Auctions for Risk Averse Charities
My Research and Me
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Auction Theory Redux, for Charity
When fundraising, non-profits likely care about more than expected revenue. E.g.
- Variance of revenue.
- Maintaining "warm lists" for participation.
Major Takeaways
- Unavoidable tradeoff on the mean and variance of auction revenue.
- It can be managed with the use of modern portfolio theory.
- This approach resolves a long-standing paradox in the fundraising literature on auctions.
