Two recent articles take a look at developing trends in the "giving of treasure."

"'Giving identity' seen as vital for fundraising" (from the Philanthropy Journal)

By helping existing and potential donors develop a "giving identity" for themselves, nonprofits can encourage supporters to give their time and money, a new study says.

Giving can be spurred by changing the context in which people give, says the article, published in the August 2009 issue of Stanford Knowledgebase and written by Jennifer Aaker of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Satoshi Akutsu of Hitotsubashi University...

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"The Power of the Purse" (from The New York Times)

Remember the concept of “sisterhood”? That quaint relic of an idea that women owed it to other women to crash through ceilings and navigate a male world? It just might be taking new root in a most unexpected place — among women with money. There are more women controlling more wealth in the U.S. than ever before. (Of those in the wealthiest tier of the country — defined by the I.R.S. as individuals with assets of at least $1.5 million — 43 percent are women.) And unlike the women who preceded them — old-school patrons who gave to the museum and the symphony and their dead husbands’ alma maters — these givers are more likely to use their wealth deliberately and systematically to aid women in need...

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