S Unit 4: Making a difference Listening–writing: Making a charity attractive to donors (B1+) a) Listen to a radio documentary that presents suggestions on how charities could attract potential donors. b) Write down the four suggestions in one sentence each. 1. Numbers and statistics: 2. Keep blog updated: 3. Use social media: 4. Self-education: c) As a volunteer for a charity you have been asked to write a blog post to attract potential donors. In your blog post you should describe the charity’s work briefly, discuss the benefits of donating to the charity, explain how to donate to the charity. Write around 200 words. Reading–speaking: The science behind why people give money to charity (B1) a) Read an article on scientific explanations why people donate money to charity. Behavioural scientists have looked into why people donate money to charities. The explanations for charitable giving basically fall into three broad categories: • Purely altruistic: “I donate because I value the social good done by the charity.” • “Impurely” altruistic: “I donate because I extract value from knowing I contribute to the social good for the charity.” • Not-at-all altruistic: “I donate because I want to show off to potential mates how rich I am.” 1. Generally, facts and figures are less attractive to potential donors than stories. In a series of experiments, it was found that people are much more responsive to charities that feature a single, identifiable person with a story than they are to statistical information. In short, when it comes to charitable giving, we are often ruled by our hearts and not our heads. 2. Undoubtedly, giving is fundamentally a social act. One study shows that people give significantly more to their university if the person calling and asking for their donation is their former roommate. But it’s not just friends and families who can influence us. Research shows that celebrity supporters increase donations to charity, but that this only appears to work for people who have donated to the charity before. 3. Giving is considered contagious. Seeing others give makes an individual more likely to give and gentle encouragement from a prominent person in your life can also make a big difference to your donation decisions. Habit also plays a part – in three recent experiments those who volunteered before were more likely to donate their time than those who had not volunteered previously. 4. Behavioural science identifies a range of factors that influence our social behaviour. Research has revealed that spending money on others actually makes us happier than spending it on ourselves, and giving to others can actually make us healthier. So what are we waiting for? (Michael Sanders and Francesca Tamma, The Guardian; adapted and abridged) 1 40c 2 146 Semester self-checks Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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