Experimental evidence on the financial consequences of international organization legitimacy

Abstract International organizations (IOs) face growing resource constraints amid increasing scrutiny and legitimacy challenges from member states. In response, many IOs are seeking to diversify their funding sources by appealing to non-state actors, including individual donors. Yet, little is known about what motivates the public to contribute financially to IOs. This study investigates whether IOs’ efforts at self-legitimation influence donation behavior, distinguishing among three forms of legitimacy: (a) procedural, (b) performance-based, and (c) mandate-based. We examine the effects of legitimacy messaging on public donations to UNICEF through a series of pre-registered survey, field, and survey-based field experiments involving over 22 million Facebook users across five countries—Brazil, Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. Our findings indicate that legitimacy appeals have limited impact on individuals’ willingness or actual decisions to donate. These results suggest a need for further research into the practical implications of legitimacy in global governance.