Behavioral Science Posts

Pure Nudges, Preference Nudges or Boosts?

Behavioral Science is too often being reduced down to a poor understanding of behavioral economics and an even poorer understanding of nudges, treating them as parlor tricks, akin to visual illusions. Nudges aren’t predictions about what people will do, they are observations. For example, in certain situations people will tend to go with whatever is […]

Learn More January 15, 2021

Take This Personality Test to Help Cope With the COVID-19 Pandemic

Knowing something about your own personality may be useful as we all work to limit the spread of COVID-19. After all, not everyone copes in the same way. Self-isolation and social distancing are hard to swallow and even harder to implement. To make your self-isolation easier—or at least more understandable– here are some useful insights […]

Learn More January 4, 2021

How to Know If Your TM or F2F Sustainer Acquisition Meets Donor Needs

Over forty years of research and theory show people have three basic, psychological needs. Satisfying these needs makes donors more likely to stick around. The three are: Competence – feelings of effectiveness. For donors, it could mean feeling like they’re making a positive difference. It could also mean learning something new, for example, information about […]

Learn More December 11, 2020

Reverse Engineering Your Way to Donor Centricity

Understanding the why of human behavior is best unearthed with data straight from our donors. We call it zero-party, that which is voluntarily and knowingly given, typically via a survey. Contrary to the opinion of many, surveys are the best way to measure motivation and needs and innate traits that play a large role in […]

Learn More December 9, 2020

Identifiable Victim: Better Than Stats; Except When It Isn’t…

Universal truths are universally wrong. This is never more true than when talking about ‘nudges’ from the world of behavioral economics. As the only behavioral science agency in fundraising and with an entire team of social scientists, some of whom are behavioral economists, we are huge advocates of the field and discipline. But… behavioral economics […]

Learn More December 4, 2020

Does Using Bullsh$% Language Help or Hurt Giving?

I read a lot of academic studies. A lot. Most teeter on the edge of uninteresting, a rare few are truly breakthrough that cause us to re-think our thinking. None however, until now, read like a spoof article from The Onion. The title of that study is, “Bullshit-sensitivity predicts prosocial behavior”. I read the abstract […]

Learn More November 16, 2020

The Social Movement Dilemma

Social activism and creating a “movement” is hard work, made harder by a conflicting reality. More extreme actions, often effective at gaining (media) attention and increasing pressure on organizations or institutions, are also likely to reduce popular support. What constitutes ‘extreme’? Perhaps it’s in the eye of the beholder and context dependent. Blocking highways may […]

Learn More November 4, 2020

Why You Should Never Listen to Someone Like Me About Behavioural Science

I’m a proud fundraiser. But I feel deep shame and embarrassment about terrible advice I’ve shared in the past concerning the application of behavioural science. Don’t get me wrong, if I’d been strapped to a lie detector and asked if I genuinely thought I was helping I’d have passed. But sincerity isn’t accuracy. Like so […]

Learn More October 28, 2020

A Missing Ingredient To Raising More Money – Donor Personality

Imagine running a digital ad or doing a list select for the mail and only being able to select a single attribute or audience parameter – e.g. age, geography, political affiliation. My bet is most fundraisers would probably choose an attribute from Facebook or Google or a data co-op that indicated past charitable behavior. Now, […]

Learn More October 26, 2020

Pumpkin Pie and the Recipe for Year-End Giving

Lots of fundraising sin and excuses are gonna be assigned this year to the pandemic. Not the least of which will be the failure to adequately prime the stewardship pump for year-end giving. “We just didn’t have the budget” …” Didn’t want to bother our donors.” …” The board wouldn’t let us.” And on and […]

Learn More October 23, 2020

Ask A Behavioral Scientist

Behavioral Science Q & A

Q: Do you have any insight on whether integrating an individual giving appeal with other comms from the charity in both appearance and messaging can uplift results? Or does the actual appeal become ‘lost’ for lack of stand-out?

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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Q: Is there any research on response rate impact in direct mail when referring to a sustainer gift as ongoing or recurring (catching all frequencies) v. monthly or annual?

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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Q: A major conservation nonprofit sends me lots of mail, many of which have on the envelope “time to renew” or “2nd notice.” I find this practice deceptive, especially as I haven’t given to said organization since 1997. It must be effective or they wouldn’t do it. But is it ethical?

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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Q: I find it irritating when some nonprofits accept my “gift” and then ask me to cover their credit card fees separately. It feels like a practice that does nothing to help win donors and runs the risk of turning others off. Is there any data on this either way?

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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Q: What are the three most important things to consider when designing a brilliant supporter journey?

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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Q: Is there any evidence that changes to the tax laws in the USA changed end of year giving behaviors? Previously, ~30% of US taxpayers filed itemized tax returns allowing them to receive a deduction for charitable giving. Tax law changed in 2017 so that now only ~10% itemize. This should mean tax year-end giving should not matter to millions of people for whom it used to matter. Is there any data evidence to support this?

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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