Pledges and charitable giving

Last registered on July 16, 2025

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Pledges and charitable giving

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0007673

Initial registration date

May 12, 2021

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

May 14, 2021, 9:40 AM EDT

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

Last updated

July 16, 2025, 7:00 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Ragan Petrie

Affiliation

Texas A&M University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Marco Castillo

PI Affiliation

Texas A&M University

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2021-05-19

End date

2025-05-19

Keywords

Behavior

Additional Keywords

charitable giving, pledges

JEL code(s)

D64, H41, C93, D91

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

The study examines the effects of reminders on following though on a donation pledge and continued donation. We partner with a charity to conduct a field experiment to test the effects of reminders on donation rates and donation amounts in the short and long run.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Castillo, Marco and Ragan Petrie. 2025. "Pledges and charitable giving." AEA RCT Registry. July 16. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7673-1.1

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The study examines the effects of reminders to donors on following though on a donation pledge and continued donation.

Intervention (Hidden)

We partner with One for the World to examine (1) the effect of a reminder of a promise to donate on the probability of following through on a donation pledge and (2) the effect of a request to update a pledged donation amount before key milestones (6 months, 12 months, 24 months).

The reminders are sent by One for the World as part of their normal correspondence with donors. This is a field experiment, and donors do not know they are in a study.

One for the World donors pledge to give 1% of their income to the charity for their lifetime. We want to examine the effect of reminders of the promise to donate on the probability of following through on the donation. And, we want to understand if a question about donating the next month affects a donor's willingness to follow through on the donation, especially at key milestones of donation duration (6 months, 12 months and 24 months).

Intervention Start Date

2021-05-19

Intervention End Date

2022-05-19

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

donation rate and amount

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

This data will be provided by our partner

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Duration of donation relationship

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

This data will be provided by our partner

Experimental Design

Donors will be randomized into a control and treatment group to get a reminder to donate and the donation amount.

Experimental Design Details

There are two experiments. These will be run in partnership with One for the World (OFTW). This is a natural field experiment, and donors will not know they are in a study. One for the World will send emails to donors in each experiment once a month for 6 months. Each month will be a new set of donors that roll into the target category. Each experiment has a control and treatment group, and target donors are randomized into one of the two groups.

Experiment 1 - Donors who have pledged but not started donating yet

Three months prior to the month of the donor's start date, OFTW will send the donor an email. The control group will be told OFTW looks forward to the donor starting soon and a link is provided to OFTW web site. The treatment group gets an email that reminds the donor of their promise to donate and the amount they said they would donate. The donor is then asked to affirm their pledge amount and frequency. There are two buttons. One to affirm the pledge and the other to modify the pledge amount. There is also a link to OFTW web site.

Experiment 2 - Donors who have started donating and are a month away from key milestones (6, 12, 24 months)

The month prior to a key milestone (6, 12 or 24 months of donations), OFTW will send the donor an email. The control group is thanked for their continued support and given a link to OFTW web site. The treatment group is reminded of their donation amount for the next month and are asked if they plan to donate that amount next month or if they would like to update their donation amount. There are two buttons to click. One is to confirm the plan to donate and the other is the update the donation amount.

Randomization Method

Randomization done on a computer

Randomization Unit

Randomization done at the level of the individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

800 individuals

Sample size: planned number of observations

800 individuals

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Experiment 1 - 200 control, 200 treatment. Experiment 2 - 200 control, 200 treatment

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

For each experiment, with roughly 400 individuals, we are powered to detect an increase of 13 percentage points in the donation rate, from a baseline of 63%. (alpha of 0.05, power of 0.8).

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB