Discover the behavioral science principles that relate to fundraising.
Discover How to Tackle 8 Fundraising Challenges.
30th September & 1st October 2019
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So, what is behavioral science?
Most of our decisions including the decision to donate time or money aren’t always the result of careful deliberation. There are numerous factors, conscious and subconscious, that affect them like what other people are doing or the context we’re in. Behavioral science tries to explain why people do what they do and how we could increase desired behaviors or eliminate problematic ones.
Don’t try it at home
Behavioral science is a hot topic in fundraising right now. Yet its popularization could also be its downfall. It is often seen as panacea, a magic bullet, that is very easy to use on your own. And when it doesn’t work it’s easily dismissed as a cheap trick.
In reality, behavioral science is a complex science whose application requires subject matter expertise. Reading a few popular books on the topic might help you understand the theory, but it doesn’t provide the necessary training on how to practice it.
Just as you wouldn’t want a friend to perform an operation after reading a couple of textbooks, you shouldn’t apply behavioural science without the help of an expert. That’s why DonorVoice wants to help.
Popular books recite numerous biases and principles, each tested in a specific field. Just because a nudge worked in one field, there’s no guarantee it’ll work in another, in this case fundraising. Blind application of nudges from different areas can have catastrophic results.
Testing is imperative when it comes to behavioral science. And to do it you need a deep understanding of how the effectiveness of even well-known biases might change in different contexts, audiences, or channels as well as expertise on experimental design and analyses.
Meet the DonorVoice Nudge Unit and Kiki, DonorVoice’s resident Behavioral Scientist
Kiki combines subject matter expertise with years of fundraising practice.
With a PhD in cognitive psychology, she’s been helping charities apply behavioral science and improve their fundraising for the last 6 years. Her deep knowledge of the numerous behavioral biases and principles can only be matched by her understanding of whether and how these insights might be relevant to fundraising. Through testing, she’s put many effects to the test to see if they can also be effectively applied to increase giving behavior.
Kiki also created the first-ever nudge unit for our sector, the DonorVoice Nudge Unit; the most qualified team to help you apply behavioral insights to your fundraising challenges. The academics you see on the right are all subject matter experts, who are devoting themselves to partnering with you to get beyond ‘best’ practice to better results.
Our goal is to help you create a culture of curiosity in your organisation that is consistently looking to improve and apply these insights to all aspects of your fundraising. That’s why, in addition to our services, we also offer for free to our subscribers:
Behavioral principles that relate to fundraising
From the drop down menu above, our subscribers can explore some of the key biases that could increase giving. Each principle includes a brief definition, an application example and a fundraising opportunity.
How to tackle 8 fundraising challenges with behavioral science.
From the second drop down menu, our subscribers can access suggested solutions to a fundraising challenge they might be facing.
How can we help?
Behavioral science might not be a silver bullet, but applied consistently and rigorously it can lead to big improvements in your fundraising results. Have a look at our services and ask for a free call back to discover how behavioral science could and should be applied to help you achieve your fundraising goals.
Meet the Scientists
Behavioral Science Q & A
Thanks so much for raising this. Yes, capturing donor information can be helpful for stewardship like newsletters, thank-you letters, impact updates. But how you ask matters. Forcing full data capture introduces friction that can significantly depress conversion, many donors may simply abandon the process. Beyond the friction itself, required fields also shift the emotional experience […]
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Unlike holidays that everyone already knows, Giving Tuesday is a created event. Many donors recognize the name but not the exact timing, so referencing it becomes a helpful cue. It serves as a reminder and taps into social norm activation (“everyone’s giving today”), which boosts response. However, we still want it paired with the mission, […]
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When a subject line leads with the match (“Your gift matched!”), it risks triggering market-norm thinking: the sense that giving is a financial transaction rather than an act rooted in values, identity, and care. This shift reduces intrinsic motivation and, over time, can weaken donor satisfaction and long-term engagement. It also makes the email indistinguishable […]
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There’s no evidence that QR codes suppress mid-value giving; all available research suggests they either help or have no negative effect. In fact, behavioral and usability research consistently shows the opposite: reducing friction at any point in the donation process increases completion rates and total response. And that has nothing to do with capacity and […]
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What you’re experiencing is very common. Resistance often isn’t about capability, but about motivation quality. If board members feel pushed into fundraising, that triggers controlled motivation (low quality motivation) i.e. obligation, guilt, or fear of judgment, which often results in avoidance. Instead, we need to create conditions for volitional motivation (high quality motivation) by satisfying […]
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That’s a really thoughtful question, and you’re not the first to raise it. Many of our clients have been cautious about placing the ask at the very end. To address their concern, we’ve tested both approaches, and the results are clear: when the ask comes last, even if that means it appears on the second […]
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