Anecdotal verification: one of my friends said that when he was running out of money, it made sense for him to buy meals for other people. Those people didn't reciprocate, but third parties were more likely to help him.
Then I guess people from CFAR should go to some universities and give lectures about... effective altruism. (With the expected result that the students will be more likely to support CFAR and attend their seminars.) Or I could try this in my country when recruiting for my local LW group.
I guess it also explains why religious groups focus so much on charity. It is difficult to argue against a group that many people associate with "helping others", even if other actions of the group hurt others. The winning strategy is probably making the charity 1...
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.