Effect of appeal content on fundraising success and donor behavior

Teachers at over 80% of all K–12 public and charter schools in the United States use online crowdfunding platforms to acquire classroom supplies, but they reach their goals only 75% of the time. Platforms such as DonorsChoose provide a framework through which teachers can reach potential donors using an essay that outlines their needs. Known as an appeal in fundraising language, this textual information provides a brief description of the students in a class, their needs, and how fundraising will influence their learning objectives. We study the role of stylistic aspects of an appeal that affect the success of fundraising and examine how framing information provided on crowdfunding platforms influences donor behaviors. We find that longer appeals attract lower donations and hurt funding success, but the effect is moderated by sentiment and sophistication. Sophistication of the appeal has a positive effect on fundraising and the amount donated. Providing information on the state of a project has a positive effect on donations made by subsequent donors, a result that corroborates reinforcement models of donor behavior; individuals share a burden when supporting charitable causes and donate at least as much as the minimum donated.