What works to increase charitable donations? A meta-review with meta-meta-analysis

Alexander K. Saeri, Peter Slattery, Joannie Lee, Thomas Houlden, Neil Farr, Romy L. Gelber, Jake Stone, Lee Huuskes, Shane Timmons, Kai Windle, Luke Spajic, Luke Freeman, David Moss, Jon Behar, Stefan Schubert, Emily A.C. Grundy and Michael Zorker

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Many charities rely on donations to support their work addressing some of the world’s most pressing problems. We conducted a meta-review to determine what interventions work to increase charitable donations. We found 21 systematic reviews incorporating 1339 primary studies and over 2,139,938 participants. Our meta-meta-analysis estimated the average effect of an intervention on charitable donation size and incidence: r = 0.08 (95% CI [0.03, 0.12]). Due to limitations in the included systematic reviews, we are not certain this estimate reflects the true overall effect size. The most robust evidence found suggests charities could increase donations by (1) emphasising individual beneficiaries, (2) increasing the visibility of donations, (3) describing the impact of the donation, and (4) enacting or promoting tax-deductibility of the charity. We make recommendations for improving primary research and reviews about charitable donations, and how to apply the meta-review findings to increase charitable donations.

Keywords: behaviour change; charity; meta-meta-analysis; meta-review; overview of reviews; philanthropy; prosocial behaviour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F3 G3 J01 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 17 pages
Date: 2022-05-04
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Voluntas, 4, May, 2022. ISSN: 0957-8765

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:115157

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