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  • February 2020
  • Article
  • Management Science

Using Charity Performance Metrics as an Excuse Not to Give

By: Christine L. Exley
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Abstract

There is an increasing pressure to give more wisely and effectively. There is, relatedly, an increasing focus on charity performance metrics. Via a series of experiments, this paper provides a caution to such a focus. While information on charity performance metrics may facilitate more effective giving, it may also facilitate the development of excuses not to give. Managers of nonprofit organizations should carefully assess this tension when determining if and how to provide information on their performance metrics.

Keywords

Charitable Giving; Prosocial Behavior; Altruism; Excuses; Self-serving Biases; Philanthropy And Charitable Giving; Performance; Measurement And Metrics; Behavior

Citation

Exley, Christine L. "Using Charity Performance Metrics as an Excuse Not to Give." Management Science 66, no. 2 (February 2020): 553–563.
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About The Author

Christine L. Exley

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • 2021
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    Information Avoidance and Image Concerns

    By: Christine L. Exley and Judd B. Kessler
    • 2020
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    Nonprofts in Good Times and Bad Times

    By: Christine L. Exley, Nils H. Lehr and Stephen J. Terry
    • March 2020
    • Journal of Political Economy

    Knowing When to Ask: The Cost of Leaning-in

    By: Christine L. Exley, Muriel Niederle and Lise Vesterlund
More from the Author
  • Information Avoidance and Image Concerns By: Christine L. Exley and Judd B. Kessler
  • Nonprofts in Good Times and Bad Times By: Christine L. Exley, Nils H. Lehr and Stephen J. Terry
  • Knowing When to Ask: The Cost of Leaning-in By: Christine L. Exley, Muriel Niederle and Lise Vesterlund
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