Framing in multiple public goods games and donation to charities

The vast amount of research devoted to public goods games has shown that contributions may be dramatically affected by varying framing conditions. This is particularly relevant in the context of donations to charities and non-governmental organizations in view of their increasing number and the subsequent competition for fundraising.
Here, we design a multiple public goods experiment by introducing five types of funds, each differing in the fraction of the investment that is donated to a charity. We found that people invest more into public goods when the associated social donations are presented as indirect rather than as direct donations. At the same time, the fraction of the investments devoted to charity is not affected by the framing. We have also found that, on average, women contribute to public goods and charity significantly more than men.
Additionally, men are significantly more influenced by their environment than women, who contribute independently of their group behaviour. These findings are of potential interest to the design of social investment tools, as well as to the implementation of collaborative systems when the aim is to promote socially responsible conducts.