Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/107220 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
Working Papers No. 13-11
Publisher: 
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, MA
Abstract: 
Consistent with nonprofit fundraising practices, donation visibility has been shown to increase giving. While concern for status is used to explain this response, the authors argue that this explanation relies on the assumption that giving signals only income or generosity. When giving signals both attributes overall status need not increase in donations, and donation-visibility may be harmful when individuals prefer to be perceived as poor-and-generous rather than rich-and-stingy. Using an experiment the authors find that both income-status and generosity-status concerns affect behavior. Furthermore, donation-visibility fails to increase contributions as low-income individuals select low donation amounts that are unlikely to be attributed to high-income individuals.
Subjects: 
charitable donations
lab experiments
status
crowding out
JEL: 
C91
D01
D80
H41
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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