Together with colleagues from Kassel and Innsbruck, Timo Goeschl has published a study on how to frame charitable fund-raising campaigns. In their study published prominently in Management Science, they show that asking for contributions in terms of units of relief (e.g., units of food) rather than in terms of donation amounts in Euros can substantially increase the donation returns. The researchers argue that framing in terms of units of relief puts the focus on the effectiveness of the campaign. However, the unit of relief must then be carefully chosen so as not to deter contributions completely (e.g. daily rations versus monthly rations).

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