non-profit

Rapper Jay-Z used a classic influence principle for non-profit persuasion.

A new study shows that donation amounts are influenced by the actions of other donors, creating a social proof dilemma. Here's how to maximize donations.

The Tower of London has been a prison, a palace, and a fortress. Now, it offers a lesson in behavioral economics.

There's a big mistake that many, if not most, non-profits make, and this error can reduce the number of donors and volunteers. Some businesses make the same mistake, too.

Non-profits assume their potential contributors will see the good they will do and generally focus on a theme - a particular disease, a philanthropic cause, and so on. New research shows that success involves more than just generating…

Can an initial rejection actually help you get the "yes" you really want? Surprisingly, if you create the right first and second requests, it can. Persuasion expert Robert Cialdini conducted a classic experiment that demonstrates the…

It's been a few weeks, so here are the latest articles from my Brainy Marketing blog at Forbes.com. Please drop by there and make a comment - Forbes has a cool comment exposure system that lets authors of posts (e.g., me) "call out"…

A few years after college, I took a position as a sales engineer. After one customer visit with no result, my boss queried, "Did you ask for the order?" In fact, just about every sales coaching book reminds new salespeople of the…

A vivid story can put us in a more altruistic mode, a study shows. UK researchers looked at the two ways people think about death - abstractly or specifically. They used a detailed story which placed the reader in a burning apartment…

In our language, we tend to associate height with good. Heaven is above us, Hell is somewhere beneath us. God is described as appearing on a mountain, not in a valley. You "look up" to someone you admire. It turns out that this…