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How to Design the Ask? Funding Units vs. Giving Money

Author

Listed:
  • Raphael Epperson

    (Department of Public Finance, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria)

  • Johannes Diederich

    (Department of Economics, University of Kassel, 34109 Kassel, Germany)

  • Timo Goeschl

    (Alfred Weber Institute for Economics, Heidelberg University, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany)

Abstract

Unit donations are an alternative fundraising scheme in which potential donors choose how many units of a charitable good to fund rather than just giving money. Based on evidence from an online experiment with 8,673 participants, we demonstrate that well-designed unit donation schemes can significantly boost giving above and beyond the standard money donation scheme. A decomposition of the underlying mechanisms shows patterns consistent with the conjecture that unit donations increase impact salience and leverage donors’ cognitive biases by changing the metric of the donation space. Managers need to weigh the potential fundraising benefits of a unit scheme against some important challenges, such as expert handling of the choice of unit sizes.

Suggested Citation

  • Raphael Epperson & Johannes Diederich & Timo Goeschl, 2025. "How to Design the Ask? Funding Units vs. Giving Money," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(4), pages 2830-2846, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:71:y:2025:i:4:p:2830-2846
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.00157
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