Fundraising to a real-life public good – evidence from the laboratory

We examine motivators for contributing to a real-life public good. We conduct fundraising experiments where the contributions are dedicated to the procurement of sustainable supplies for two colleges’ (religious and non-religious) synagogues and a VCM experiment. Our findings suggest that contributions to real-life public goods are motivated by the level of utilization in the public good, peer effect, the actual participation in an experiment and cooperation. In addition, we find that religious females contribute more than religious males. Finally, we derive practical implications from our findings.