A New Method of Increasing Mail Survey Responses: Contributions to Charity

Abstract

The authors investigated the effectiveness of two types of promised incentives in producing responses to a mail survey: a personal cash payment versus an identical (one dollar) contribution to a charity of the respondent's choice. The charity incentive resulted in an increased response rate (41% response with charity incentive, 26% with equal cash incentive, 23% with no incentive). In effect, charitable contributions reduced nonresponse bias, reduced the cost per respondent, and also provided a benefit to charitable organizations.