Charitable Giving In Wartimе: Evidence From Ukraine'S War Fundraising

We analyze how military events, civilian fatalities, and media coverage influence same-day donations to a major Ukrainian nonprofit providing lethal aid during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In a unique setting, we exploit random variation in attacks on civilians across time to estimate that one additional civilian fatality causes between $4,354 and $6,015 in same-day donations, and leads to at least $8,169 in cumulative donations. Disentangling the effects of events and media coverage, we estimate that a 1% increase in media mentions of military activity leads to a $2,906 increase in same-day donations and an $8,083 increase in cumulative donations.