Working Paper: NBER ID: w12338
Authors: Dean Karlan; John A. List
Abstract: We conducted a natural field experiment to explore the effect of price changes on charitable contributions. To operationalize our tests, we examine whether an offer to match contributions to a non-profit organization changes the likelihood and amount that an individual donates. Direct mail solicitations were sent to over 50,000 prior donors. We find that the match offer increases both the revenue per solicitation and the probability that an individual donates. While comparisons of the match treatments and the control group consistently reveal this pattern, larger match ratios (i.e., $3:$1 and $2:$1) relative to smaller match ratios ($1:$1) had no additional impact. The results have clear implications for practitioners in the design of fundraising campaigns and provide avenues for future empirical and theoretical work on charitable giving. Further, the data provide an interesting test of important methods used in cost-benefit analysis.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: C93; D12; D72; H41; L31; M31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| match offer (C78) | revenue per solicitation (H27) |
| match offer (C78) | probability of donation (D64) |
| larger match ratios (C78) | donations (D64) |
| price change (D41) | charitable giving (D64) |
| political environment (P28) | match treatment effects (C32) |