Hillsdale College

How increasing the clarity of the value proposition affects conversion rate

Experiment ID: #1333

Hillsdale College

Founded in 1844, Hillsdale College is an independent liberal arts college with a student body of about 1,400. Hillsdaleā€™s educational mission rests upon two principles: academic excellence and institutional independence. The College does not accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies for any of its operations.

Experiment Summary

Timeframe: 05/30/2014 - 07/20/2014

Despite many experiments, the control version of the main Heritage Foundation donation form had consistently maintained the highest conversion rate. In an effort to influence both conversion rate and average gift, we developed and tested multiple value propositions and backed them with evidentials.

Research Question

Which of the three value propositions, backed by evidentials, will increase both average gift and conversion rate the greatest amount?

Design

C: Join Conservatives
T1: Research
T2: Conservative Leader

Results

 Treatment NameConv. RateRelative DifferenceConfidence
C: Join Conservatives 16.7%
T1: Research 23.5%41.2% 91.9%
T2: Conservative Leader 23.4%40.5% 92.2%

This experiment has a required sample size of 409 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of 636, and the level of confidence is not above 95% the experiment results are not valid.

Key Learnings

The research aspect of Heritage’s efforts had the biggest impact on conversion rate. The main donation form will use this language moving forward and this aspect of Heritage’s mission will be emphasized in future campaigns when communicating with donors.


Experiment Documented by Tim Kachuriak
Tim Kachuriak is Chief Innovation and Optimization Officer of NextAfter.

Question about experiment #1333

If you have any questions about this experiment or would like additional details not discussed above, please feel free to contact them directly.