An experimental investigation of accounting information’s influence on the individual giving process

In this study, we experimentally investigate accounting information’s role in the individual donation process. Specifically, we manipulate the presence of service efforts and accomplishments (SEA) information in conjunction with a typical fundraising request. We then investigate whether donors obtain comparative financial accounting information for the purpose of maximizing donation efficiency.In our experiment, potential donors felt that fundraising requests containing SEA disclosures were more informative than typical fundraising pleas. In addition, supplementing a standard fundraising request with summary SEA information significantly increased (1) the quality perception of the requesting charitable organization and (2) the percentage of potential donors who claimed they would donate to the requesting organization in the future. However, SEA information did not translate into increased actual giving in our study.Our experiment next offered actual donors the opportunity to obtain comparative financial information for the purpose of verifying efficient giving (i.e., donors could compare the soliciting organization to a similar organization). Although the majority of actual donors were unwilling to obtain this information, the vast majority of those viewing financial accounting information donated to the organization with the highest program-spending ratio. As such, our results support two seemingly opposed contentions: (1) only a minority of individual donors request and use financial information, however, (2) there is a need for increased accuracy of not-for-profit expense classification.