Behavioral Science Posts

Does Giving Beget More Giving?

“Your best future donors are your best past donors.” Circular logic if there ever was. Let’s dig in a bit deeper. If you donated at 2pm today and got another solicitation at 1 minute past 2pm, would you give again? What about 2pm tomorrow? A week later, a month? Probably all of us have some […]

Learn More March 12, 2021

Two climbers walk into a bar…

A man and woman walk into a bar and sit beside a fundraiser. Stop me if you’ve heard this one. The Fundraiser says to the man and woman, “I work for a charity helping make sure outdoor enthusiasts have access to public lands.” In unison, the Man and Woman, say, “We just came here for […]

Learn More March 3, 2021

Walmart’s Mega Nudging Test

Walmart partnered with academics whose listing on the published paper reads like the credits on a Hollywood blockbuster movie, which is to say almost as long as the movie. The aim? Increasing flu vaccination rates in hopes it would provide guidance for increasing Covid vaccine uptake. This team of social scientists came up with 22 […]

Learn More March 1, 2021

Donor Autonomy on Steroids

Is there such a thing as giving too much control to donors? The sector generally operates as though donor control is bad at worst and undesirable at best This sector norm is reflected in many conventional practices: not publishing or promoting or making clear how donors names will be sold eight ways to Sunday […]

Learn More February 26, 2021

Do Rich Donors Differ from Not-Rich Donors? From “Middle”-Rich Donors?

Do people writing four figure checks (i.e. $1,000 to $9,999) have different needs from those donating $20 or those moving the comma and decimal point to the right for an even larger gift? What about the “high touch package to create an elevated donor experience” for the four-figure check group? This is a recommendation in […]

Learn More February 24, 2021

Cat People and Dog People

Are you a cat person or a dog person? The answer to that might impact your choice of a (potential) mate. A recent study explored this and the findings dance between “water is wet”to the “trivial” but with just enough “novel” to warrant mention. Let’s get trivial and water is wet out of the way. […]

Learn More February 17, 2021

Applying Science to Boost Sustainer Results

Here at the Agitator we post a lot on the use of behavioral science in fundraising. My purpose in badgering Kiki, Kevin and Stefano to keep their insights coming is because I believe the main purpose of their work is to use science to find and provide creative and practical solutions for fundraisers. I’m sure […]

Learn More January 29, 2021

Nudging to Improve Human Experience or Simply to Sound Smart?

There seems to be an obsession with biases lately and by extension, a flurry of consultants and agencies slapping “behavioral science” on their letterhead. While acknowledging biases as real and important to understand, considering biases as the one and only answer is dangerous. When examined solely through distinct biases, human behavior appears to be concrete […]

Learn More January 25, 2021

Donor or Activist?

What makes an activist different from a donor? Too often the former is thought of as a lead-gen exercise to source names to ‘convert’ them to the latter. Activists and donors are different. And while activists often donate that initial act of activism (e.g. the lead-gen petition signing) should not be thought of as a […]

Learn More January 22, 2021

On Stupidity

Most fundraisers know about the Pareto Principle—that 80% of an organization’s revenue comes from 20%, or fewer, of its donors. This handy rule of fundraising is a bastardization of the work of the 19th century Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, whose groundbreaking work helped develop the field modern economics with its data-oriented, scientific approach. Last evening […]

Learn More January 20, 2021

Ask A Behavioral Scientist

Behavioral Science Q & A

Q:We are struggling with acquistion. During our biggest community campaign, a colleague is suggesting that we have a QR code directing donors to a donate page that does not capture donor information – just a donation and an email address. We won’t be able to post any of these new doors our lvoely newsletters, or thank you letters. We’ll likely never hear from them again. What’s the best method to get this team to see the importance about a donor vs a donation?

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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Q: Should we include “Giving Tuesday” in the subject lines for the emails that are going out before Giving Tuesday?

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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Q: can we pull the match language into the subject lines? Or this should be an A/B test?

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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Q: Our mid-level donor team removed the QR code from the DM donation form that links to the donation page, but have left the URL for them to type it in manually. Not sure why they are adding a barrier to the donation process for a higher value donor – but I have to ask – is there any proof – either way – if a QR donation code reduces MV online giving, has any effect on their donation amount, has any effect on off line donations? Thank you….

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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Q: How can we effectively use behavioral science to help shift our Board’s mindset. The majority are extremely resistant to asking their networks or sharing their contact lists with us, even after a candid discussion with an external lay leader who has been training boards with her fantastic Fundraising isn’t the F Word! workshop. We have also offered to use our automated email tool to send their appeals from their own email. It is so frustrating. We even have 2 Board members and the chair trying put some accountability on them for our big event but people are not really moving!

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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Q: Copywriters often argue the ask should appear on the first page, but that usually breaks the story in two. With a one-sided letter the ask is always on page one, but with a two-sided letter it may fall on the second page—do results differ? Has your appeal structure been tested on both one-sided and two-sided letters? I just read the article Your Appeal Outline: Thoughtful Strategy or Random Spasm?

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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