Endowed Progress

Written By Sandra Davis
Have you ever signed on to make a donation to a campaign and discovered that the amount pledged so far is only a small amount of the total goal? How inspired are you to give? Does it bring up feelings of embarrassment or pity? If it’s a cause you care about and feel responsible for, maybe you’ll make a gift to give it a kick start. Or maybe you’ll just sit on the sidelines and wait to see if others step up. What about when you check in on a campaign and 75% of the goal has already been raised? Do you feel like cheering them on and jumping in to help? It’s close to the finish line, so maybe you feel more of a desire to be a part of a winning team.Every fundraiser and every donor is familiar with the campaign thermometer. The “temperature” rises as the campaign gets closer and closer to the goal, and your enthusiasm tends to rise right along with it. That’s endowed progress working its magic on your brain and your emotions. What is this powerful force?The endowed progress effect happens when a certain amount of progress toward a goal is achieved. Marketers can create the sensation of endowed progress for their customers by jump starting their progress toward a goal, either as a gift, like free tokens or points in a game, or by making early progress very easy to obtain. Marketing and loyalty program experts Joseph C. Nunes and Xavier Dreze created a research project that tested different strategies for loyalty card offers at a car wash. They created two different cards: (1) a card that required 8 purchases for a free car wash, and (2) a card that required 10 purchases for a free car wash. The recipients of the 10-purchase card were given two stamps on their loyalty card to start them off. So, in essence, each group had to do exactly the same thing: purchase eight car washes to get the free car wash.Here’s what happened. After nine months, 34% of the people with the 10-stamp card redeemed their cards. But only 19% of the 8-stamp card holders redeemed theirs. Both groups needed to buy eight car washes to get the free car wash, so why did the 10-stamp card have a higher redemption rate? Those who were given the two “free” stamps on their loyalty cards were instilled with the sensation of a head start, and in turn, felt more motivated to complete the card. Those two stamps made them believe they were already 20% toward completing the goal, while the 8-purchase cardholders felt like they were starting from zero.Why does my brain do this!?There are a few reasons why your brain reacts this way. The Zeigarnik Effect, named after Lithuanian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, is the tendency to think about uncompleted tasks more than completed tasks. People who are highly motivated by a “need for achievement” may experience this much more strongly than others, but we are all nagged to some extent by unfinished tasks and unsettled by loose ends.Task Tension is that positive feeling that exists when there's work to be done. This may include a sense of enthusiasm, the thrill of  impending accomplishment, the satisfaction of checking tasks off your list, or a sense of eagerness around discovery and overcoming challenges.Goal Gradient Effect is what happens when we get closer to achieving a reward or completing a goal. The closer we get, the more effort toward completion is accelerated and intensified. We are motivated by how much is left to do, rather than how far we’ve come. From speeding up as you get closer to the finish line to staying late at work to put the final touches on that budget, the tantalizing prospect of finishing has a significant impact on effort and desire.How does endowed progress play out in marketing tactics?Punch cards or loyalty cards are a classic example. If you receive a “Buy 10 coffees, get one free!” punch card with a couple of starter punches, then your coffee shop has set endowed progress into action, and you’ll be redeeming that card for your free coffee in no time.Points, stars, and prizes are different versions of rewards that can be used to celebrate progress along the way toward a goal. They help boost your feeling of accomplishment and keep you motivated. The project management tool Asana does this by activating celebration creatures with an animation of a unicorn, yeti or narwhal joyfully streaking across your screen once you’ve completed a random number of tasks. Loyalty programs, like airline mileage plans, encourage you to reach a certain mileage goal each year to receive VIP perks like boarding the plane first or access to upgrades. December “mileage runs” or trips just to earn miles are a common activity among business travelers who are just a few miles shy of their VIP status.Progress bars are frequently used to inspire clients or customers to complete a task. LinkedIn uses endowed progress to encourage users to get to their profile strength from “intermediate” to “expert.” They understand it’s a tedious task for you to complete your profile, but that progress bar does a good job of nudging you along.What does endowed progress framing look like for fundraising?Here are some ideas that put endowed progress into action for fundraisers.Always set goals for your campaigns and track against them. People want to know what they are working toward, they are motivated by progress, and their desire to help you complete the goal will really kick in as you get closer to completing the goal.Never announce a public campaign with nothing raised toward your goal. Preload that campaign thermometer with a few pre-solicited gifts, and make sure your capital campaign has a significant percentage raised (ideally over 60%) from major donors before you invite the wider community to participate. When planning a “Raise The Paddle”  fundraising moment at your gala, try starting by announcing a large gift from a board member or major donor. This will help the crowd feel like they are already well on their way to reaching the evening’s fundraising goal.Be EthicalSet goals that inspire but don’t burden your community. Your goals should be aspirational and exciting, while still being appropriate and achievable for your organization’s community.Make sure you are being honest about your progress. Try not to start your campaign from zero, but make sure you’ve actually raised the money that appears on your campaign thermometer. Planning ahead with some loyal supporters is all you need to do.My ExperienceI am addicted to the Alaska Airlines mileage progress bar. I do a fair amount of coast-to-coast traveling, and I check it before and after every flight. If September comes around and I’m not sure if I’m going to earn my MVP Gold 75K status by the end of December, then I’m going to be planning another flight or two. That priority boarding and a better chance for an upgrade are lovely, but it’s really that progress bar that motivates me to earn those miles.One year, I took a one-day trip from Seattle to San Francisco on December 30 because I was about 30 miles short of my goal. It was a really fun trip, by the way. You can do a lot in San Francisco in only one day. I’m a fan of short trips anyway, but let’s be honest, some real extra joy came from seeing my progress bar completed. That was the shortest vacation I’ve ever taken, but it was great fun. And all thanks to endowed progress. 

