Unsplash / Anna Vander Stel If you're raising money for a cause or conducting a survey, it may seem more effective to send out an email blast to hundreds of your friends, relatives, colleagues, and acquaintances. It's not. A recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that making a request in person is 34 times more successful than asking via email. Researchers had participants each ask 10 strangers to fill out a survey, half asking in person and half over email, using the same script.