Personalized Fundraising: A Field Experiment on Threshold Matching of Donations

34 Pages Posted: 13 Nov 2019

See all articles by Maja Adena

Maja Adena

WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Steffen Huck

Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB)

Date Written: November 4, 2019

Abstract

While increasing the number of small donors, standard linear matching schemes have been shown to cause considerable crowding out in charitable giving with pronounced effects on large gifts. We propose a form of threshold matching where donations above a certain, potentially personalized, threshold are topped up with a fixed amount. We show theoretically that threshold matching can induce crowding in if appropriately personalized. In a field experiment, we explore how thresholds should be chosen depending on past donations. We find that the optimal choice of thresholds is rather bold, approximately 60-75% above past donations. Additionally, we explore how thresholds should be set for new donors as a function of their personal characteristics and demonstrate the benefits of personalization as opposed to setting general thresholds applying to all recipients of a fundraising call.

Keywords: charitable giving, field experiments, matching donations

JEL Classification: C93, D64, D12

Suggested Citation

Adena, Maja and Huck, Steffen, Personalized Fundraising: A Field Experiment on Threshold Matching of Donations (November 4, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3480472 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3480472

Maja Adena (Contact Author)

WZB Berlin Social Science Center ( email )

Reichpietschufer 50
D-10785 Berlin, 10785
Germany

Steffen Huck

Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB) ( email )

Reichpietschufer 50
D-10785 Berlin, 10785
Germany

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