Donations by migrants to community projects in their home countries (“collective
remittances”) help to provide local public goods and may promote economic development.
We draw on the literatures on migrant remittances and on philanthropy in general to
identify possible motives for collective remittances. We test the empirical relevance of these
motives using micro-level data from Eastern Europe. Our results suggest a mix of motives
including altruism, exchange, and concern about future membership rights in the
community of origin. We also find that communities with a high degree of ethnic
fragmentation and a wide dispersion of migrants across destination countries are less likely
to receive collective remittances.