Does Price Matter in Charitable Giving? Evidence from a Large-Scale Natural Field Experiment
Abstract
We conducted a natural field experiment to further our understanding of the economics of charity. Using direct mail solicitations to over 50,000 prior donors of a nonprofit organization, we tested the effectiveness of a matching grant on charitable giving. We find that the match offer increases both the revenue per solicitation and the response rate. Larger match ratios (i.e., $3:$1 and $2:$1) relative to a smaller match ratio ($1:$1) had no additional impact, however. The results provide avenues for future empirical and theoretical work on charitable giving, cost-benefit analysis, and the private provision of public goods. (JEL D64, L31)
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Cites
Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving
Andreoni, J. (1990) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.2307/2234133 · Cited by 5,825 · see citing works
List, J. A., & Lucking‐Reiley, D. (2002) · Journal of Political Economy · doi:10.1086/324392 · Cited by 560 · see citing works
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Promoting cooperation in the field
Kraft-Todd, G., Yoeli, E., Bhanot, S., & Rand, D. (2015) · Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.02.006 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
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Capraro, V., Jagfeld, G., Klein, R., Mul, M., & de Pol, I. V. (2019) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-019-48094-4 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
The Structure of Online Activism
Lewis, K., Gray, K., & Meierhenrich, J. (2014) · Sociological Science · doi:10.15195/v1.a1 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
- Authors
- Karlan, D., & List, J. A.
- Affiliations
- Innovations for Poverty Action (US)
- Venue
- American Economic Review
- Publisher
- American Economic Association
- Published
- 2007-12-01
- Volume
- 97
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1774-1793
- ISSN
- 0002-8282 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3121571727
- Cited by
- 519
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 78.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Economic Review (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management of Technology and Innovation › Blood donation and transfusion practices
- Keywords
- charitable giving, matching grants, direct mail solicitation, nonprofit organizations, private provision of public goods, cost-benefit analysis
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