We the living: the effects of living and deceased donor stories on charitable bequest giving intentions

Choosing messages to encourage charitable bequest giving may be particularly challenging given sensitivity to personal mortality reminders. Previous research suggests that people often react to mortality reminders with avoidance, including distancing themselves from those associated with death. We c...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of nonprofit and voluntary sector marketing 2016-05, Vol.21 (2), p.109-117
Main Authors: James III, Russell N., Routley, Claire
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bequests
charitable bequest
Charities
Donations
Fund raising
fundraising
Market strategy
philanthropy
planned giving
State court decisions
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Choosing messages to encourage charitable bequest giving may be particularly challenging given sensitivity to personal mortality reminders. Previous research suggests that people often react to mortality reminders with avoidance, including distancing themselves from those associated with death. We compare the effects of otherwise similar living and deceased bequest donor stories on subsequent intentions to leave a charitable bequest. Although both story types significantly increased subsequent intentions to leave a charitable bequest, living donor stories consistently outperformed otherwise identical deceased donor stories. Fundraisers may do well to emphasize stories of living planned bequest donors and de‐emphasize death and the deceased in charitable bequest fundraising messaging. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:1465-4520
1479-103X
2691-1361
DOI:10.1002/nvsm.1549