Cultivating Disaster Donors
When a major disaster hits, the American Red Cross www.redcross.org is there to provide relief to those in need. “Disaster donors,” the generous people who give in response to disasters, are kept on file with the American Red Cross after their first donation. Moving forward, the American Red Cross makes ongoing appeals to them, asking them to contribute to a variety of programs, such as those focused on helping Americans prepare for disasters (i.e. community emergency response training). The American Red Cross, as well as non-profit organizations in general, have had difficulty converting disaster donors into long term donors; less than 30% of American Red Cross disaster donors give a second time. Finding effective strategies to cultivate longer relationships with this large group of donors would significantly impact the American Red Cross, and potentially the entire non-profit industry. The American Red Cross and Russ Reid, the nation’s largest marketing and communications firm for non-profits, are sponsoring a AIAB Research Opportunity. The American Red Cross will be providing a data set with complete donation histories going back to 2006, as well as records of direct marketing efforts targeted at over 500,000 donors. Details on the wide variety of creative executions for appeals delivered to these donors will also be provided.
MEDIA COVERAGE:
Data Diving For A Good Cause
Customer Analytics: A New Lifeline for the Red Cross and Other Non-Profits
Using Data To Help Convert American Red Cross “Disaster Donors”
AIAB Applies A Unique Approach to Creating Academic-Industry Research Partnerships
Note: This Research Opportunity is closed for proposal submissions.
Research Teams
GRANTEES OF THE AMERICAN RED CROSS/RUSS REID DATA:
WHAT MOTIVATES REPEAT AND DISASTER DONORS TO GIVE?
Judd B. Kessler, The Wharton School
Katherine L. Milkman, The Wharton School
STRENGTHENING EMPATHY AND DIRECTED ALTRUISM
Morris George, Baylor University
Susan Harford, Marketing Bank LLC
Ann Mirabito, Baylor University
Jeff Tanner, Baylor University
DISASTER DONORS AND DONOR DISASTERS: PREDICTING DONOR BEHAVIOR AND EFFECTIVENESS OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Feryal Erhun, Stanford University
Wolfgang Jank, University of Maryland and University of South Florida
Itir Karaesmen, American University
Cristel Antonia Russell, American University
Galit Shmueli, Indian School of Business
Inbal Yahav, Bar-Ilan University
EFFICIENT LEARNING OF DONOR RETENTION STRATEGIES FOR THE AMERICAN RED CROSS
Ilya O. Ryzhov, University of Maryland
Jelena Bradic, University of California San Diego
OPTIMIZING DONATION COLLECTION UNDER UNCERTAINTY: A DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING APPROACH
Pinar Yildirim, University of Pittsburgh
Murat Kurt, SUNY Buffalo
Disclaimer
The Research Opportunity webinars are posted here for a research-focused audience and should not be quoted, paraphrased or otherwise utilized without written permission of AIAB. Any media inquiries or requests for quotes about the projects should be directed to wca-research@wharton.upenn.edu.