Dynamics of International Giving: How Heuristics Shape Individual Donor Preferences

In trouble abroad?
Crackdown may be heuristic—
those who give give more.
Philanthropy
Experiment
Bayes
INGOs

Suparna Chaudhry and Andrew Heiss, “Dynamics of International Giving: How Heuristics Shape Individual Donor Preferences,” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 50, no. 3 (June 2021): 481–505, doi: 10.1177/0899764020971045

Authors
Affiliations

Lewis & Clark College

Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University

Published

November 2020

Doi
Other details

Presented at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association (ISA), San Francisco, California, April 2018; and the annual meeting of ISA, Toronto, Canada, March 2019

PreregisteredOpen dataOpen

Media coverage

Abstract

State restrictions on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become increasingly pervasive across the globe. While this crackdown has been shown to have a negative impact on public funding flows, we know little about how it impacts private philanthropy. How does information about crackdown abroad, as well as organizational attributes of nonprofits affect individual donors’ willingness to donate internationally? Using a survey experiment, we find that learning about repressive NGO environments increases generosity in that already-likely donors are willing to donate substantially more to legally besieged nonprofits. This generosity persists when mediated by two organizational-level heuristics: NGO issue areas and main funding sources. We discuss the implications of our results on how nonprofits can use different framing appeals to increase fundraising at a time when traditional public donor funding to such organizations is decreasing.

Important figures

Figures 2 & 3: Difference in likelihood of donation across crackdown and no crackdown groups, conditioned by other experimental frames + difference in amount donated across crackdown and no crackdown groups, conditioned by other experimental frames

Figures 2 & 3: Difference in likelihood of donation across crackdown and no crackdown groups, conditioned by other experimental frames + difference in amount donated across crackdown and no crackdown groups, conditioned by other experimental frames

Citation

 Add to Zotero

@article{ChaudhryHeiss:2021,
    Author = {Suparna Chaudhry and Andrew Heiss},
    Doi = {10.1177/0899764020971045},
    Journal = {Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly},
    Month = {6},
    Number = {3},
    Pages = {481--505},
    Title = {Dynamics of International Giving: How Heuristics Shape Individual Donor Preferences},
    Volume = {50},
    Year = {2021}}