Talking about your key beliefs increases charity support by 50%

Spending a few moments writing about your key beliefs or values will increase the likelihood you will agree to a subsequent request to support a charity by 50%. 

The work supporting this is presented in an article prepared for the Association of Consumer Research 2009 conference. Two researchers from the  Univerity of Iowa conducted a series of studies where consumers where asked to rank a series of values or principles depending on how important they were to them. The people in the test group were then asked to write about the value to them of the one they ranked as most important; the people in the control group were then asked to write about the value to other people of the one they ranked as least important. They were then asked to do a charity related action (donate or provide contact details for volunteering). In each study, the intention to support a charity-related ask was increased by 50%:

Study 1: Ask - want to make a monthly donation to the Red Cross?

Test group: 59% 

Control group: 41%

Likelihood that this increase occurred just to due chance: only 1 in 16

Study 2: Ask - provide email address to the Red Cross so they could help in a crisis?

Test group: 60% 

Control group: 40%

Likelihood that this increase occurred just to due chance: only 1 in 16

Study 3: Ask - provide email address to a charity so they could help people in end-stage disease?

Test group: 62% 

Control group: 38%

Likelihood that this increase occurred just to due chance: only 1 in 20

Details are here: http://bit.ly/72jnqd

So, in our interactions with donors, do we give them the opportunity to spend time writing about something important to them (not to us)?