that could translate into a greater responsiveness to the varied needs presented by different charitable causes. These newly gathered insights offer tangible value to the non-profit sector, potentially enabling organizations to refine and tailor their fundraising campaigns more effectively based on whether a prospective donor has a feline or a canine companion.