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charity

Science Corner: Lent 2019

Photo of Pope Francis waving
There’s a meme about fasting widely attributed to Pope Francis, but I couldn’t find a primary source so we’ll stick with published messages. (Photo by Catholic Church (England and Wales) )

As my church background does not have a strong Lenten tradition, I decided to take a look at what Pope Francis has written about Lent in his annual messages for this season. Since he is a scientist and a theologian, I thought he would be a good point of reference. While the sermons are not primarily focused on science, a few themes related to science did emerge within a broader discussion of love, charity and compassion and other facets of the Gospel.
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Science Corner: Hacking your Donor List

mail photo
My 2018 ended with many donation requests, including quite a few actual letters. (Photo by skidder )

Happy New Year and welcome to 2019 to all of you using the Gregorian calendar. If your experience is anything like mine, your 2018 wrapped up with a blitz of requests for end-of-year charitable contributions. I appreciate that year’s end is a crucial time for many nonprofits, as some donors are looking to finalize their income tax circumstances and others are just feeling extra generous because of the holiday season. And there are many worthy causes that could always make use of a few extra dollars, from your local food pantry to relief agencies addressing humanitarian crises like the one current faced by the people of Yemen. So I don’t begrudge any of them for making their pleas, even while finding the aggregate experience a little overwhelming. All of that was on my mind when I came across a study on the psychology of charitable giving and specifically how to pitch campaigns to get greater response.
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