The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

How communal language on a content offer donation page changes donor conversion

Experiment ID: #55468

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate are a Roman Catholic congregation of priests and brothers founded after the French Revolution by St. Eugene De Mazenod to work among the poor. Today there are nearly 4,000 missionaries working in more than 60 countries around the world.

Experiment Summary

Timeframe: 03/24/2021 - 04/02/2021

The Oblates were running a content offer that they give each year, we wanted to test communal language on the donation page. It was a communication style that we have tested with great success on sticky bars and have seen work well in emails to their donors, so the natural next step was to test it on the donation page. We took their typical copy, made it more conversational, welcomed the reader into their community of prayer, and care for their fellow men. The new copy showed how not only do the Oblates care most deeply and pray for the reader, but also that their work is an extension of the reader’s prayers and intentions. It also focused less on getting the premium for a gift, but rather allowed the premium to be a natural extension of their prayer as well and as a token of sincere appreciation for the work that they make possible through their giving.

Research Question

Using communal language, that includes the reader in the community of work, will increase donation conversion.

Design

C: Control
T1: Communal Language

Results

 Treatment NameConv. RateRelative DifferenceConfidenceAverage Gift
C: Control 5.0%$0.00
T1: Communal Language 7.8%56.3% 99.4%$0.00

This experiment has a required sample size of 583 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of 2,269, and the level of confidence is above 95% the experiment results are valid.

Flux Metrics Affected

The Flux Metrics analyze the three primary metrics that affect revenue (traffic, conversion rate, and average gift). This experiment produced the following results:

    0% increase in traffic
× 56.3% increase in conversion rate
× 0% increase in average gift

Key Learnings

The communal language increased donor significantly, by 56%. We believe this is because readers feel like the integral part of the mission (that they are) and they can sense the community that they are joining really truly brings improves lives. And because of that, revenue also increased by 41% with a 97% level of confidence.

Both new and returning visitors appreciated the communal language, the returning more so with a 97% increase in giving. Which make sense because they have a closer relationship with the Oblates as the language in the copy suggests. However, it still welcomed new visitors in with a 37% increase in donations at an 88% directional level of confidence.

Next we would like to test the premium as a reminder of the good they have done with their prayers and their giving to the Oblates. As well as test this more fully in email and on content offer landing pages.

Observations of the impact on other visitor segments in the experiment:

  • Email visitors had a 34.8% increase in donations with a 90% level of confidence.
  • Mobile visitors had a 74.7% increase in donations with a 99% level of confidence.
  • Tablet visitors had a 255.6% increase in donations with a 93% level of confidence.
  • Paid Social visitors had a 170.6% increase in donations with a 99% level of confidence.
  • 65+ visitors had a 582.8% increase in donations with a 98% level of confidence.
  • 25-34 visitors had a 6.7% increase in donations with an 86% level of confidence.


Experiment Documented by NextAfter

Question about experiment #55468

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