The strategic timing of charity appeals: how message scheduling shapes donation decisions

Abstract

Purpose: Managers in nonprofit, marketing, and public organizations often need to decide when and how frequently to deliver appeal messages that sustain audience engagement and elicit prosocial responses. Yet, the effectiveness of different scheduling strategies for charitable messages remain unclear. Our research examined how message repetition, frequency, and timing can influence an individual’s decision to donate and the amount donated, and we explored the psychological mechanisms that shape these effects.

Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on behavioral decision-making and strategic communication theories, we conducted a series of controlled experimental studies to test how variations in message repetition and scheduling affected real-money donations. This approach enabled us to isolate the influence of repetition, frequency, and timing on affective and cognitive responses relevant to donation decisions.

Findings: Our results showed that the timing of an appeal message (e.g., its recency) had a stronger effect on donation likelihood than how often the message is repeated. Emotional responses and message recall were positively associated with giving but were not directly shaped by message repetition, frequency, or timing. Our findings indicate that strategically timed appeals can increase donation likelihood, but not necessarily increase donation size, even when repetition is limited or avoided.

Originality: By focusing on the strategic scheduling of messages, our research illuminates novel theoretical insights and practical guidance on the effective design of charitable appeals. Our results challenge the assumption that message repetition serves as a linear driver of persuasion, and identifies that greater attention should be given to message timing for sustained prosocial responses. Our findings go beyond affirming that excessive message repetition can lead to disengagement, and demonstrate that message recency, emotional saliency, and memorability can be critical characteristics of messaging strategies that effectively elicit donations.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Ian Dawson: orcid.org/0000-0003-0555-9682

ORCID for Konstantinos Katsikopoulos: orcid.org/0000-0002-9572-1980

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