How a value proposition in letter format on a donation page affects donor conversion
Heartlight Ministries
Heartlight provides a safe haven of hope for 56 struggling teens at our residential counseling center located in Longview, Texas. Our atmosphere of relationships creates an arena of change for teens and parents lost in a broken world. And second, Heartlight offers help and direction for parents of all teens through our Parenting Today’s Teens radio program, our books, parenting resources, and seminars and conferences….all dedicated to offering effective and practical ways for parents to counter the influence today’s culture is having on their child.
Experiment Summary
Timeframe: 04/12/2018 - 06/04/2018
Heartlight Ministries was offering a free online course called Tough Guys and Drama Queens, and wanted to test a new approach on the donation page that involved a letter from Mark instead of the original stepped donation approach with a premium. This new letter from Mark was a much more conversational approach, that told the story of Heartlight and explained that the true goal of the ministry was to equip so many parents, that they didn’t need to run the boarding school anymore. This new treatment also removed the premium opportunity and focused solely on a ministry donation.
Research Question
Does a new value proposition in letter form on a donation page increase donor conversion more than a traditional stepped approach with a premium?
Design
Results
| Treatment Name | Conv. Rate | Relative Difference | Confidence | Average Gift | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C: | Control | 2.4% | $0.00 | ||
| T1: | New Value Prop Copy- Letter from Mark | 4.3% | 74.1% | 97.1% | $0.00 |
This experiment has a required sample size of 762 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of 1,859, 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
× 74.1% increase in conversion rate
× 0% increase in average gift
Key Learnings
The treatment option increased donations by 74%. This tells us that the message of Heartlight and Mark’s heart for the ministry came through in this copy enough to move people to want to give more than a traditional stepped approach, or the option to get a premium for a donation. This messaging angle, which we refer to as “close the camp”, is a powerful angle that emotionally connects with a potential donor. It is also written in Mark’s voice, which makes a strong impression on donors who heard from Mark in the Facebook ad, in the housefile email, and throughout the course, so they know him and trust him when he says these things.