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New Research Sheds Light on What Works in Charitable Appeals

Christopher Olivola, a graduate student in psychology at Princeton, suggested that fund-raising events that involve pain - such as marathons or even walks across shards of glass - might sometimes spur bigger gifts than pleasurable events such as picnics or dinners. In one experiment, he asked subjects to imagine how much they would donate to a fictitious fund-raising event to help tsunami victims. People gave about $25 to participate in an imaginary five-mile run, but when they envisioned attending a picnic, they gave just $15.

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