The THEORY
Fundraisers looking to lock in sustained monthly gifts often ask for a low amount and then ratchet up their requests later on, once their foot is in the door. A problem with that approach, suggest researchers at the University of Kent in England, is that many development officers lowball their initial request. “A lot of charities start low,” says Edward Cartwright, an economics professor and one of the study’s authors. “It might be better to ask for a slightly larger amount to start with.”
The TEST
Cartwright and co-author Zarak Mirza conducted two experiments to determine the effect of minimum-giving thresholds. In the first, student volunteers were presented with information about seven well-known charities. During five rounds of giving, they were asked to donate to the charities of their choice. In some rounds, donors were told their minimum gift must be £3.
RESULTS
When they were given a £3 hurdle to clear, donors who would have previously given £1 or £2 opted not to give at all rather than increase their gift. Over all, imposing a minimum gift amount reduced giving.
DIG DEEPER
But those results changed over time. In a follow-up experiment, some students were asked to give with no restrictions at first, and then presented with a giving minimum halfway through the experiment. Others were given a minimum right off the bat, which was later taken away. The students given the minimum early on were more generous over the course of the experiment.
A higher minimum at the outset “will scare some people away, but others are going to go for it, and they’re going to carry on giving at a higher amount,” Cartwright says, adding that deciding how high a minimum threshold to set is not an easy call. “It’s a balancing act,” he says.
FIND IT
“Charitable Giving When Donors Are Constrained to Give a Minimum Amount,” a working paper by Edward Cartwright and Zarak Mirza.
