Fundraising for Stigmatized Groups: A Text Message Donation Experiment

• In Event: Experiments on Intergroup Relations

Abstract

As government welfare programming contracts and NGOs increasingly assume core aid functions, they must address a longstanding challenge in aid provision—that people in need are often members of stigmatized groups. We fielded an experiment through a text-to-give campaign in Greece. Donations did not increase with an appeal to the in-group (Greek child), relative to a control (child), but were halved with references to a stigmatized out-group (Roma child). An appeal to fundamental rights, a common strategy used by minority advocates, did not reduce the generosity gap. Donations to all groups were two-thirds lower near Roma settlements. We supplemented our experiment with qualitative research in twelve communities. We conclude that NGO fundraising strategies that narrowly emphasize particular ethnic groups, either in-groups or out-groups, or the language of fundamental rights, may not be as effective as broader appeals, and discuss implications for public goods provision in an era of growing nationalism.

Authors

• Katerina Linos, University of California, Berkeley

• Laura Jakli, Harvard University

• Melissa Anne Carlson, University of California, Berkeley