Nation

Nation

Advice for charities

NEW YORK — Last year, nearly 38 percent of wealthy givers stopped donating money to an organization they had supported in the past. It wasn’t because of a dwindling stock portfolio, though.

A survey found that nearly 58 percent said they no longer felt personally connected to the organization, and about 51 percent said they decided to donate elsewhere. About 42 percent blamed too-frequent requests for money.

Philanthropists also had demands for the organizations they supported. Nearly 93 percent expect sound business practices, 84 percent wanted receipts, and 57 percent expect thank-you notes.

The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University conducted the random survey by mail of 680 U.S. adults with household income of more than $200,000 or net worth of at least $1 million in July and August. It was commissioned by Bank of America Corp.

Advertising truisms often turn out to be false

NEW YORK — Does sex really sell? Oftentimes, sex doesn’t sell anything other than itself, according to Martin Lindstrom’s recently released book “Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy.” His research found that a racy ad can often distract someone from a product altogether.

Lindstrom used MRI exams on more than 2,000 people to observe how they reacted to certain ads, and found that advertising myths like the one that “sex sells” can have unintended consequences for a company. More often than not, it’s the consumer who’s being fooled, he said.

Negative campaigns such as anti-smoking billboards and commercials can help sell the very product they’re warning against, Lindstrom said, driving people to crave tobacco because of a link formed in the brain between the message and the pleasure of smoking.

Associated Press