Pet Owners & philanthropy: New Study Reveals How Furry Friends Influence Charitable Giving
HANOVER, NH – A groundbreaking analysis of nearly 800 million charitable donation records has revealed surprising connections between pet ownership and giving behavior. Teh study, published online September 19, 2025, in the journal Anthrozoös, demonstrates that while non-pet owners donate larger amounts cat and dog owners exhibit distinct patterns in donation frequency, diversity, and even political alignment.
Researchers at Dartmouth College’s Program in Quantitative Social Science, led by Ho-Chun Herbert Chang, examined a massive dataset of 62,763,634 donors and 787,877,198 transactions totaling $69.7 billion, collected by a nonprofit marketing company between 2013 and 2022. Pet ownership was categorized into four groups: No Pets (39%), Both Cats and Dogs (34%), Dogs Only (18%), and Cats Only (9%).
The findings challenge simple assumptions about charitable giving.While non-pet owners donated an average of over $1,000 in total, cat owners donated more frequently - an average of 14 times over the decade compared to 11 times for non-pet owners.Furthermore, cat owners demonstrated a broader range of charitable interests, with only 52% giving to a single institution, compared to 63% of those without pets. This indicates a greater “donation diversity.”
“Our ties with our beloved pets reflect more than companionship,” the study suggests, possibly shaping how individuals connect with causes and communities.
Using a machine learning technique called CatBoost regression, researchers identified pet ownership as the fourth most notable predictor of donation amounts, following income, education, and gender. The analysis also uncovered intriguing political trends. Cat owners leaned Democratic, while dog owners showed higher rates of Republican affiliation. Pet owners, in general, were more likely to identify as independents, while non-pet owners were more often non-partisan.
The study utilized the Wasserstein metric (Earth Mover’s distance) to measure statistical distances between giving patterns and Shannon entropy to quantify diversity.
Researchers acknowledge several limitations. The dataset comprised existing donors, introducing a selection bias towards those already inclined to philanthropy. Demographic data was collected only at the initial data entry point and wasn’t updated throughout the study period. Crucially, the study was observational, preventing the establishment of causal relationships. additionally, the donor database showed a higher proportion of pet owners than reflected in national census data, suggesting potential overrepresentation of pet owners among charitable contributors.
The research received exemption status from the Dartmouth Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (STUDY00033213). The author reported no potential conflict of interest. The study was published by Taylor & Francis Group and the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ).
The full study, “Pet Ownership Ties as Indicators for Giving Behavior,” is available online at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08927936.2025.2544418.
