4.7. Ask for Time (Before Money)

We've already seen how political campaigns and nonprofits have effectively used the social Web to achieve what would have been impossible only a few years ago. When Areej Khan wanted to ignite a debate on the ban on women drivers in Saudi Arabia, she didn't seek monetary contributions; she simply asked individuals to write their opinions on stickers that could be uploaded and circulated on Flickr and offline as bumper stickers. Ultimately, her To Drive or Not to Drive effort started an important dialogue both online and offline. Help Sameer and Help Vinay encouraged thousands of people to join the bone marrow registry and never asked for any money. "Vinay felt that by accepting money, you were telling people that it was okay not to go and register," says Priti Radhakrishnan, who ran Help Vinay. "We were really focused on our goal, and money wouldn't have gotten us there."

Research has found that when you ask for time, your product or cause can become more alluring and better liked.^[] The time-ask effect shows that focusing your message on time (versus money) can affect your audience's willingness to contribute. We conducted experiments, both in the lab and in the field, which revealed that asking individuals to think about how much time they would like to donate to a charity actually increases the amount of money they ultimately contribute to the cause.^[] (See the preceding box for more details.)