Between Charity Run, Martyrdom Effect, and Taxes

In recent years, running has become one of the favorite sports that is increasingly loved by the public. One type of running activity that is very prominent today is the charity run, with very diverse motives and causes.

Starting from mental health, fighting cancer, access to education, access to clean water, family economic empowerment, gender equality, concern for workers, environmental conservation, hunger prevention, protection of endangered animals, caring for victims of natural disasters, and others.

Academics from Australian campuses Mortimer, Grimmer and Grimmer (2021) note that by the end of 2021, Australia will hold 65,000 registered charities. This figure shows an increase of 4% every year, or much higher than the population growth of the Kangaroo Continent.

For three dollars, researchers from European universities also found similar data (Poczta et al, 2021). In Poland, in 2003, there were only 518 running events, and a decade later, there were 2,700 running events. Among them, in twelve grand sprint events, the number of participants increased six times in just three years (2011-2013). Nearly a third of the races are charity events.

What’s interesting about the charity run, the participants are not only challenged to complete the run but also have to finish strong in raising funds. Why do channeling of donations have to run? Wouldn’t it be easier if we just donate and invite other friends and relatives to donate?

Apparently not that simple. According to Mortimer et al (ibid), it turns out that fundraising through charity runs is three times more successful in collecting contributions than ordinary donation activities.

Previous researchers, Olivola and Shafir (2013), also found similar results. The academics experimented with two different types of charity events to raise funds for the victims of the tsunami in Southeast Asia in 2004, namely a charity picnic which represents an easy and fun event, and a five-mile charity run which is an event that requires a lot of effort and sacrifice. .

The experiment was conducted on 136 respondents of undergraduate students in the United States. As many as 86% of respondents are willing to take part in charity picnics, while a total of 76% of respondents state that they are also running for charity.

However, in terms of the amount of donations they are willing to give, respondents who join charity runs on average will spend USD23.87, while respondents who participate in charity picnics on average will only donate USD13.88.

Martyrdom Effect

This is what Olivola and Shafir (ibid) call the “martyrdom effect”, or call it if translated literally as “the effect of martyrdom”. Olivola and Shafir explain that basically, instinctively, humans (and other animals) tend to choose positive experiences, such as pleasure (pleasure) and tend to avoid negative experiences, such as pain and effort (pain and effort), or the hedono-centric principle. .

However, sometimes we find the opposite condition which is still a matter of debate, namely “hedonic puzzles”. That, in certain situations, humans actually take the more difficult path and avoid the easier and more pleasant way. A number of rituals in various cultures around the world also involve pain and/or effort.

One form of such “hedonic puzzles” is charity sports, which require vigorous activity and training, such as running a marathon, or even an ultramarathon (over 42 km). The activity that had become a trend, namely the ice bucket challenge, also applied the concept of undergoing pain and effort because the perpetrators had to withstand splashing or soaking in ice water in a large barrel.

This is in line with the saying “no pain no gain” aka pain first, have fun later. Something we achieve with sacrifice and struggle is valued more meaningful than something we get easily.

Borrowing the context of belief or religion, sacrifice and hard work is likened to a martyr or martyr. Seeing the hard work and martyrdom of the charity runners, the donors will be touched by their willingness and sincerity to donate more.

Tax Relation

What about the context of p(em)invoke(an)? Perhaps the analogy between charity runs and taxes is not apple to apple or not worth it. However, at least we need to explore the spirit of martyrdom to be willing to contribute more to others.

We think of taxpayers as donors who have worked hard to earn income. Then they willingly set aside the income by paying taxes. Meanwhile, the tax authorities are charity runners who work hard, maintain trust, are disciplined, and have integrity.

The state is like an event committee in charge of collecting donations collected by each runner through the hands of donors, ensuring that donations are channeled properly through public facilities development programs, and transparently reporting these donations through government financial reports and APBN accountability reports.

If it is embedded in our minds that paying taxes is a way of donating to martyrdom and something that is very valuable because we do it with hard work, of course we will find our own happiness by taking part in collecting state revenues, whatever our role. Both as a taxpayer, and as a tax officer.