This document discusses principles of behavioural economics that can be applied to fundraising and planned giving. It explains concepts like scarcity theory, reciprocity theory, social proof, authority, anchoring, and stewardship reporting. For example, scarcity theory suggests emphasizing limited time offers to activate people's fear of missing out. Reciprocity theory means offering small gifts to motivate larger future donations. The document advocates using these behavioral insights to improve fundraising appeals and stewardship practices.

1. Behavioural Economics:
Getting Inside the Mind of Your Donor
#CAGP17
Scott Fortnum, MA, CFRE, ACFRE
President and CEO
Children’s Health Foundation, London
@SFortnum
Leah Eustace, MPhil, MInstF, CFRE, ACFRE
President
Blue Canoe Philanthropy
@LeahEustace

2. Why am
I here?

3. Let’s play

5. Person 1: “Where’s Jack?”
Person 2: “Well … I didn’t
want to have to tell you, but I
saw a yellow VW parked in
front of Susan’s.”
Props: Kendall Haven

6. Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press

7. Rational
Decision
Making
Define the
problem
Identify the
decision
criteria
Allocate
weights to
the criteria
Develop
the
alternatives
Evaluate
the
alternatives
Select the
best
alternative

8. How we actually make decisions

9. The Syrian Civil War

10. But then came Alan Kurdi

11. “A story does what facts and
statistics never can: it inspires
and motivates. The audience
tunes in because they see
themselves woven into the story.”
~ D. Taylor, The Healing Power of Stories

12. An economist would base decision-making and
predictions purely on numbers/stats.
A behavioural economist would factor in actual
human behaviour and human experience
In planned giving, we’re too
often economists. We need to
be behavioural economists.

14. So …
What impact does your
subconscious have on the
decisions you make? And, how
can we use that knowledge in
planned giving?

15. SCARCITY THEORY

16. Simply put, humans
place a higher value
on an object that is
scarce, and a lower
value on those that
are abundant.
Photo by Matt Wetzler / CC BY-SA 2.0

17. I’d better act fast!

18. Limited sponsorships, naming
opportunities, timelines

19. ”Mary, right now, you and John qualify for a 5.0%
charitable gift annuity. In three months, we expect
the gift annuity rates to drop, and I'll only be able to
offer you and John a rate of 4.7%. If you act before
January to establish the annuity, we can set up the
annuity at the higher 5.0% rate."
“Mary, you and John
qualify for a 5.0%
charitable gift annuity.”
This?
Or this?

20. How do we put this
into action?

21. RECIPROCITY THEORY

22. Give Receive

26. What not to do

27. How do we put this
into action?

29. SOCIAL PROOF

32. Message to the guest Reuse
• Help hotel save energy 16%
• Partner with us to help the environment 31%
• Almost 75% of guests reuse towels 44%
• 75% of guests who stayed in this room
reused their towels 49%

35. % Signing up to Legacy Giving
4.9%
10.8%
15.4%
BASELINE PLAIN ASK SOCIAL PROOF

36. How do we put this
into action?

38. “Every day,
people just
like you … “

39. Living Donor

40. “Mrs. Smith, thank you for
your generous gifts over
the years. You’ve been
such a loyal and
tremendous supporter of
our organization. You
know, many donors who
give as regularly as you
have put our organization
in their will; what are your
thoughts about doing that?”

41. AUTHORITY

42. We feel a sense of
duty or obligation to
people in positions
of authority.

44. Credentialing

45. How do we put this
into action?

49. Exercise Break
• On a piece of paper, write your name at
the top
• On the left, write the last two digits of
your home phone number
• Hand your bids in before you leave

50. ANCHORING

51. The anchoring rule of thumb
describes the common human
tendency to rely too heavily on
the first piece of information
offered (the “anchor”) when
making decisions. Once the
anchor is set, decisions are
then made by adjusting around
the initial anchor, regardless of
the legitimacy of the actual
anchor.
(source: http://disenthrall.co/)

52. Has this happened to you?
Photo by Ann Larie Valentine / CC BY-SA 2.0

53. Campbell's soup sale

54. People look to an anchor to help them make
a decision, but they make multiple decisions
before making a gift, so there's an
opportunity for multiple anchors:
“Should I open the package?"
"Should I read the letter?"
"Should I agree to the meeting?"

55. How do we put this
into action?

58. www.afpinclusivegiving.ca

59. STEWARDSHIP

60. Which principles of
behavioural economics can
we bring back to our shops
and apply to existing
donors?

61. Questions?
Scott Fortnum
President and CEO
Children’s Health Foundation
London, ON
Scott@FortnumGroup.com
www.childhealth.ca
@SFortnum
Leah Eustace
President
Blue Canoe Philanthropy
Ottawa, ON
Leah@YourBlueCanoe.ca
www.yourbluecanoe.ca
@LeahEustace