Psychology Students Worked Collaboratively to Provide Evidence-Based Feedback on Messaging Campaigns to an Anti-Hunger Organization in Denver

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In the Autumn of 2025, students across two sections of the introductory course, Social Psychology (PSYC 2740), worked collaboratively to write two research reports for our community partner, Metro Caring. The reports were based on experimental findings from two data collection efforts. As an instructor, I worked closely with Metro Caring to design, program, and run experiments that would help Metro Caring answer questions that were of interest to the organization. 

My partnership with Metro Caring started in 2023 and has thrived since then. Metro Caring is a non-profit based in Denver, CO, whose mission is to end hunger at its roots. They seek evidence-based strategies for promoting and gaining support for anti-hunger campaigns, programs, and legislation. By partnering with psychology students at DU, they gain insights into the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that are prevalent in the population, and which could help or hinder anti-hunger causes. In turn, students gain experience interpreting research findings and statistical analyses, learning about research designs, writing scientific reports, and connecting psychological constructs to real-world problems. 

The two projects we completed in the autumn quarter answered these research questions: 1) Does the geographic scope of Metro Caring’s anti-hunger campaigns influence attitudes about the likelihood that hunger will be solved? And 2) When Metro Caring runs fundraising campaigns, does highlighting specific types of supporters of Metro Caring’s mission (e.g., volunteers, donors, or both) influence people’s interest in supporting Metro Caring? The results were compiled by students in two online reports. 

There were two key findings. First, the geographic scope of Metro Caring’s messaging campaign influenced attitudes about food being a human right. When the messages about ending hunger were focused on Denver (compared to Colorado or Metro Caring’s local community), attitudes that food is a human right became stronger. Given that most respondents were from the Denver metro area, this finding suggests that narrowing the geographic scope of anti-hunger campaigns to local, city-wide initiatives is most likely to be effective. Second, we found that when fundraising messages included information highlighting (as opposed to omitting) that many of Metro Caring’s donors and volunteers have also received services there, interest in donating to Metro Caring increased. 

This project gave students the unique opportunity to co-author a document, much like scientists do when publishing empirical articles. The assignment allowed them to learn from each other, receive multiple rounds of feedback, and ultimately produce something that would benefit their local community. For Metro Caring, the results inform their ongoing outreach efforts and help the organization become more effective in accomplishing their mission of ending hunger. 

This wonderful, and mutually beneficial partnership would not have been possible without support from CCESL, which provided funds to pay for participant incentives.