How using monthly giving language and defaulting to the recurring tab in the donation form affects recurring donor conversion
The Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institution—a think tank—whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
Experiment Summary
Timeframe: 02/13/2024 - 03/25/2024
The Heritage Foundation sends traffic to their membership renewal page through the main website menu. The goal of this page is to have previous members renew their membership to the Heritage Foundation through a one-time or monthly gift.
For this experiment, we wanted to test how adding value proposition language to the page about monthly giving would affect recurring donor conversion rates. In addition, we defaulted the tab in the donation form to the monthly giving option.
Research Question
We believe that using monthly giving value proposition and defaulting to the recurring tab in the form for lapsed Heritage members will achieve a higher recurring donor conversion rate because we capitalize on the importance of monthly giving and the impact their monthly gift will have on the organization.
Design
Results
| Treatment Name | Conv. Rate | Relative Difference | Confidence | Average Gift | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C: | Control | 0.46% | $92.94 | ||
| T1: | Treatment 1 | 2.1% | 365.2% | 99.4% | $50.82 |
This experiment has a required sample size of 359 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of 1,359, 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
× 365.2% increase in conversion rate
× 45.3% decrease in average gift
154.4% increase in revenue
Key Learnings
Overall, we saw a 179.1% lift in recurring donor conversion with a 96.6% level of confidence. Additionally, we saw a 24.2% decrease in one-time giving with only an 84.3% level of confidence.
The key learnings from this experiment are:
1. **Value Proposition Language Works**: Adding value proposition language about monthly giving effectively increased the conversion rate of recurring donors among lapsed Heritage Foundation members. This indicates that emphasizing the impact and importance of monthly giving can significantly influence donor behavior.
2. **Defaulting to Monthly Giving Tab Increases Conversion**: Defaulting the tab in the donation form to the monthly giving option also contributed to the increase in recurring donor conversions. By making the monthly option the default choice, it likely nudged more donors towards selecting that option.
In future experimentation, the Heritage Foundation should continue to test different strategies for increasing donations among lapsed members. They should also consider applying the learnings from this experiment, such as using value proposition language and defaulting to the desired option, in other donation campaigns to see if similar results can be achieved. Additionally, ongoing testing and optimization of donation pages and strategies will help the organization continue to improve donor conversion rates and overall fundraising success.