What might be some reasons why a person would donate $100 to the American Cancer Society?

Simple answer - because the ACS is cool and I am passionate about research in regard to ending this deadly condition. :-)

But, this is probably not the answer we are being encouraged to think about in this class, what makes a person donate to ACS instead of another charity, spending that money on a movie, or not even considering it as a budget item monthly? So, it might be the convenience or ease of donating to ACS that might influence my decision to donate. This might be backed up with some modicum of concern in regard to cancer.

Or, for me, it might be because my father died of pancreatic cancer and I want to honor his memory. Has the ACS on their website given me the opportunity to honor my father in a visibile way, not only through my donation but through a tribute page to him? Will ACS send me a card thanking me for my donation in honor of my father? Will such a card be respectful in such a way that honors his memory and causes my heart to catch that someone else recognized his impact through my giving? Will such a card have the option to be sent to my grandmother, still alive who had to bury her son, should I wish to make the donation on her behalf in his tribute?

And that is just looking at the donation mechanism and acknowledgement means for my donation. I might donate because of a special project the ACS is involved in. I might donate because of an instilled sense of civic duty. I might, if marketed to correctly, donate to seek attention and peer acceptance. The point is that I might donate for a multitude of reasons, a good marketer tries to see some of these reasons in aggregate with others and combine the best technologies to reduce the most barriers to someone of my audience segment.