THE CHARITY Experiment
In
April 2007, we embarked on a study into the psychology behind charity
collections. Was it possible, we wondered, to influence the amount donated
to good causes by changing the appearance of the charity box?
We teamed up with Borders bookstores and conducted a week-long secret
study across Britain. Participating stores were sent four charity boxes,
identical in shape and size, all advertising the same charity - the National
Literacy Trust. Each carried one of four messages: "Please give generously",
"Every penny helps", "Every pound helps", and "You
can make a difference".
The boxes were placed at randomly selected tills, and managers monitored
the amount collected in each.
Would the subtle changes in message make a significant impact on whether
people donated their cash to charity?
The answer was an irrefutable yes. The boxes contained vastly different
amounts of money; "Every penny helps" came top, containing an
impressive 62 per cent of all contributions, while "Every pound helps"
trailed in fourth place with just seven per cent of the total take.
Why should such a small change have such a big impact? According to psychologist
Robert Cialdini from Arizona State University, many people are concerned
that putting a small amount of money into a box will make them look mean,
so they avoid making any donation. "Every penny helps" legitimises
even the smallest of contributions. In contrast, "Every pound helps"
confirms people's fears that their donation will appear paltry so they
give nothing at all.
We also varied the colour of the boxes, and discovered that red was by
far the most effective, perhaps because it elicits a sense of urgency.
I
nterestingly, large variations in giving also emerged between the regions.
London customers were the most generous, donating over 20 times more than
people in the store yielding the lowest return, Birmingham.
Taken together, the results show that charity boxes can become up to 200
per cent more effective by being painted red, labelled "Every penny
counts", and placed outside Birmingham.