Posted by German, Google Grants Team

From time to time we'll be noting articles we think would be useful to our readers. We thought we'd start with a recent article entitled "What Makes People Give?", by David Leonhardt of The New York Times.

This article discusses how non-profits can benefit from behavioral economics research on philanthropic giving. Leonhardt highlights a few field experiments, conducted by economist John List, which uncover some of the factors that influence philanthropic giving:
  • Do donors care about seed money?
  • Are they affected by how much other donors give?
  • Though donors seem to be influenced by gift-matching, does the size of the match matter?
We hope the findings help enhance your fundraising efforts, both with your Google Grants AdWords accounts and beyond.