This project examines whether offering donors a choice between multiple causes can increase charitable giving. In partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross, it uses large-scale randomised field experiments to test how multiple-cause appeals affect response rates, donation revenues, and giving in subsequent campaigns.
Charities commonly solicit donations for one cause at a time, even though donors may differ in the causes they prefer to support. This project examines whether offering several different giving options within a single appeal can better accommodate heterogeneous donor preferences and increase funding for charitable activities.
In partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the research uses large-scale, pre-registered randomised field experiments involving more than 300,000 potential donors. The experiments compare conventional single-cause appeals with appeals that allow recipients to choose between several causes.
The findings show that offering multiple giving options can substantially increase both response rates and net donation revenues. There is also no evidence that these gains come at the expense of donations in subsequent or repeated campaigns.
The project contributes to research on charitable giving, public-goods provision, and fundraising design. It also provides practical evidence on how charities can structure donation appeals to mobilise greater financial support without changing donation prices or incentives.
