2019 DonorVoice Behavioral Symposium
Invaluable academic knowledge typically remains inaccessible to fundraising practitioners. Academics, on the other hand, are usually unaware of the real-life challenges charities face.
In an effort to fix this, we’re bringing together professors in behavioral science and nonprofit practitioners in the first-ever DonorVoice Behavioral Symposium, hosted by DonorVoice’s Chief Behavioral Officer, Dr. Kiki Koutmeridou.
Meet Kiki & the professors and meet the practitioners presenting at the symposium and download the abstracts here.
Here are the presentations’ video and slide decks:
- Peter Ayton: Broadcast charitable appeals – video and slides
- Erica Best: Power of one person stories – video and slides
- Hengchen Dai: Crowdfunding evidence from Kickstarter – video and slides
- Ayelet Gneezy: How good are our beset practices – video and slides
- Kiki Koutmeridou: Creating leads with identity insights – video and slides
- Larissa Peters: Emotion and impact at work – video and slides
- David Reinstein: Charity effectiveness and impact info – video and slides
- Derek Roberts: Getting supporters to stay in touch – video and slides
- Enrico Rubaltelli: Cost/benefit tradeoff of a fundraising campaign – video and slides
- Rami Sarakbi: Stop losing monthly donors – video and slides
You can also see all the videos on the DonorVoice YouTube page.
Behavioral science is way more than the much-talked-about nudges. Most sessions on the topic focus on the tactical changes that might optimize a subject line or an outer envelope. While we won’t completely ignore their potential, our Symposium will primarily focus on deeper insights around why people help each other.
The way to prosperity isn’t paved by individual, tactical changes based on behavioral nudges but on strategic changes based on behavioral insight.
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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