As we inch closer to Giving Season, we’re likely to ponder our philanthropy for the year thus far. Our team knows from prior designs that reflecting on one’s values, preferences, and experiences can help donors close the gap between generous intentions and satisfying donations. Moreover, tools that produce personalized recommendations can capture attention and mitigate hassles that often promote impulsivity, further closing the intention-action gap.

We wondered: Can themed reflection motivate actual giving? For this, we partnered with 1% for the Planet to explore how a reflection quiz might turn their subscribers’ passion into action.

Part of the appeal of online quizzes is that they’re fun. If I were a Disney villain, who would I be? (During a recent camping trip, my answers unfortunately yielded Cruella de Vil.) Their capacity to surprise and delight with thought-provoking, whimsical questions is a major asset for capturing attention and conferring a sense of authentic output. To us, “authenticity” means that donors should never feel siphoned into a sales pipeline, but rather become inspired to support 1% for the Planet in the way most meaningful to them.

To that end, we developed archetypes to correspond with each of the three engagement pathways of 1% for the Planet:

  • The Builder: Giving directly to 1% for the Planet, to strengthen the giving ecosystem
  • The Strategist: Giving to the Planet Impact fund, to funnel resources toward expert-identified solutions
  • The Explorer: Exploring 1% for the Planet’s on-the-ground environmental partners

To activate one’s generosity, we opened the quiz to help close the intention-action gap with questions that sought to reinforce the participant’s identity as someone who cares about our planet.

Naturally, these introductory questions evoke memories, preferences, and self-perceptions— personal traits that, when made salient, would prime receptivity to our intervention.

Then the quiz slyly assembles the archetypes. While playful, these questions did the heavy lifting on the back end: We coded each to reflect the unique traits of each giving pathway.

Read the full article about closing the intention-action gap by Michael Herman at Ideas42.