Thanks for Giving

11/28/2013

What people think of as the moment of discovery is really the discovery of the question.
Jonas Salk

An article, "Thanks for Giving," in Psychology Today offered this insight on fundraising:

"A couple of past studies on charitable giving have shown that people are more likely to donate (and give greater amounts of money on average) for a good cause if they receive a small unconditional gift when the donation is being solicited. For example, [researchers] collaborated with a charitable organization and sent thousands of solicitation letters to potential donors. One-third of the letters contained no gift, while the remaining letters contained a small gift (one postcard plus envelope) or larger gift (four postcards with four envelopes). The relative frequency of donations was 17 percent higher when a small gift was included and 75 percent higher when people received a large gift.

"The core explanation for this finding is simple: receiving a gift creates feelings of reciprocity. What goes around comes around. I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine. It’s human nature."

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