Tell potential donors about previous individual or average contributions; perhaps report selectively to make these seem particularly large. Donors may respond by giving more when they hear of larger previous donations.

Alternative tool name:

Tool variation:

Category: Social

Sub-category:

Relevant theories: Social signaling, Leadership giving, Reputation-seeking/prestige, Incomplete information and signaling, Fairness, Conformity

Type of evidence: Natural experiment , Field-exp-charity, Field-exp-charity, Field-exp-charity, Field-exp-charity, Causal-observational (IV etc)

Evidence strength (ad hoc assessment): 9

Revealing larger previous donations (in a range) increases giving; larger targets can be ineffective

Orthogonal. Relevant to question of 'should EA donors give on social fundraising pages'? To what extent can EA giving be spread by peer norms? Relevant to question of 'should EA donors give on social fundraising pages'? To what extent can EA giving be spread by peer norms?

Prevalence:

Medium?

• Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? Peer Pressure In Charitable Solicitation, Full text

• A Field Experiment In Charitable Contribution: The Impact Of Social Information On The Voluntary Provision Of Public Goods, Full text

• Anonymity, Reciprocity, And Conformity: Evidence From Voluntary Contributions To A National Park In Costa Rica, Full text

• Social Comparisons And Pro-Social Behavior: Testing Textquotedblleftconditional Cooperationtextquotedblright In A Field Experiment, Full text

• How Is Donation Behaviour Affected By The Donations Of Others?, Full text

• Peer Effects In Charitable Giving: Evidence From The (Running) Field, Full text

Contributors David Reinstein