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The Effects of Seed Money and Refunds on Charitable Giving: Experimental Evidence from a University Capital Campaign

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Author Info
John A. List () (Department of Economics, University of Central Florida)
David Lucking-Reiley () (Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University)

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Abstract

We test two recent theories on the subject of charitable fundraising in capital campaigns. Andreoni (1998) predicts that publicly announced seed contributions can increase the total amount of charitable giving in a capital campaign. Bagnoli and Lipman (1989) predict that another technique for increasing contributions is a promise to refund donors' money in case the campaign threshold is not reached. Using a field experiment in a capital campaign for the Center for Environmental Policy Analysis at the University of Central Florida, we present evidence on both of these predictions. Data from direct mail solicitations sent to 3000 Central Floridian residents confirm the basic comparative-static predictions of both theories: total contributions increase with the amount of seed money, and with the use of a refund policy. A change in seed money from 10% to 67% of the campaign goal resulted in nearly a sixfold increase in contributions, while imposing a refund increased contributions by a more modest 20%. Seed money has a statistically significant effect on both the proportion of people choosing to donate and on the average gift size of those who donate, while refunds have a statistically significant effect only on the average gift size. These results have clear implications for practitioners in the design of fundraising campaigns.

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File URL: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Econ/wparchive/workpaper/vu00-w08.pdf
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File Function: First version, 2000
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University in its series Working Papers with number 0008.

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Date of creation: Apr 2000
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Handle: RePEc:van:wpaper:0008

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Related research
Keywords: Charitable giving field experiments threshold public goods

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Marks, Melanie & Croson, Rachel, 1998. "Alternative rebate rules in the provision of a threshold public good: An experimental investigation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 195-220, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Rapoport, Amnon & Eshed-Levy, Dalit, 1989. "Provision of step-level public goods: Effects of greed and fear of being gypped," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 325-344, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Bagnoli, Mark & McKee, Michael, 1991. "Voluntary Contribution Games: Efficient Private Provision of Public Goods," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(2), pages 351-66, April.
  4. Rachel Croson & Melanie Marks, 2000. "Step Returns in Threshold Public Goods: A Meta- and Experimental Analysis," Experimental Economics, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 239-259, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Vesterlund, Lise, 2003. "The informational value of sequential fundraising," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(3-4), pages 627-657, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. John A. List & David Lucking-Reiley, 2000. "Demand Reduction in Multiunit Auctions: Evidence from a Sportscard Field Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 961-972, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Bagnoli, Mark & Lipman, Barton L, 1989. "Provision of Public Goods: Fully Implementing the Core through Private Contributions," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 56(4), pages 583-601, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. John A. List, 2001. "Do Explicit Warnings Eliminate the Hypothetical Bias in Elicitation Procedures? Evidence from Field Auctions for Sportscards," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1498-1507, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. David Lucking-Reiley, 1999. "Using Field Experiments to Test Equivalence between Auction Formats: Magic on the Internet," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1063-1080, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Daniel Rondeau & John A. List, 2008. "Matching and Challenge Gifts to Charity:Evidence from Laboratory and Natural Field Experiments," NBER Working Papers 13728, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Potters, J.J.M. & Shefton, M. & Vesterlund, L., 2003. "After you - endougenous sequencing in voluntary contribution games," Discussion Paper 98, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Heijden, E. van der & Moxnes, E., 2003. "Leading by example? Investment decisions in a mixed sequential-simultaneous public bad experiment," Discussion Paper 38, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  4. Dean Karlan & John A. List, 2006. "Does Price Matter in Charitable Giving? Evidence From a Large-Scale Natural Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 12338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Bruno S. Frey & Stephan Meier, . "The Economics of Museums," IEW - Working Papers iewwp149, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Werner Güth & M. Vittoria Levati & Matthias Sutter & Eline van der Heijden, 2006. "Leading by example with and without exclusion power in voluntary contribution experiments," Discussion Papers on Strategic Interaction 2006-35, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Strategic Interaction Group. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. repec:att:wimass:1920213 is not listed on IDEAS
  8. Stephan Meier, 2006. "Do subsidies increase charitable giving in the long run?: matching donations in a field experiment," Working Papers 06-18, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Bruno S. Frey & Stephan Meier, . "Social Comparisons and Pro-social Behavior - Testing ‘Conditional Cooperation’ in a Field Experiment," IEW - Working Papers iewwp162, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Paul Resnick & Richard Zeckhauser & John Swanson & Kate Lockwood, 2006. "The value of reputation on eBay: A controlled experiment," Experimental Economics, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 79-101, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Jeffrey R. Kling, 2007. "Methodological Frontiers of Public Finance Field Experiments," NBER Working Papers 12931, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Emrah Arbak & Marie-Claire Villeval, 2007. "Endogenous Leadership Selection and Influence," Working Papers 0707, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique (GATE), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Université Lyon 2, Ecole Normale Supérieure. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Potters, J. & Sefton, M. & Vesterlund, L., 2001. "Why announce leadership contributions? : An experimental study of the signaling and reciprocity hypotheses," Discussion Paper 100, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  14. Stephan Meier & Alois Stutzer, . "Matching Donations - Subsidizing Charitable Giving in a Field Experiment," IEW - Working Papers iewwp181, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  15. David Reinstein, 2007. "Substitution Between (and Motivations for) Charitable Contributions: An Experimental Study," Economics Discussion Papers 648, University of Essex, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  16. Martin G. Kocher & Todd L. Cherry & Stephan Kroll & Robert J. Netzer & Matthias Sutter, 2007. "Conditional cooperation on three continents," Working Papers 2007-02, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, University of Innsbruck. [Downloadable!]
  17. Ronald J. Baker II & James M. Walker & Arlington W. Williams, 2006. "Matching Contributions and the Voluntary Provision of a Pure Public Good: Experimental Evidence," Caepr Working Papers 2006-007, Center for Applied Economics and Policy Research, Economics Department, Indiana University Bloomington, revised Dec 2007. [Downloadable!]
  18. Michel André Maréchal & Christian Thöni, 2007. "Do Managers Reciprocate? Field Experimental Evidence From a Competitive Market," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2007 2007-09, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen. [Downloadable!]
  19. Buraschi, Andrea & Cornelli, Francesca, 2002. "Donations," CEPR Discussion Papers 3488, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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