Do beliefs about peers matter for donation matching? Experiments in the field and laboratory

Donation matching in charitable giving does not always improve donation outcomes. This may occur because individuals believe peers will exhaust the matching funds. We develop a theory about how beliefs about peers generosity affect own likelihood of donation. We test our theory in field and laboratory experiments using novel “threshold match” treatments. Results show that donation is more likely when donors have higher beliefs about being pivotal to securing matching money. One “threshold match” treatment more than doubles the donation rate in the field and laboratory relative to no match, suggesting that accounting for beliefs about peers may benefit fundraisers.