Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/223496 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 8424
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We study donor loyalty in the context of church membership in Germany. Church members have to make substantial payments to their church but can opt out at any time. In a large-scale field experiment, we examine how private recognition for past payments affects church members’ loyalty. We find that recognizing past payments in a letter significantly reduces opt-outs. This effect is driven by members in the bottom quartile of baseline payments to the church. Consistent with optimization frictions prior to the experiment, we observe a spike in opt-outs immediately after treatment for particularly costly memberships.
Subjects: 
private recognition
donor loyalty
charitable giving
field experiment
recurring donors
JEL: 
D64
C93
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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