Original
Behavioral Charity: Third‐Party Ratings of Nonprofits as Salience and Heuristics
Abstract
ABSTRACT Financial disclosure through tax returns is the primary regulatory mechanism for holding nonprofits accountable to donors in the USA. The assumption that donors will make rational decisions using disclosed information when giving to nonprofits is central to this regulation. But what if they rely on mental shortcuts instead? This study examines how donors respond to a third‐party nonprofit rating that is simple, unverified, and based on self‐reported data. Using a five‐year panel dataset covering over a million nonprofit‐year records, we find that even these basic ratings have a significant impact on donation behavior. Donors use ratings via two mental shortcuts. First, ratings increase a nonprofit's salience, boosting donations by 7%. Second, donors process higher ratings as a mental accounting shortcut, giving up to 34% more to the top‐rated nonprofits. The findings suggest the limits of information disclosure alone in making nonprofits accountable to donors.
中文
行为慈善：非营利组织的第三方评级作为显著性与启发式
摘要
通过纳税申报进行财务披露是美国非营利组织对捐赠者负责的主要监管机制。捐赠者会利用披露信息在向非营利组织捐赠时作出理性决策，这一假设是上述监管的核心。但如果捐赠者转而依赖思维捷径呢？本研究考察捐赠者如何回应一种简单、未经核实且基于自我报告数据的第三方非营利组织评级。我们使用涵盖超过一百万条非营利组织-年度记录的五年面板数据集，发现即使这些基本评级也会对捐赠行为产生显著影响。捐赠者通过两种思维捷径使用评级。第一，评级提高非营利组织的显著性，使捐赠增加7%。第二，捐赠者将较高评级作为心理账户捷径，向评级最高的非营利组织多捐赠高达34%。这些发现表明，仅靠信息披露在使非营利组织对捐赠者负责方面存在局限。
关键词
非营利组织、慈善捐赠、第三方评级、信息披露、行为公共管理、显著性、启发式、心理账户