I am looking for observable 'shocks' that cause households to give
more to particular categories of charity in particular years.  These
shocks should be (preferrably) unanticipated and should (mainly)
affect only one type of charity (education, religion, health, etc).
A promising one (this one if first-priority) to investigate:
1. Do people give more to their university in a reunion/anniversary (of
graduation) year?
Does anyone have any statistics (as quantitative as possible) or
articles on this?
Furthermore, do people anticipate they will want to give more in such
years, or do they do so on the spur-of-the-moment?

Others to investigate:
2. Does the death of a relative from a disease cause more giving to
medical research?
3. Does marrying into a religion cause more religious giving?
4. Does a disaster in ones region of origin (or ancestral origin) cause a
particular spike giving to relief efforts (by people from there or of
that origin)?
5. Have their been any charity campaigns that particularly (and
succesfully) targeted particular demographic groups (religions,
regions, ethnicities, occupations) to give to specific causes or types
of causes?
I am particularly interested in the years 2000 and 2002, and events
during these years.
Please provide references (academic, journal) and actual figures where available.
Don't waste too much time on 'conventional wisdom' -- I am looking for
hard numbers and findings, academic papers, etc.