Conservation fundraising: Evidence from social media and traditional mail field experiments

Abstract

Funding shortages limit conservation impact, making it vital to find effective fundraising methods. To explore how traditional and digital conservation fundraising methods perform, we conducted real-world field experiments by using direct-mail and Facebook advertisements. We compared three types of message frames (simple, seed money, and ecological). We found that the seed money frame, which emphasizes the amount already donated, increased the number of donors, whereas the ecological frame, which focuses on the fact that the fundraiser benefits threatened species, led to a relative reduction in the number of donors. We also found that while Facebook advertising costs exceeded donations, while the opposite was true for the traditional mail experiment. This highlights the importance of identifying appropriate donor pools for online and offline fundraising before implementing campaigns. Our findings illustrate some challenges associated with online fundraising and the importance of behavioral evidence to enhance effective fundraising in conservation.