Cassandra Chapman

I didn’t get an email but was surprised by this when I just tried to log in for the first time in a while

Most of this research is open access, & has been done in collaboration with (or sometimes led by) other cool folks, including Blueskyers @annayahprosser.bsky.social & @bleiker.bsky.social

Let us be Clear: Why and how to Demonstrate data and Methods Transparency in Nonprofit Research - VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations Transparency means being honest and open about one’s practices. Transparency is considered a gold standard in the nonprofit sector and associated with a range of positive outcomes. We propose that tra...

* Finally, we encourage the increasing adoption of transparency practices in nonprofit research. To this end, we outline the benefits of transparency and offer concrete suggestions for different ways to demonstrate transparency in nonprofit research in this article: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

* We systematically reviewed research on charitable giving (437 articles): 73% included subjective (i.e. self-reported) measures & only 33% included objective (i.e. observed behavior) measures. Objective measurement varied across disciplines, geographic regions, & methods: doi.org/10.1177/0899...

* Thematic analyses reveal fundraisers walk an ethical tightrope by having to consider the needs of three key stakeholders - donors, beneficiaries, & fundraisers. They also mention diverse considerations around how beneficiaries are or should be depicted in campaigns: doi.org/10.1177/0899...

* A natural experiment involving 213,404 donors to 45 charities shows that mass market fundraising methods that involve interpersonal interaction are linked to lower donation values over time, possibly because people feel pressured to give: doi.org/10.1177/0899...

Beneficiary effects in prosocial decision making: Understanding unequal valuations of lives To understand human prosocial behaviour, one must consider not only the helpers and the requesters, but also the characteristics of the beneficiaries. To this aim, this articles reviews research on...

* Eight key factors influence which beneficiaries generate the most financial support - (1) temporal proximity, (2) young age, (3) female gender, (4) misery, (5) innocence, (6) ingroup status, (7) identifiability, and (8) high proportion: doi.org/10.1080/1046...

* Systematic review of 153 studies shows giving can be incentivized by either material or social rewards & by offers benefiting either the donor or some other. Thank you gifts in fundraising appeals may backfire, while offers like matches & recognition should promote giving: doi.org/10.1177/0899...

DONOR PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH ROUND-UP
Here's a roundup of our latest research findings on donor psychology & effective and ethical fundraising:

* Meta-analysis shows identification w (1) other donors, (2) beneficiaries, & (3) fundraisers can all promote charitable giving: doi.org/10.1177/0899...

The climate activist’s dilemma: Extreme protests reduce movement support but raise climate concern and intentions

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I suppose it depends on if you see “minority” as a collective status (in which case use intra) or see different minority groups as having distinct identities (in which case use inter). My feeling is that intra is perhaps a bit homogenizing?

Emma & I had the pleasure of working with @cassandrachapman.bsky.social, our lead-author, & Matthew Hornsey, on this article on ethical tensions in nonprofit fundraising. Part of a joint ARC Linkage Project it involved cross-disciplinary learning & adjusting. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

A mixed studies systematic review on the health and wellbeing effects, and underlying mechanisms, of online support groups for chronic conditions - Communications Psychology Online support groups for people with a chronic condition may positively impact social welleing, behaviour, and adjustment, but they may negatively influence anxiety and distress. The effects on physi...

So excited to share the second paper from my PhD: a systematic review of 100 papers looking at the effects of online support groups on the health and wellbeing of people with chronic conditions

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

@profjohndrury.bsky.social

Home | Donor Psychology Improve your strategy and fundraising with the latest research on the psychology of charitable giving.

We are thrilled to finally be able to share these learnings & hope they'll be valuable to scholars & practitioners alike. Please share with your networks. If you find content like this useful, please also subscribe to our research translation website www.donorpsych.org or YouTube channel @DonorPsych

Thanks to my tireless co-authors: Jessica Spence, Matt Hornsey, & Lucas Dixon. Those who know, know that meta-analyses are complex & laborious and this one has been in progress for over 5 years!

