Increasing workplace giving (second study)

Last registered on June 18, 2020
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Increasing workplace giving (second study)
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0003833
Initial registration date
January 29, 2019

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
January 31, 2019, 3:12 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
June 18, 2020, 2:46 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Australia
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
BETA Team Registration
Affiliation
Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2018-11-21
End date
2018-12-21
Keywords
Other
Additional Keywords
Payroll, philanthropy, workplace giving
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This study examines the effectiveness of applying behavioural insights to communications in order to increase workplace-giving signup
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Team Registration, BETA. 2020. "Increasing workplace giving (second study)." AEA RCT Registry. June 18. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3833-2.0
Former Citation
Team Registration, BETA. 2020. "Increasing workplace giving (second study)." AEA RCT Registry. June 18. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3833/history/70706
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Two interventions (presented individually and in combination) were distributed to staff members via email.
Intervention (Hidden)
Staff received one of four combinations of two interventions embedded in emails encouraging them to sign up to workplace giving.
The first intervention changed the sender of the email from a senior executive staff member to a non-senior executive staff member (peer). Emails differed only in the name of the sender and their photo.
The second intervention changed the current signup process to a simplified signup form.
Emails were sent to all permanent ongoing and non-ongoing staff. Senior staff and staff involved with the intervention design and delivery were excluded from the trial. Randomisation was at the level of individual staff members.
Intervention Start Date
2018-11-21
Intervention End Date
2018-12-21

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Primary outcome: Participation in the organisation’s workplace giving program (where providing any donation counts as 1 and otherwise 0).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary outcome: Average amount of money per employee directed to workplace giving each fortnight
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
A four-arm 2x2 factorial randomised trial. Data (changes in WG) will be tracked for two full pay periods (four weeks) after the intervention delivery.
Experimental Design Details
The trial is a 2x2 factorial design, thus it has two independent variables (IV) each with two levels.
IV.A - Messenger
The email were sent from either a member of the DSS senior executive service (SES) or a non-SES staff member (peer). Emails differed only in the name of the sender and their photo.
IV.B - Signup system
Emails included a link to either the current signup information page (current) or a simplified signup form (simplified).
Randomization Method
Randomisation occured in blocks, defined by the following pre-treatment covariates:
• Current workplace giving status (yes/no)
• Income level (below median/above median).

Within each block individuals were randomly assigned to four groups using complete random assignment. Assignment was balanced (that is, an equal number in each treatment group) to the extent that blocks allow.
Randomization Unit
Individual employees.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Not applicable.
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,250 staff measured at baseline and two follow-up points (2 and 4 weeks after intervention delivery).
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Participants in the trial will be 2,250 staff. The assignment ratio between experimental groups will be 1:1:1:1
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
We performed power calculations using simulation for the impact of each of our two interventions. This indicated that at an alpha of 5%, we will have 80% power to detect a standardised effect of 0.11. This is equivalent to a change in workplace giving participation from 1.4% to 3.1%. These calculations assume no interaction effect between the impact of the messenger and the impact of the signup system.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
BETA Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2018-09-06
IRB Approval Number
BETA ETH 2018 – 03
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Workplace+Giving+-+Pre+analysis+plan.docx

MD5: 24572f8e799f1b45ef5cd232df6e13f5

SHA1: 9d820a041f97dfe4046c6ff3eab69ed5d015acc7

Uploaded At: January 29, 2019

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
November 23, 2018, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
December 21, 2018, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
number of clusters = 2,436. the unit of randomisation was the individual employee (ie no clustering was used so number of clusters is equal to total sample size).
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
n=2,436.
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
T1 (current sign-up + senior messenger): 608 T2 (current sign-up + peer messenger): 610 T3 (simple sign-up + senior messenger): 609 T4 (simple sign-up + peer messenger): 609
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials