The alumni association of State College wants former students to donate money to their organization. In order to get more donations, they first ask graduates to sign up for their newsletter. Then they ask graduates to sign a petition saying donations are important. Finally, they actually ask for money, and people who agreed to the first two commitments are more likely to donate. Which persuasion technique is at play in this example?

The foot-in-the-door persuasion technique.

Explanation:

Also known as FITD, the foot-in-the-door technique is a tactic of persuasion particularly used to make someone agree to a solicitation when they probably would not agree if they were asked right away. The principle is derived from the idea that if a answerer will consent with an small request, so they will after be more likely to agree to a bigger and more significant request.

This technique makes more demanding requests with time, like in the example, it makes the subject feels bound to honor and therefore donate.