Worth 1000 Words: The Effect of Social Cues on a Fundraising Campaign in a Government Agency. A

Abstract

Giving has been shown by many studies to be a social phenomenon. However, while people may desire to conform to the donation of others, it is unclear how fundraisers should take advantage of this. In this paper we conduct a field experiment in a workplace, in which employees are sent prominent messages from a colleague who is already a donor. We find that signups for workplace giving more than double when a picture of the existing donor is displayed, relative to a message without a picture.

Keywords: Charitable giving, field experiments, social distance