Giving And Gratitude: Comparing Communication Media And Expressions Of Gratitude On Subsequent Annual Giving

Increasing the alumni participation rate (APR) by raising annual gift donations is one of the biggest challenges facing higher education institutions. While research shows many factors can motivate individuals to donate, little is known about how colleges and universities engage with expressions of gratitude to increase donations. Using a quantitative method design, this dissertation employs a pre-registered field experiment to determine: a) compared to self-benefit donor stewardship behavior, does other-praising donor stewardship behavior as expressed through thank you messages increase donor retention and the level of future donations, and b) does the medium through which donors are thanked make a difference in whether they will make subsequent donations? As a first step in examining these issues, and in an earlier experiment upon which this dissertation is positioned, donor stewardship phone calls communicated between students and donors were scripted and executed, and solicitation results evaluated. As a replication study to the calling experiment, donor stewardship text messages were deployed, and fundraising results were assessed. These self- or other-oriented expressions of gratitude show some advantage in other-praising phrasing, particularly when live phone conversations or interactive text exchanges are held. Further, those receiving other-praising text messages were much more likely to give again.