Using Charity Performance Metrics as an Excuse Not to Give

There is an increasing pressure to give more wisely and effectively. There is, relatedly, an increasing focus on charity performance metrics. Through a series of experiments, this paper provides a caution to such a focus. Although 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 whether and how to provide information on their performance metrics. This paper was accepted by Axel Ockenfels, behavioral economics.