How to ask for donations: a language perspective on online fundraising success

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of message framing and language use on intentions to donate in online fundraising campaigns. A 2 (Message framing: Gain-framed vs. Loss-framed) by 2 (Language use: Inclusive vs. Exclusive language) randomized between-subjects factorial design was used to collect data. A total of 516 participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (i.e., inclusive gain-framed, exclusive gain-framed, inclusive loss-framed, exclusive loss-framed), and asked to read an online fundraising campaign call for making donations. Overall, the results suggest that online fundraisers can benefit more from exclusive language if the messages are framed with possible gains for donating. Yet, if practitioners prefer to use loss-framed messages in a fundraising campaign, inclusive language would be more effective than exclusive language.