Not everyone gives out of the goodness of their hearts. Research has shown that some people give simply because they don’t want to appear ungenerous. These “reluctant” donors may be influenced by hearing about what others have given, a tactic commonly employed by fundraisers.
New research may add important twists for fundraisers: Don’t get too greedy in choosing examples, and think carefully about the timing of a request for bigger gifts.
The Test
David Klinowski, a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of Pittsburgh, enlisted college students to test the best strategies for using information about prior gifts to boost donations. The students were given a simple computer game to play that let them earn up to $15 and tested their willingness to give.
The students were divided into three groups. After the game was over, a screen popped up asking participants if they were interested in giving a portion of their winnings to charity. If they were, a donation page appeared, allowing the students to enter an amount of their choosing.
The first group was told about gifts other donors had already made of 50 cents or $5 before being asked to contribute. The second group was asked to contribute first and then was told about the 50-cent or $5 gifts. A control group wasn’t told about any previous donations.
Students in the first group were 61 percent more likely to give after hearing about the smaller gift but 40 percent less likely to give after hearing about the larger gift. It also influenced how much they gave: Those who were told about the 50-cent contribution donated more than any other group — 111 percent more than the control group.
For students in the second group, hearing about previous contributions did not influence the likelihood that they would give.
Women were much more responsive to information about past donations than men. Women in the first group gave significantly more when told about a smaller contribution than a larger one, but those in the second group gave more after hearing about the larger gift.
Neither scenario significantly affected the amount that men gave.
Digging Deeper
Forty-one percent of the students were identified as reluctant donors — those who gave because they didn’t want to seem ungenerous. Those students were highly responsive to information about previous contributions.
Reluctant donors create excuses for declining to give, says Mr. Klinowski. “Informing them of others’ donations affects their ability to create such excuses.”
Find It
“Reluctant Donors and Their Reactions to Social Information,” by David Klinowski, University of Pittsburgh.
