Introduction to the special issue on 'new directions in understanding philanthropic activities'.

The papers in this Special Issue contribute to a rich literature on the economics of charitable giving. They address several novel questions covering a wide range of open issues in the philanthropic realm. For example, many of our papers study what works and what does not work for a charitable organization to boost giving money or time. Other papers examine fundraising mechanisms and possible underlying motives shaping donors' giving behaviour. Our papers combine multiple methodologies, such as theory, observational data as well as laboratory and field experiments, to address these issues. Taken together, our Special Issue offers novel insights and approaches in the field of charitable giving that will be of interest to academics and policymakers alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]