Today’s post was written by Siena Andrews, a senior at Loyola Marymount University majoring in African American studies, with a minor in journalism. Siena works on the outreach and engagement team at William H. Hannon Library.
The seventh Faculty Pub Night of the 2024-25 season occurred Tuesday, March 11, featuring Aidin Namin, an associate professor of marketing analytics in the College of Business Administration. The evening revealed not just academic research findings on crowdfunding campaigns, but also Namin’s profound understanding of how social media engagement intersects with charitable giving behaviors.
Namin, a quantitative modeling expert with a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Dallas, brings significant expertise to his analysis of digital fundraising. His journey to researching this topic began when he started observing the high number of likes and shares on charitable campaigns and was curious about how effectively they translated to actual donations.
During the presentation, Namin shared his fascination with crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe and Kickstarter, distinguishing between charity-based campaigns (expecting nothing in return) and reward-based initiatives. This distinction was crucial to his analysis, leading him to explore how social media engagement patterns affect donation outcomes.
Namin’s academic interest was particularly awakened by the concept of “slacktivism” – a “token display of support” lacking substantial commitment, by simply liking a post instead of making a meaningful contribution. While much had been written about social media’s potential for amplifying fundraising efforts, Namin noticed a gap in understanding the diminishing returns of digital engagement. This observation became the foundation for his research.
The evening’s discussion revealed how Namin’s expertise in marketing analytics provided a unique lens through which to view online charitable giving. He argued that nearly three-quarters of donated money comes from individuals rather than corporations, with individual charitable giving consistently rising in recent years. However, his research uncovered that social media engagement metrics don’t consistently translate to proportional donation increases.
In his research, Namin discovered that liking and sharing behaviors contribute to donations, but with significant diminishing returns over time. He explained how liking has a more substantial diminishing return impact than sharing, likely because liking requires considerably less effort than sharing content with one’s social circle.
Throughout the evening, Namin shared how his perspective on crowdfunding evolved from seeing social media as a promotional resolution, to understanding it as just one element in a comprehensive fundraising strategy. He explained that campaigns promoted on both television and social media attract more donors but may take longer to reach their goals – an important consideration for organizations planning fundraising initiatives.
The presentation concluded with Namin reflecting on the implications for organizations and marketers. He argued that understanding slacktivism is crucial for managing expectations and campaign strategies, and that the visibility of campaign progress on social media can be both beneficial and challenging.
This Faculty Pub Night at the William H. Hannon Library demonstrated how academic research can illuminate the complex relationships between social media engagement, donor psychology, and charitable giving. Through Namin’s meticulous research and insightful presentation, attendees gained a deeper understanding of both the potential and limitations of social media for crowdfunding campaigns.
Dehdashti, Y., Namin, A., Ratchford, B. T., & Chonko, L. B. (2022). The Unanticipated Dynamics of Promoting Crowdfunding Donation Campaigns on Social Media. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 57(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/10949968221074726 [library catalog link]