Social Identification and Charitable Giving: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - Cassandra M. Chapman, Jessica L. Spence, Matthew J. Hornsey, Lucas Dixon, 2025 To enhance their effectiveness, nonprofit fundraisers may wish to harness the power of identification. Informed by Social Identity Theory and Charitable Triad T...

You can read or download the full paper online (and for free!): doi.org/10.1177/0899...

Also, effects of social identification (whether strength of identification or shared identity) were smaller for actual behavior than for self-reported giving & were only found when giving was mediated through charities but not when giving directly to individuals.

The strength of identification (i.e., how strongly one identifies with the target) was more strongly associated with charitable giving than merely sharing a social identity with the target (e.g., both being from the same country).

Charitable Triad Theory: How donors, beneficiaries, and fundraisers influence charitable giving Nonprofits address some of the world's most pressing problems, and many rely on donations to fund their essential work. Nonprofit marketers are, therefore, tasked with promoting charitable giving. Re....

Testing Charitable Triad Theory (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...), we found that identification with (1) other donors, (2) beneficiaries, & (3) fundraising organizations were all equally important. In the video, I give ideas for how each may be leveraged by fundraisers.

Briefly, we meta-analyzed 40 years of research & found positive relationship btwn social identification & charitable giving (r=.29, for the nerds). This means about 8% of the observed variance in people's charitable decisions could be explained by variation in identification with relevant targets.

YouTube video by Donor Psychology Harnessing the Power of Identification in Fundraising

Our new research on the role of identification in charitable giving is out now in NVSQ. I recorded this short video summarizing key findings & giving ideas to fundraisers & nonprofit managers about how they can effectively harness identification in their campaigns.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNXu...

YouTube video by Donor Psychology How the media influences disaster giving

EXPLAINER: How the media influences disaster giving
#fundraising #nonprofits

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTMQ...

News coverage boosts giving after disasters – Australian research team’s findings may offer lessons for Los Angeles fires All told, donors gave more than US$397 million to support recovery from the ‘black summer’ bushfire disaster.

News coverage boosts generosity in response to disasters like the LA fires
theconversation.com/news-coverag...

Across 80 groups, intergroup contact was consistently associated with lower prejudice.

The type of group and type of contact did not matter.

Active Empathetic Listening a Process View in Developing Relationships Between Fundraisers and Major Donors Active Empathetic Listening (AEL) was first published as a theoretical model to explain the role that active listening, and empathy play in developing relationships between buyers and sellers. It w...

Findings from depth interviews with fundraisers shows that actively listening & employing empathy are essential for communicating effectively with donors. Authenticity is also integral for developing a genuine connection.
New #fundraising research >
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Here it is: a tribute to Emma Hutchison, my amazing wife and research collaborator. I hope it does justice to the brilliant scholar and the remarkable person she was. Sorry it took me a while after Emma’s passing to gather enough strength to honour her. www.rolandbleiker.com/tribute-to-e...

The POWER OF US Course: A syllabus for teaching about social identity Issue 123: Calling all educators: we have new free educational materials for teaching about the Power of Shared Identity

Interested in teaching people about social identity, group dynamics, intergroup conflict, & social psychology?

We made a syllabus with free content:
-Course schedule
-Videos
-Readings
-Chapter summaries
-Slides
-Tests
-Activities
-Interactive class Q&A
www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/the-power-...

This is a big problem, regarding methods & also disciplinary norms. As an interdisciplinary scholar, I often face crossness from reviewers who think their way of doing things is the only valid one. Let's normalize admitting when something is outside our wheelhouse & remaining open minded.

Her third paper, still going through review, tests the efficacy of interventions designed to promote psychological ownership and their flow on effects on blood donation intentions.

Congrats again, Abby, on a wonderful body of research advancing the science of generosity.

‘Yeah, this is my donation’: An application of psychological ownership in blood donation - Abigail R-A. Edwards, Rachel Thorpe, Barbara M. Masser, Fiona Kate Barlow, 2024 To meet the priority healthcare needs of any population there must be a consistently available blood supply donated by willing donors. Due to this universal nee...

2. Donors’ ownership over their individual donation practices, and not the blood service, may contribute to maintaining a stable blood supply > journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....