The Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA), in collaboration with the Department of Social Services, has released the Increasing Workplace Giving Report.
The new report describes three separate trials which BETA conducted to test interventions to increase workplace giving.
Planned giving, like workplace giving, provides stability for charities and not-for-profits as a predicable source of income. More Australian employers are offering workplace giving to their employees, but participation is low.
BETA conducted trials in two Australian Public Service departments and with one corporate partner, to test the effect of different behaviourally informed interventions on workplace giving. These included:
- Behaviourally designed emails, from peers or senior managers
- Providing a small gift
- Simple sign-up process
- Asking people to ‘give later’
The trials found that behaviourally informed emails from a senior manager and easier sign-up can increase charitable workplace giving. These interventions each increased giving by 2-3.8 percentage points.
The report concludes that a simple, tailored email sent by all APS agencies, could lead to more than 1,000 new sign-ups and around $500,000 extra in donations in the first year.
To access the full report, please visit: Increasing workplace giving | Behavioural Economics.