Philanthro-Quiz

This concept is the result of a Better Giving Studio 3-day collaborative sprint focusing on Small Dollar Donors. Jessica Reed of DonorsChoose championed this idea. You can read the brief the teams worked from for more context.

Why BGS is Excited

• Looks to address barriers to giving that exist within individuals like the paradox of choice, disbelief in personal impact and concern about the size of a donation.
• Helping donors discover their giving identities helps them make more strategic choices and grow their impact over time. A platform level concept like this is especially interesting for the small dollar donor space to help everyone see themselves as a philanthropist.

The Opportunity

Those who are contributing an occasional $5 to $10 often do not get feedback about the impact of their donation. This causes people to fail to see themselves as philanthropic individuals. As a collective, though, small donations make a significant difference. In the 2020 U.S. presidential election, money from small dollar donors accounted for 22% of all funds raised. There are additional challenges for this critical group of donors. Because they can’t divide their donations among numerous causes, small dollar donors can feel paralyzed by the paradox of choice. Or they find it hard to believe that $5 is enough, which can keep them from giving anything at all. By starting the habit of giving now, everyone can support causes that matter to them and can gradually increase their impact as they increase their capacity for donating and knowledge about their impact.

The Concept

Sofia is a sophomore at the University of Missouri. She has seen a lot of talk on her newsfeed about causes she cares about and wants to help. But she doesn’t know where to start or if she can afford to give enough to make an impact. So she Googles, “How much money is enough to donate to charity?” Her search leads her to Philanthro-Quiz.

On the app, she can take a quiz to help her understand her financial situation and identify her philanthropy style. The questions give her the opportunity to learn about herself, what motivates her to give, and how she’d like to engage with causes. Her answers determine her Philanthropy Profile and provide her with tools to start donating and engaging with relevant causes, at a level that’s right for her. 

By suggesting a comfortable donation amount for Sofia, confirming that it’s “enough,” and connecting her immediately with trusted organizations, Philanthro-Quiz sets her off on her philanthropic journey. The platform can eventually share collective impact stories with her to reinforce her giving identity. And it can reaffirm that identity over and over again via messages that help keep her engaged and grow as a donor over the long term.

Philanthro-Quiz anchors users in their own giving identities to help them make more strategic choices and grow their impact.

What Do You Think?

Are you working on something similar? Have feedback to give us or insights that we should know about related to this exploratory concept? Did you test out this idea, and how did it go? We’d love to hear from you! Please write us a note at [email protected]