An Experimental Study on Effects of Results-Based Reporting on Individual Giving Behavior – Does It Pay Off?

Organizations aiming for a social goal often report on their work performed and not on actual results. However, results provide better information, because it contains information concerning the changes that occur within the target groups’ environment (outcome) and/or the whole community (impact) as a result of the work performed (output). This study empirically investigates, whether an increasing level of results-based information affects the donor’s willingness to donate and the amount of donations. The authors deploy an online experiment to test the effect in a within-subjects design and a between-subjects design. It is found that the willingness to donate and the amount significantly increase with the level of results for the within-subjects design. Surprisingly, in the between-subjects design this is not the case. It is concluded that donors change their willingness to donate and appreciate higher results levels, only if they got to see and to compare all three levels.