How to use psychology to boost giving

Charities can significantly boost their fundraising and improve their engagement with donors by using psychology in their campaigning.

 

Such behavioural techniques are commonplace in private sector marketing to attract customers and can be adopted by charities as they look to gain an edge in the search for donations and keep supporters engaged.

 

Among those exploring the role of psychology in charity campaigning is marketing agency Reflect Digital. It is urging charities to adopt such techniques to “create emotional connections” with donors and potential supporters.

 

This includes using more personal narratives in charity storytelling and focussing on campaigns that are enjoyable for supporters. Here we look at this research into how charity fundraisers can best deploy psychology, especially online.

 

 

Storytelling and fundraising

 

Using psychology to focus on personal narratives, such as from beneficiaries of support, can significantly boost giving. This creates an "identifiable victim effect" whereby the donor puts themselves in the shoes of the person being helped and creates “emotional connections that resonate with donors”.

 

“By sharing compelling stories of individuals impacted by their work, charities can evoke empathy and motivate donations," says Reflect Digital.

 

Story telling also helps charities gain coverage in the mainstream and social media.

 

Among charities successfully deploying this is Trussell, which runs food banks.

 

It focuses on the personal struggles of individual families facing food insecurity “creating an emotional connection that compels viewers to take action and support their cause,” says the agency.

 

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Gamification and giving

 

Another psychological technique Reflect Digital recommends is embracing online gaming for good initiatives, such as streaming marathons among gamers and gamification through mobile games.

It says this ensures charities “can make giving more engaging and enjoyable, which in turn can boost donor retention and increase the frequency of contributions”.

 

Engagement through gamification is especially important to target young supporters, who tend to give to more than one cause. They also give less regularly but are triggered to give through engaging content as well as high-profile causes, such as major disasters across the world.

 

Health and children’s charities are among those advised to adopt this technique as they are the most popular among younger donors.

 

Using gaming also helps create an immersive experience for all charity supporters. This can include sharing collaborative goals by displaying progress bars. For example, these progress bars can be used to show the impact of their contribution, creating a sense of achievement.

 

Using virtual fireworks, confetti or special messages can also be shown to donors when campaign milestones are reached.

 

Personality quizzes can also be engaging and give charities a greater insight into donors’ profile, so that future communication can be better targeted.

 

 

Anchoring giving

 

Another psychological technique charities are being urged to adopt is anchoring. This is achieved through setting targets and default donation amounts that can make a tangible difference to people’s lives.

 

These anchors can help to “guide donor decisions, subtly encouraging higher contributions”.

 

Many charities already successfully deploy this technique such as Children in Need. It presents “heartfelt individual stories that specify particular funding needs, thereby setting reference points that guide donors to contribute amount aligned with those highlighted in each narrative,” says Reflect.

 

Presenting a set of pre-defined donation amounts helps remove ambiguity about how much should be given. If the lowest option is to give £5, for example, perhaps set a higher amount as a default selection to anchor supporters’ giving.

 

Among charities successfully deploying this is Mind, which gives users three options for donating between £25 and £75, and sets the £50 option as its default.

 

 

Cost-of-living

 

Charities also need to ensure they understand the psychological impact of the cost-of-living on donors, including the financial pressures they face and opportunities it creates around giving.

 

Reflect Digital says that financial pressures have led to a shift in donor behaviour which “offers opportunities for organisations to adapt and innovate”.

 

It details how while fewer people in the UK are giving “those who do are giving more”.

 

“Charities must recognise this trend and focus on nurturing relationships with regular donors while also finding ways to attract new supporters who may be motivated by a desire to help others in need,” states their report.

 

Young Enterprise’s Digital Engagement Manager, Lizze Alabaster, is among charity digital experts researchers spoke to. She says that focusing on the cost-of-living crisis also has a knock-on affect of encouraging people to donate as they “see the challenges that people face”.

 

 

Psychology of landing pages

 

Using psychology to encourage donations starts the moment a charity’s homepage is viewed and the above techniques of storytelling and anchoring in particular can be used.

 

A strong landing page should be free of clutter to offer a clear path to giving.

 

Emotional imagery using human faces to evoke emotions such as inspiration should be used, and default donation amounts should be highly visible.

 

A clear call to action, with a ‘donate now’ button should be prevalent by using a striking colour.