The influence of population characteristics on household response to a charity book collection based on pledges and social pressure

The success of a charitable campaign will depend on many factors, including solicitation technique, population characteristics, and type of charity. We implemented a randomised controlled trial to assess the effect of pledging and social pressure on the charitable donation behaviour of households. We implemented a charitable book collection in two different geographical areas, with one being more affluent, more ethnically diverse, and with higher levels of education. We received a marked variation in response: overall, across both treatment groups and control group, the number of households who donated books was higher in one area than the other. However, we did not find any evidence of a heterogeneous response to the pledge and social pressure interventions, compared to the control group.