Small changes in how potential donors are approached can achieve significantly higher donation returns than the classic tactic of asking for monetary donations. This is the conclusion of an online survey conducted by behavioral economists from the universities of Heidelberg, Innsbruck (Austria) and Kassel.

In the study, potential donors were asked if they wanted to donate relief supplies at a specified unit price and, if so, how many. This resulted in an increase in donation income of more than 50%. However, this alternative approach requires careful selection of the units—otherwise, it can also lead to losses in fundraising.

When charitable organizations seek public support, they usually ask, "How many Euros would you like to donate?" Sometimes, however, potential donors are asked how many units of a relief item—be it blankets, water pumps or daily rations of baby formula—they would like to donate at a certain unit price.

This seemingly small difference in the question can, under certain conditions, have a major impact on how people donate. The research was conducted by Prof. Timo Goeschl, Ph.D. (Heidelberg), Dr. Raphael Epperson (Innsbruck) and Dr. Johannes Diederich (Kassel) and published in Management Science.

About 8,700 crowd workers had the opportunity to donate part or all of their remuneration for online work to a relief organization—either as a purely monetary donation or by funding units of relief supplies. Before making their decision, the donors were all informed that the money was intended for ready-to-use therapeutic food rations for children in developing countries.

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