Opinion: Charity Is Selfish

Charitable giving is not always as altruistic as it may seem, writes Tim Hartford, in Slate magazine.

Mr. Hartford, a columnist for the Financial Times, argues that people want to feel good when they act charitably, whether through donations of money or their time. “It would almost always be more effective to volunteer less, work overtime, and give more,” he writes.

Further, the most selfless donors would not treat charity the way they treat traditional financial investments, Mr. Hartford writes, diversifying donations by doling out small gifts to a number of charities: “With charity, the logic is different, and a truly selfless donor would bite the bullet and put his entire donation behind one cause. “