Personalized fundraising: A field experiment on threshold matching of donations

Maja Adena and Steffen Huck

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2022, vol. 200, issue C, 1-20

Abstract: We study a form of threshold matching in fundraising where donations above a certain 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. The optimal choice of thresholds is rather bold, approximately 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 a general threshold that applies to all recipients of a fundraising call.

Keywords: Charitable giving; Field experiments; Matching donations; Personalization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D12 D64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Related works:
Working Paper: Personalized Fundraising: A Field Experiment on Threshold Matching of Donations (2022)
Working Paper: Personalized fundraising: A field experiment on threshold matching of donations (2020)
Working Paper: Personalized fundraising: A field experiment on threshold matching of donations (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:200:y:2022:i:c:p:1-20

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2022.05.003

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