Conditional generosity and uncertain income: Field and lab evidence

We study how other-regarding behavior extends to environments with income uncertainty and conditional commitments. Should fundraisers ask a banker to donate “if he earns a bonus” or wait and ask after the bonus is known? Standard EU theory predicts these are equivalent; loss-aversion and signaling models predict a larger commitment before the bonus is known; theories of affect predict the reverse. In two field experiments and a lab experiment, we solicited charitable donations from lottery winnings, varying the timing and conditionality. Overall, conditional donations (“if you win”) were higher than ex-post donations. Our findings have implications for experimental methodology, for fundraisers, and for our understanding of pro-social behavior.