Have you ever signed on to make a donation to a campaign and discovered that the amount pledged so far is only a small amount of the total goal? How inspired are you to give? Does it bring up feelings of embarrassment or pity? If it’s a cause you care about and feel responsible for, maybe you’ll make a gift to give it a kick start. Or maybe you’ll just sit on the sidelines and wait to see if others step up. 

What about when you check in on a campaign and 75% of the goal has already been raised? Do you feel like cheering them on and jumping in to help? It’s close to the finish line, so maybe you feel more of a desire to be a part of a winning team.

Every fundraiser and every donor is familiar with the campaign thermometer. The “temperature” rises as the campaign gets closer and closer to the goal, and your enthusiasm tends to rise right along with it. That’s endowed progress working its magic on your brain and your emotions.

What is this powerful force?

The endowed progress effect happens when a certain amount of progress toward a goal is achieved. Marketers can create the sensation of endowed progress for their customers by jump starting their progress toward a goal, either as a gift, like free tokens or points in a game, or by making early progress very easy to obtain.

Marketing and loyalty program experts Joseph C. Nunes and Xavier Dreze created a research project that tested different strategies for loyalty card offers at a car wash. They created two different cards: (1) a card that required 8 purchases for a free car wash, and (2) a card that required 10 purchases for a free car wash. The recipients of the 10-purchase card were given two stamps on their loyalty card to start them off. So, in essence, each group had to do exactly the same thing: purchase eight car washes to get the free car wash.

Here’s what happened. After nine months, 34% of the people with the 10-stamp card redeemed their cards. But only 19% of the 8-stamp card holders redeemed theirs. 

Both groups needed to buy eight car washes to get the free car wash, so why did the 10-stamp card have a higher redemption rate? Those who were given the two “free” stamps on their loyalty cards were instilled with the sensation of a head start, and in turn, felt more motivated to complete the card. Those two stamps made them believe they were already 20% toward completing the goal, while the 8-purchase cardholders felt like they were starting from zero.

