Offered a choice of donating 150 euros to one poor woman or 450 euros to three, research participants frugally chose the lower option 2-to-1. But they became much more generous and chose the 450-euro option 2-to-1 if they were also offered a choice of donating 500 euros to benefit just two women, say Enrico Rubaltelli and Sergio Agnoli of the University of Padova in Italy. In the second scenario, choosing the 450-euro donation was the most popular option because it allowed participants to help the highest number of people without giving away the highest amount of money. Charitable organizations should take heed, the authors say.

Source: The Emotional Cost of Charitable Donations

This inspires me to completely reconsider how the arts organization I collaborate with do fund raising.