How increasing the financial impact of the gift affected 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: 08/15/2017 - 09/25/2017
The Heritage Foundation had a major donor step forward and agree to cover all of the administrative and fundraising costs for the organization for a period of time. The goal behind this action was to allow 100% of all other donations to be directed toward the mission. It was our hypothesis that this type of language would increase the perceived impact of the donors’ gifts which would increase their likelihood to donate.
Research Question
Will including language about 100% of their gifts going toward the mission increase donor conversion?
Design
Results
| Treatment Name | Conv. Rate | Relative Difference | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C: | Original | 5.6% | ||
| T1: | 100% Impact | 6.6% | 16.6% | 96.5% |
This experiment has a required sample size of 5,043 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of 11,626, 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
× 16.6% increase in conversion rate
× 0% increase in average gift
Key Learnings
By including the language about 100% of the donation going toward the mission, we were able to increase conversion rate by 16.6%. This language gave the visitors the perception that their gift was having a greater impact which acted as an incentive to the giving process.