The gift of giving: Recognizing donors and revealing donation amounts

Abstract

Publicly announcing how much individuals donate on behalf of themselves is a common fundraising strategy. For tribute gifts made on behalf of others, however, many charities only reveal donor identities to the honoree with few revealing the size of their contributions. This paper examines the fundraising consequences of recognizing donors with and without information about donation amounts when notifying honorees of gifts made on their behalf. I find that revealing contribution amounts in addition to recognizing donors benefits fundraisers. I find that both the likelihood of giving and size of contributions made on behalf of others increase when honorees learn how much donors give. Results from a survey with fundraising professionals show that practitioners believe revealing the size of these gifts may be repugnant, and overestimate the share of donors who prefer to keep gift amounts private. Holding these inaccurate beliefs may lead fundraisers to leave tribute donations on the table.