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Incentives and the Design of Charitable Fundraisers: Lessons from a Field Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Carpenter, Jeffrey P.

    (Middlebury College)

  • Matthews, Peter Hans

    (Middlebury College)

Abstract

There has been little systematic study of the mechanisms typically used to raise money for charity. One of the most common is the simple raffle in which participants purchase chances to win a prize at a constant price. We conduct a field experiment randomly assigning participants to four raffle treatments to examine the effectiveness of alternative incentive schemes designed to encourage either participation or volume. Our results confirm the importance of incentives in that we find revenue gains are available on both margins. Our experiment, and others like it, illustrates the power of field experiments to inform fundraising choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Carpenter, Jeffrey P. & Matthews, Peter Hans, 2015. "Incentives and the Design of Charitable Fundraisers: Lessons from a Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 8952, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8952
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Craig E. Landry & Andreas Lange & John A. List & Michael K. Price & Nicholas G. Rupp, 2010. "Is a Donor in Hand Better Than Two in the Bush? Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(3), pages 958-983, June.
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    6. Leonard Baker, 1958. "Should We Have a National Lottery?," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(11-12), pages 13-17, August.
    7. Onderstal, Sander & Schram, Arthur J.H.C. & Soetevent, Adriaan R., 2013. "Bidding to give in the field," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 72-85.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    philanthropy; fundraising; incentives; public good; raffle; Tullock contest; field experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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