Cassandra M. Chapman
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How do people decide which charitable organisations to support and which ones to neglect?
There are over 54,000 charities registered in Australia alone. With thousands of charities to choose from, how can you know where your donations are best sent?
Each person brings a wealth of experiences and identities to the decision of how to contribute to the wider community through charities. My research aims to understand how people like you think about charity and decide which charities to support.
Results will help charities be more effective in talking to donors who care about their cause, in order to both improve fundraising efficiency and reduce the number of people who feel hassled by charities.
Helping charity fundraisers to understand donor psychology
Fundraisers often rely on rules of thumb when targeting potential donors, using demographic (age, gender, religion) or behavioural (recency, frequency, value) data to determine who to ask and how much to ask them for.
Social psychological research, however, would suggest that not all charity is created equal (in the eyes of the donor). Each person brings with them qualities, such as the groups they belong to, their personal experiences, and the things they value, which shape the way they interact with fundraisers and the way they respond to charity messages.
My research aims to understand how different types of people (women vs men, religious vs secular, empathetic, authoritarian) respond to different types of information (such as who gives, how much they give, what is needed). This knowledge will help fundraisers maximise campaign ROI while minimising donor attrition.
Social psychology of charitable giving: identities, norms, and intergroup processes
Charitable giving is often treated as an individual difference and research attempts to predict who will give to charity. However, charity always takes place between a donor, a recipient, and often a fundraiser. Social concerns, including group membership of donor and receiver, perceived norms, and reputation, surely influence decisions about whether to donate and which organisations to donate to.
My research examines the interplay between donors (including identities and individual differences) and salient socio-contextual cues (such as perceived norms or the methods of helping available) to predict donation distribution decisions.
About Cassandra Chapman
Before starting at UQ I worked in fundraising and communications for child-focused charities at home (New Zealand) and abroad (El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Thailand). I saw first-hand the great disparity of wealth and health around the globe and the transformative impact that donations by everyday people can have.
Broadly, I’m interested in prosocial behaviour, collective action, and community psychology. I care about creating actionable research that contributes to positive change and thriving – whether within individuals or wider societies. I’m especially interested in working with community groups and non-profits to evaluate and improve their communications or program work.
Get in touch
Cassandra is always happy to speak about her research and enjoys research collaborations with charity and non-profit partners. Potential speaking topics include:
Articles written by Cassandra for the Social Change Blog:
If you’re interested in having Cassandra speak at an event or collaborating on research, please get in touch.
There are over 54,000 charities registered in Australia alone. With thousands of charities to choose from, how can you know where your donations are best sent?
Each person brings a wealth of experiences and identities to the decision of how to contribute to the wider community through charities. My research aims to understand how people like you think about charity and decide which charities to support.
Results will help charities be more effective in talking to donors who care about their cause, in order to both improve fundraising efficiency and reduce the number of people who feel hassled by charities.
Helping charity fundraisers to understand donor psychology
Fundraisers often rely on rules of thumb when targeting potential donors, using demographic (age, gender, religion) or behavioural (recency, frequency, value) data to determine who to ask and how much to ask them for.
Social psychological research, however, would suggest that not all charity is created equal (in the eyes of the donor). Each person brings with them qualities, such as the groups they belong to, their personal experiences, and the things they value, which shape the way they interact with fundraisers and the way they respond to charity messages.
My research aims to understand how different types of people (women vs men, religious vs secular, empathetic, authoritarian) respond to different types of information (such as who gives, how much they give, what is needed). This knowledge will help fundraisers maximise campaign ROI while minimising donor attrition.
Social psychology of charitable giving: identities, norms, and intergroup processes
Charitable giving is often treated as an individual difference and research attempts to predict who will give to charity. However, charity always takes place between a donor, a recipient, and often a fundraiser. Social concerns, including group membership of donor and receiver, perceived norms, and reputation, surely influence decisions about whether to donate and which organisations to donate to.
My research examines the interplay between donors (including identities and individual differences) and salient socio-contextual cues (such as perceived norms or the methods of helping available) to predict donation distribution decisions.
About Cassandra Chapman
Before starting at UQ I worked in fundraising and communications for child-focused charities at home (New Zealand) and abroad (El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Thailand). I saw first-hand the great disparity of wealth and health around the globe and the transformative impact that donations by everyday people can have.
Broadly, I’m interested in prosocial behaviour, collective action, and community psychology. I care about creating actionable research that contributes to positive change and thriving – whether within individuals or wider societies. I’m especially interested in working with community groups and non-profits to evaluate and improve their communications or program work.
Get in touch
Cassandra is always happy to speak about her research and enjoys research collaborations with charity and non-profit partners. Potential speaking topics include:
- Donor psychology
- Communicating social norms to improve fundraising
- Evidence-based non-profit fundraising
Articles written by Cassandra for the Social Change Blog:
- 3 ways to make your PhD harder than it needs to be
- Are charitable people universally generous?
- Is effective altruism effective?
- Are good intentions good enough? 3 ways to help better
- The seven deadly sins of statistical misinterpretation and how to avoid them
- Research can help you help people better
If you’re interested in having Cassandra speak at an event or collaborating on research, please get in touch.
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