Q: What do supporters think about prompt amounts? Are they viewed as a helpful guide or presumptive?

February 20, 2018      techwise

From Marie Hunt, Supporter Retention and Development Manager, Sense.

While we can’t tell what donors think (unless we ask them), based on insights on human behaviour we can safely assume the following:

  • When we find ourselves in a new context, we’re not sure how to behave and we look for cues to guide us.
  • If we don’t have experience with a certain product we can’t tell whether a price is high or low.
  • Helping a cause might sound too vague and feel like a huge task. People might not know what amount is appropriate. New supporters especially might not know how much they’re supposed to give or what amount is going to be helpful.
  • Thinking about what amount would be appropriate takes cognitive effort. This might result in people abandoning the task altogether if they can’t decide quickly.

In this light, suggested amounts remove cognitive effort by offering guidance in an otherwise uncertain environment. For this reason, supporters, especially new, might be grateful for their presence. Existing supporters might rely on them less as most likely they’ll use their previous donation to guide the amount they’ll give next. However, there’s no reason why they should find the amounts presumptive.