An Experimental Evaluation of Gender Differences in Responses to Major-Donor Funding Schemes for Crowdfunded Social Ventures

Social ventures fundraising through crowdfunding compete for contributions. Thus, they often involve major donors to influence the contributions of smaller donors. We examine what type of major-donor contribution scheme is most likely to attract smaller donors, considering whether and to what degree male and female donors differ in their response to alternative major-donor contribution schemes that are commonly used in practice. In a field experiment, donors were randomly assigned to receive one of three solicitation messages about projects seeking funds through crowdfunding. All donors received identical messages, with the exception that information on major-donor involvement was varied across conditions. The message to the control group made no mention of a major donor. The seed group was informed that a major donor had unconditionally funded the first 50% of the projects’ costs and that the projects were collecting the remaining 50% from other donors; we hypothesize that this scheme is likely to appeal to female donors, who tend to be more uncertainty and risk averse. Finally, the challenge-match group was informed that a major donor would provide the remaining 50% of the projects’ costs after the projects secure the first 50% from other donors; we hypothesize that this scheme is likely to appeal to male donors, who tend to respond more positively to challenges. The major donor in the field experiment—Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft—is an Austrian government agency that promotes and funds innovation. We find that females in the seed group are ∼50% and ∼35% more likely to exhibit an interest in contributing as compared with females in the control or challenge-match conditions, respectively. Among males, we do not observe significant differences in interest in contributing across the three groups. Survey results indicate that females are more responsive to the seed scheme because it yields a perception that the organization conducting the project is of high quality, is likely to reach its funding goal, and is likely to achieve its implementation goals. Our study suggests that social ventures will be more successful at attracting contributions from female donors if a major donor kicks off the campaign with an initial, unconditional contribution.