Working Paper: NBER ID: w26559
Authors: John A. List; James J. Murphy; Michael K. Price; Alexander G. James
Abstract: We partnered with Alaska’s Pick.Click.Give. Charitable Contributions Program to implement a statewide natural field experiment with 540,000 Alaskans designed to explore whether targeted appeals emphasizing donor benefits through warm glow impact donations. Results highlight the relative import of appeals to self. Individuals who received such an appeal were 4.5 percent more likely to give and gave 20 percent more than counterparts in the control group. Yet, a message that instead appealed to recipient benefits had no effect on average donations relative to the control group. We also find evidence of long-run effects of warm glow appeals in the subsequent year.
Keywords: charitable giving; donor benefits; recipient benefits; natural field experiment; Pick.Click.Give
JEL Codes: C93; D03; D64; H41; L3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| warm your heart message (Y60) | likelihood to give (D64) |
| warm your heart message (Y60) | donation size (D64) |
| make Alaska better for everyone message (H79) | average donation size (D64) |
| warm your heart message in 2014 (Y60) | likelihood to give in 2015 (D64) |