The giving type: Identifying donors

Angela C.M. de Oliveira; Rachel T.A. Croson; Catherine Eckel

doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.11.012

The giving type: Identifying donors

Angela C.M. de Oliveira, Rachel T.A. Croson, Catherine Eckel

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

52 Scopus citations

Abstract

One commonly used strategy in charitable fundraising is sharing names and contact information of donors between organizations, even those whose missions are unrelated. The efficacy of this practice hinges on the existence of "giving types," that is, a positive correlation at the individual level between giving to one organization and to another. We run an experiment using a non-student sample (an artifactual field experiment) in which participants have the opportunity to donate to multiple charitable organizations. We examine the relationship between giving to one organization and giving to another. Our results support the existence of a giving type; a factor analysis demonstrates that giving decisions are driven by a single (unique) factor, and individuals who give to one organization, give significantly more to other organizations than do non-donors. Our results have important implications for the economics of charity and for fundraising practice.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	428-435
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of Public Economics
Volume	95
Issue number	5-6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.11.012
State	Published - Jun 1 2011
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank Chetan Dave, Philip Grossman, Cathleen A. Johnson, Tammy Leonard, Sherry Xin Li, James C. Murdoch and Adrian Sargeant for assistance at various stages of the project. Participants in the Current State of Philanthropy Workshop, Workshop on Social Dilemmas (Florida State), Foundations of Human Social Behavior International Symposium (Zurich), the Southern Economic Association annual meetings, the Economic Science Association International meetings, the XI Summer School on Economics and Philosophy: Social Norms, the NSF/DGF-sponsored Conference Contextualizing Economic Behaviour (New York), the editors and several anonymous referees provided helpful comments that greatly contributed to the quality of this manuscript. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation ( SES-0136684 , SES-0752855 ) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Network on the Nature and Origin of Preferences and Norms . Any errors remain our own.

Keywords

Charitable Giving
Field Experiment
Preference Stability
Public Goods
Social Preferences

Access

10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.11.012

OpenUrl availability

Full text

Cite this

@article{5fb7a178bec444438957f9e500a289d6,

title = "The giving type: Identifying donors",

abstract = "One commonly used strategy in charitable fundraising is sharing names and contact information of donors between organizations, even those whose missions are unrelated. The efficacy of this practice hinges on the existence of {"}giving types,{"} that is, a positive correlation at the individual level between giving to one organization and to another. We run an experiment using a non-student sample (an artifactual field experiment) in which participants have the opportunity to donate to multiple charitable organizations. We examine the relationship between giving to one organization and giving to another. Our results support the existence of a giving type; a factor analysis demonstrates that giving decisions are driven by a single (unique) factor, and individuals who give to one organization, give significantly more to other organizations than do non-donors. Our results have important implications for the economics of charity and for fundraising practice.",

keywords = "Charitable Giving, Field Experiment, Preference Stability, Public Goods, Social Preferences",

author = "{de Oliveira}, {Angela C.M.} and Croson, {Rachel T.A.} and Catherine Eckel",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Chetan Dave, Philip Grossman, Cathleen A. Johnson, Tammy Leonard, Sherry Xin Li, James C. Murdoch and Adrian Sargeant for assistance at various stages of the project. Participants in the Current State of Philanthropy Workshop, Workshop on Social Dilemmas (Florida State), Foundations of Human Social Behavior International Symposium (Zurich), the Southern Economic Association annual meetings, the Economic Science Association International meetings, the XI Summer School on Economics and Philosophy: Social Norms, the NSF/DGF-sponsored Conference Contextualizing Economic Behaviour (New York), the editors and several anonymous referees provided helpful comments that greatly contributed to the quality of this manuscript. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation ( SES-0136684 , SES-0752855 ) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Network on the Nature and Origin of Preferences and Norms . Any errors remain our own.",

year = "2011",

month = jun,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.11.012",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "95",

pages = "428--435",

journal = "Journal of Public Economics",

issn = "0047-2727",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "5-6",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The giving type

T2 - Identifying donors

AU - de Oliveira, Angela C.M.

AU - Croson, Rachel T.A.

AU - Eckel, Catherine

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Chetan Dave, Philip Grossman, Cathleen A. Johnson, Tammy Leonard, Sherry Xin Li, James C. Murdoch and Adrian Sargeant for assistance at various stages of the project. Participants in the Current State of Philanthropy Workshop, Workshop on Social Dilemmas (Florida State), Foundations of Human Social Behavior International Symposium (Zurich), the Southern Economic Association annual meetings, the Economic Science Association International meetings, the XI Summer School on Economics and Philosophy: Social Norms, the NSF/DGF-sponsored Conference Contextualizing Economic Behaviour (New York), the editors and several anonymous referees provided helpful comments that greatly contributed to the quality of this manuscript. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation ( SES-0136684 , SES-0752855 ) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Network on the Nature and Origin of Preferences and Norms . Any errors remain our own.

PY - 2011/6/1

Y1 - 2011/6/1

N2 - One commonly used strategy in charitable fundraising is sharing names and contact information of donors between organizations, even those whose missions are unrelated. The efficacy of this practice hinges on the existence of "giving types," that is, a positive correlation at the individual level between giving to one organization and to another. We run an experiment using a non-student sample (an artifactual field experiment) in which participants have the opportunity to donate to multiple charitable organizations. We examine the relationship between giving to one organization and giving to another. Our results support the existence of a giving type; a factor analysis demonstrates that giving decisions are driven by a single (unique) factor, and individuals who give to one organization, give significantly more to other organizations than do non-donors. Our results have important implications for the economics of charity and for fundraising practice.

AB - One commonly used strategy in charitable fundraising is sharing names and contact information of donors between organizations, even those whose missions are unrelated. The efficacy of this practice hinges on the existence of "giving types," that is, a positive correlation at the individual level between giving to one organization and to another. We run an experiment using a non-student sample (an artifactual field experiment) in which participants have the opportunity to donate to multiple charitable organizations. We examine the relationship between giving to one organization and giving to another. Our results support the existence of a giving type; a factor analysis demonstrates that giving decisions are driven by a single (unique) factor, and individuals who give to one organization, give significantly more to other organizations than do non-donors. Our results have important implications for the economics of charity and for fundraising practice.

KW - Charitable Giving

KW - Field Experiment

KW - Preference Stability

KW - Public Goods

KW - Social Preferences

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79953798736&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79953798736&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.11.012

DO - 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.11.012

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:79953798736

SN - 0047-2727

VL - 95

SP - 428

EP - 435

JO - Journal of Public Economics

JF - Journal of Public Economics

IS - 5-6

ER -

The giving type: Identifying donors

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access

OpenUrl availability

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this