Make Donors Feel Self-Aware and Visible

Humans perform “good” behaviors when other people are watching.

In a classic study, people donated more money when they were standing near an image of eyes (vs. flowers; Bateson et al., 2006).

Want more donations? Make them visible.

How to Apply

• Stare at Donors. Save the Children shows a child staring at users on their donation page.

• Look Into the Video Camera. Speak directly to viewers in donation videos.

• Make Eye Contact With Donors. Solicitors receive more money when they look people in the eye (vs. a donation bin; Bull & Gibson-Robinson, 1981).

• Break the 3rd Wall. In a LoveShriners commercial, a boy looks into the camera and shouts “Hi People.” It feels like you’re talking to the boy, especially because of the Zoom-like interface. Naturally, he will see your decision whether to donate or ignore him.

• Be Liberal With “You” Pronouns. UNICEF frames their copy around potential donors. Your copy should follow a similar strategy. For example, the previous sentence said “your copy” – which paints a mental image in which you are the protagonist. All eyes are on you.

• Insert White Backgrounds in Interfaces. White resembles light, which makes the intended action feel more visible. On the donation page for Doctors Without Borders, the interface and donation form are white. And there's a dark background image with the beneficiary. Research shows that dark images appear heavy, and heavy objects seem important (Jostmann et al., 2009).

• Use See-Through Donation Bins. Opaque bins hide contributions. Transparent bins will show existing contributions, so people will conceptualize this behavior as a social norm. They'll feel guiltier not donating.

• Display Handwritten Fonts on Donation Requests. If humans can’t be present to witness a donation, leave remnants of a human. People insert more money into donation boxes with handwritten fonts (Chu et al., 2023).

• Embrace Organic Shapes in Branding. On the Save the Children website, the Search and Menu icons look drawn by hand, rather than digitally created. Handmade designs should activate more social presence.

• Bateson, M., Nettle, D., & Roberts, G. (2006). Cues of being watched enhance cooperation in a real-world setting. Biology letters, 2(3), 412-414.
• Bull, R., & Gibson-Robinson, E. (1981). The influences of eye-gaze, style of dress, and locality on the amounts of money donated to a charity. Human Relations, 34(10), 895-905.
• Chu, X. Y., Tok, D., Zhou, X., & Chen, X. (2023). How companies use typeface design to engage consumers in charitable activities. Psychology & Marketing, 40(1), 107-123.
• Jostmann, N. B., Lakens, D., & Schubert, T. W. (2009). Weight as an embodiment of importance. Psychological science, 20(9), 1169-1174.