# And in the future

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/09/01/and-future/
- Published: 2009-09-01T14:45:02+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Other research in temporal decision making has shown …

 

Emotion discounts faster than logic. In plain English what this means is that when
people make decisions about the future, they pay more attention to the logic underlying
their decisions. As a consequence, although a charity might use a solicitation designed
to evoke an emotional response in donors, for this emotion to offer utility in prompting
a legacy, donors need to be encouraged to think through why they experience that
emotion.

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

 

Negative outcomes also discount faster than positive outcomes. Therefore, if materials
evoking emotion are used, positive emotion will be more effective in the future 
context than negative emotion. This occurs because as human beings we are naturally
more optimistic about the future than the present. Research has also shown that 
people think of themselves as being better people in the future than they are today
and that in the future we place more emphasis on the pro’s of a particular event
rather than its con’s. In other words we romanticize. Our choice of copy should 
therefore reflect this reality and be crafted differently from our regular solicitations.
Fundraisers also need to be aware that since that individuals will naturally tend
to have a more optimistic view of the future, to secure a legacy, they will have
to offer something more than the donor is currently expecting to be offered to beneficiaries.

 

 * **[Payroll Giving Excellence Awards shortlist announced](https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/09/08/payroll-giving-excellence-awards-shortlist-announced/)**(
   8 September 2009)
 * **[Remember A Charity's first Awareness Week starts today](https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/09/14/remember-charity039s-first-awareness-week-starts-today/)**(
   14 September 2009)
 * **[Analysis of legacy adverts 'deeply disappointing'](https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/10/02/analysis-legacy-adverts-039deeply-disappointing039/)**(
   2 October 2009)