People were approached to donate to a charity. People who were asked to simply donate found it hard to generate a self-interested explanation for helping the charity. Other people were informed that they would receive a small candle in return for their donation. The candle created an exchange fiction, allowing people to say, “I didn’t donate to help. I was buying a candle.” As expected, people were more likely to donate when they would get a candle in return compared to when no candle was offered. They also donated much more money under these conditions. Ironically, getting a trinket in return allows us to cover our generosity with a nonaltruistic account and thus frees us to act more altruistically.