Why does my brain do this!?

There are a few reasons why your brain reacts this way. 

The Zeigarnik Effect, named after Lithuanian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, is the tendency to think about uncompleted tasks more than completed tasks. People who are highly motivated by a “need for achievement” may experience this much more strongly than others, but we are all nagged to some extent by unfinished tasks and unsettled by loose ends.

Task Tension is that positive feeling that exists when there's work to be done. This may include a sense of enthusiasm, the thrill of  impending accomplishment, the satisfaction of checking tasks off your list, or a sense of eagerness around discovery and overcoming challenges.

Goal Gradient Effect is what happens when we get closer to achieving a reward or completing a goal. The closer we get, the more effort toward completion is accelerated and intensified. We are motivated by how much is left to do, rather than how far we’ve come. From speeding up as you get closer to the finish line to staying late at work to put the final touches on that budget, the tantalizing prospect of finishing has a significant impact on effort and desire.

How does endowed progress play out in marketing tactics?

Punch cards or loyalty cards are a classic example. If you receive a “Buy 10 coffees, get one free!” punch card with a couple of starter punches, then your coffee shop has set endowed progress into action, and you’ll be redeeming that card for your free coffee in no time.

Points, stars, and prizes are different versions of rewards that can be used to celebrate progress along the way toward a goal. They help boost your feeling of accomplishment and keep you motivated. The project management tool Asana does this by activating celebration creatures with an animation of a unicorn, yeti or narwhal joyfully streaking across your screen once you’ve completed a random number of tasks.

Loyalty programs, like airline mileage plans, encourage you to reach a certain mileage goal each year to receive VIP perks like boarding the plane first or access to upgrades. December “mileage runs” or trips just to earn miles are a common activity among business travelers who are just a few miles shy of their VIP status.

Progress bars are frequently used to inspire clients or customers to complete a task. LinkedIn uses endowed progress to encourage users to get to their profile strength from “intermediate” to “expert.” They understand it’s a tedious task for you to complete your profile, but that progress bar does a good job of nudging you along.

What does endowed progress framing look like for fundraising?

Here are some ideas that put endowed progress into action for fundraisers.

Always set goals for your campaigns and track against them. People want to know what they are working toward, they are motivated by progress, and their desire to help you complete the goal will really kick in as you get closer to completing the goal.

Never announce a public campaign with nothing raised toward your goal. Preload that campaign thermometer with a few pre-solicited gifts, and make sure your capital campaign has a significant percentage raised (ideally over 60%) from major donors before you invite the wider community to participate.

When planning a “Raise The Paddle”  fundraising moment at your gala, try starting by announcing a large gift from a board member or major donor. This will help the crowd feel like they are already well on their way to reaching the evening’s fundraising goal.

Be Ethical

Set goals that inspire but don’t burden your community. Your goals should be aspirational and exciting, while still being appropriate and achievable for your organization’s community.

Make sure you are being honest about your progress. Try not to start your campaign from zero, but make sure you’ve actually raised the money that appears on your campaign thermometer. Planning ahead with some loyal supporters is all you need to do.

My Experience

I am addicted to the Alaska Airlines mileage progress bar. I do a fair amount of coast-to-coast traveling, and I check it before and after every flight. If September comes around and I’m not sure if I’m going to earn my MVP Gold 75K status by the end of December, then I’m going to be planning another flight or two. That priority boarding and a better chance for an upgrade are lovely, but it’s really that progress bar that motivates me to earn those miles.

One year, I took a one-day trip from Seattle to San Francisco on December 30 because I was about 30 miles short of my goal. It was a really fun trip, by the way. You can do a lot in San Francisco in only one day. I’m a fan of short trips anyway, but let’s be honest, some real extra joy came from seeing my progress bar completed. That was the shortest vacation I’ve ever taken, but it was great fun. And all thanks to endowed progress. 

Sandra Davis
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