Join us in Hanes Hall 120 (not Hanes Art Center) from 6:30-7:45pm on Wednesday, October 22.
Abstract: Although we may not think about it often, we all benefit from charitable donations almost every day. Individual donors are vital to sustaining arts and cultural institutions, driving scientific research, supporting higher education, and strengthening countless other areas essential to a thriving society. That’s why the steady decline in the number of people giving to charity should concern us all and why it’s important to understand how to reverse this trend. In this session, we’ll explore how charities are applying insights from behavioural economics to increase donations, including the key lesson that we don’t think how (most) people think we think. While this session will consider the applications of behavioral economics to a specific field (charitable fundraising), the communication techniques we’ll discuss can be applied in any discipline.
After an initial career in investment banking working for Goldman Sachs in New York, Frankfurt, and London, Meredith followed her passion for social change into the charity sector. Over the past two decades, she has worked with UK charities and foundations in both executive and non-executive roles addressing issues ranging from criminal justice reform to women’s economic empowerment in Liberia. Meredith has a particular interest in how insights from decision science can be used to increase pro-social action and recently co-edited a book on the subject, Change for Better: Behaviour Science Lessons from the World’s Top Practitioners. She is a proud Tar Heel, having graduated from UNC with a double major in Philosophy and International Studies. She also holds an MSc from the London School of Economics.
Hosted by: The Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program
Additional Information can be found at: https://heellife.unc.edu/event/11804139