Wharton assistant professor of Operations, Information, and Decisions Alice Moon has directed a new research study on how charities and nonprofit organizations can optimize their earnings.
The study — titled “Giving Suggestions: Using Quantity Requests to Increase Donations” and published in the Journal of Consumer Research — found that quantity requests were more effective in increasing donations in comparison to other kinds of requests. “Quantity requests” refers to requesting specific amounts of money, such as $5, $10, or $15.
Other kinds of charitable requests include open-ended requests, or requests that provide multiple-choice options that are unrelated to donations, such as which branch of a charity someone might want to direct their donation toward.
“Compared to those types of requests, the quantity requests still tend to outperform them, such that they’ll lead to an increase in donation rate, and because of that increase in donation rate, increase total contributions to those requests,” Moon told The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Currently, the number of organizations using quantity requests is on the rise, according to Moon. She added that she recommends that charities switch to quantity requests if they do not already use them.
“There are a number of them that just have a “donate now” button instead of one that actually specifies donation amounts,” Moon said. “So in that case, I would say a [quantity] request can definitely be more incorporated in those types of campaigns.”
Moon told The Daily Pennsylvanian that quantity requests simplify the process for those donating, who may be uncertain about how much to give in a particular context.
“They might just not want to appear stingy by giving a lower amount than they should,” Moon said. “But unlike the other types of requests, [quantity requests] clarify those amounts by providing some norm about how much to give.”
Moon and her colleagues initially began the study in 2017 with the intention of studying partition dependence — the idea that people are influenced by the way things are categorized. However, the study’s focus has pivoted since then.
She said she is now interested in exploring how far this understanding of quantity requests can be stretched.
“Instead of saying, ‘How many minutes do you want to exercise today?’ If you’re like, ‘How many minutes do you want to exercise — 10, 15, or 20 minutes?’ Then maybe that would increase the likelihood that people would do it,” Moon said.
Moon’s team is curious to see whether the study’s findings might hint at future implications for different topics.
“Research shows that once you do one type of behavior, you try to be consistent with that behavior,” Moon said. “Will [quantity requests] actually nudge people to give more in the future? Let’s say the American Red Cross comes to your door again, after you’ve donated to a quantity request. Are you now going to be more likely to say yes, because you’ve given in the past?”
These findings come at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is causing more families to rely on charities. Subsequently, inflation and burnt-out reserves following the COVD-19 pandemic have caused more than a third of charities to worry about their survival, according to analysis by the Charities Aid Foundation.
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