Moral Framing and Online Fundraising Outcomes: Evidence from GoFundMe Campaigns

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between moral framing and fundraising outcomes, encompassing both monetary and social support, through an analysis of 14,088 GoFundMe campaigns. Focusing on three moral foundations (care, fairness, and ingroup loyalty), we quantified the presence of these frames within campaign appeals. Our results show that the association between moral framing and campaign success varies significantly across fundraising categories. Specifically, negatively framed appeals emphasizing the harm experienced by the help-seeker were associated with a higher volume of donations and comments in the Emergency and Memorial categories, yet related to fewer donations in animal-related campaigns. Highlighting harm was not associated with a higher average donation amount per donor. Ingroup loyalty framing was positively associated with both donation volume and supporter engagement. This research extends the literature on moral communication in crowdfunding and offers practical implications for the design of online fundraising platforms to better facilitate prosocial interactions between fundraisers and supporters.