Takeaways:
- New study finds that when charities use redemption stories to encourage donations, people donate more
- The researchers examined hundreds of real-world charitable pleas
- Redemption stories that involve overcoming a failure, especially a moral one, are particularly effective
- If the protagonist has always been moral it doesn’t have the same impact
- Redemption stories are particularly effective when they relate directly to what the charity does
- When donors have a strong moral identity, they are even more likely to act
Charities often use personal stories that tug at donors’ heartstrings in hopes it will help loosen their purse strings — but a new study from the UBC Sauder School of Business shows that if those pleas feature stories of redemption, people donate even more.
When UBC Sauder Professor Dr. Katherine White and her collaborators (Dr. Eric Levy of the University of Cambridge, Dr. Rishad Habib of Toronto Metropolitan University, and UBC Sauder’s Dr. Karl Aquino) began examining the stories charities use in their fundraising efforts, they soon noticed that many centred around a person’s failings before they shifted to the positive.
“The protagonist starts from a more negative beginning — and maybe even did something bad themselves. So, it’s not just about overcoming adversity: they might have done something morally questionable,” says Dr. White. “But they were able to turn that around and show this trajectory of improvement.”
The question then became: do these redemption stories actually lead to more donations, and if so, why?
For the paper, titled From Sinners to Saints: How Redemption Stories Motivate Charitable Giving, the researchers reviewed more than 500 GoFundMe stories in categories including “heroes,” “community,” “financial emergency” and “non-profit,” examining the names of the projects, the story text, the goal amounts, the amounts raised and the number of donors. They also looked at whether the stories included elements of redemption and how morally elevating they were.
In a second experiment, the researchers had 372 study participants read emails from a fictional charity that featured a volunteer named Charlie. In one version, he had been involved with gangs and drugs and had gone to prison, but later joined a support group and became a licensed therapist, public speaker and minor celebrity. In another, Charlie had been overweight but joined a weight loss group and became a licensed dietician, public speaker and minor celebrity. In another, he worked at a grocery store. In all three stories, Charlie volunteered at the charity to give back to his community.
When asked to allocate donations to the charity, participants gave more to the charity that highlighted a story about a volunteer whose redemption story involved moral redemption (going from drugs and gangs to therapist and public speaker) than the one who experienced non-redemptive growth (weight loss) or no growth at all (grocery store worker).
Another experiment looked at whether the amount of moral improvement made a difference: in other words, if the protagonist had always been good and moral, would they draw more donations than someone who had morally failed and then improved?
The researchers found that fundraisers with redemption stories drew a higher number of donations and raised significantly more money than those without, and that donors were especially drawn to redemption stories with a moral slant. Dr. White says they believe the redemption stories work because they heighten what psychologists call “moral elevation.”
“When you see someone else do something positive, you feel uplifted and inspired, and you have these positive elevating emotions around it,” she explains. “What we find is that when there’s redemption in the story, this is correlated with moral elevation.”
Interestingly, the effect is even more pronounced when the protagonist is starting from a more negative beginning, so has further to climb. “It really heightens the trajectory of improvement, and it’s morally uplifting to see someone improving, especially when they’re coming from a lower, more negative position,” explains Dr. White. “This is where we really see this emotion of moral elevation.”
Our effects were also more pronounced among donors who have strong moral identities, because they are especially attuned to the idea of moral improvement, as well as in cases where the story is related to the cause — so a story about a youth getting out of gang life might be especially effective for a charity that helps street youth.
Other studies have looked at how inspiration and improvement lead to donations, but the study is the first of its kind to show how different types of redemption stories can spur greater donations.
Given the findings, charities might want to use personal stories that have clear trajectories from low points to new highs, says Dr. White.
“If there are stories that have this type of moral improvement and a narrative that includes a redemption arc, they will likely be positive and motivating for people to donate to the cause,” says Dr. White, who adds that charities should always be careful about the stories they choose, and get people’s permission before using them.
“These people didn't just win the lottery and things got better. They worked hard, they put effort in, and they turned things around,” she says. “And when they are willing to share those types of stories, they can have really positive consequences in terms of uplifting and motivating others.”
Interview language(s): English
