December 10, 2012
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Charity harassment
JDN 2456272 EDT 13:45.
I donate to a fair number of charities, including GiveWell, UNICEF, Kiva, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Secular Student Alliance, and the ASPCA. I also volunteer at the Humane Society of Huron Valley and generally give to Democratic Party candidates in major elections. I’m glad I do this; these organizations have done great things, and I’m proud to be part of that.
That said, it gets pretty annoying to be put on the list of “people who donate to charity”; it results in you being inundated with junk mail asking for money. And many of these organizations are fine people, and I would love to give them money… it’s just that I only have so much to give. And it gets really annoying sometimes to have dozens of people begging you for money.
I understand why they do this; they have some sort of behavioral marketing model which says that they get more donations on average if they harass their regular donors for additional cash. I’m sure it’s a lot cheaper than sending out mailings to millions of people who never donate anything.
Still, I feel like it creates a disincentive to donate, and thus may actually discourage people who would have donated occasionally. It won’t discourage regular donors like me, but there aren’t enough of those. You really need to get casual donors, people who give $25 a year or even $5 a year. More is better of course, but something is a lot better than nothing.
Actually, charities are doing pretty well: Total annual charitable contributions by private individuals in the US are over $200 billion. That’s about $650 per person in America. Granted, that’s a tiny fraction of our GDP of $15 trillion (1.3%), but it’s more than most places, so we’re doing something right.
It may be time, in fact, to start talking about how to give efficiently, since lots of people give to charities that just aren’t that effective. GiveWell is an excellent source for this, and in fact it’s because of them that I may withdraw my Kiva portfolio once it gets repaid this cycle. Kiva has made a lot of claims about how amazingly effective they are… and the data just doesn’t back them up on that. They’re better than nothing, to be sure; but other charities (like the Against Malaria Foundation) seem to be having a bigger impact in lives saved per dollar. I’m also thinking I might want to give more to scientific research than I presently do. The one thing I’m sure of is I’ll keep giving to the UCS; global warming is going to be the humanitarian disaster of the 21st century.
So let’s think about these questions: How can we encourage people to donate without making them feel harassed? How can we attract a wider pool of donors? How can we use donated money more efficiently to accomplish the most good?
Comments (4)
Something I’ve always liked to see about charities is to show EXACTLY where your money is going and how it will benefit people, no beating around the bush. Precise, concise, exact information.
It’s also a matter of convenience and ‘not putting your foot in the door.’
Offer some free easily achievable service or gift and THEN put your hat out. March Of Dimes puts out these really cute stamps for instance. KERA during pledge drive gives you little gifts for donations based on the show you are watching, and I donated $300 to get a TARDIS playset cause I thought it was so neat.
Some places around the holidays give you a little candy-cane for your donation.
I think the small gifts idea are the best way that charities can reach out to people and they could even put out a catalog of Christmas gifts that are obviously more expensive than the actual item, but the proceeds go to the charity of your choosing with full information to show how it’s divided. Φ ≡
I feel the same way about the calls. Donating just gets you more calls as your name gets passed on and on. It does discourage me from giving. Also, I don’t need a phone call to get me to donate. If I have money to give, I’ll find a place for it. And I agree that we need to think before we donate and check into the organization. It just makes sense.
@dw817 -
You’re absolutely right. Studies have shown that offering people a free gift motivates behavior as much as a direct incentive up to 10 times the size. (“Here’s $5. Want to participate in our research study?” is as good as “We’ll pay you $50 to participate in our research study.”)
@pnrj - Actually if someone offered me a real present like a unique Teddy Bear or something, I would definitely participate in a research study.
However, regarding charity, yes, giving something say 10% or even 5% the value of a donation DEFINITELY gets people interested, especially if it’s something they can’t get anywhere else.
At the time I ordered that DAPOL Dr. Who Playset from KERA, it was definitely not in stores anywheres where I lived. So for $300 it was a great deal to me and well worth the money.