Designing the perfect
donation experience!
Simon Norris - Nomensa & Jason Potts – THINK Consulting
Solutions
October 2011
T +44 (0)117 929 7333
F +44 (0)117 929 7543
E [email protected]
W www.nomensa.com
© Nomensa Ltd, King William House, 13 Queen Square, Bristol, BS1 4NT, UK
VAT registration: GB 771727411 Registered in the UK, Company number: 4214477
What challenge are we trying to
address?
From just a cursory glance at the online giving process of the majority of non-profits,
it is clear that from those heady early days of online giving fuelled mainly by global
emergencies, when people would donate however hard we made it for them - we
have not done enough as a sector to make a science of the act of giving online.
Further proof can be seen by the levels of income that are being generate online as a
percentage of overall giving, still in the low 10’s of percent for many organisations,
whilst other industries have been completely turned on their heads by their
online income.
Many of the early challenges we faced as fledgling online fundraisers have happily
improved beyond all recognition: the speed and inconsistency of dial–up
connections ... browser variations coming out of our ears ... lack of skilled
professionals on staff or on the agency side ... and maybe most importantly a lack of
user experience and trust getting designed into the process we were trying to get
people to complete!
As Direct Marketers, we are all well schooled in the principles of Direct Mail
conversion levels and the metrics that can be tweaked to achieve greater returns on
our investment or cost per acquisition. Whilst we hear much talk about this from an
online perspective, we don’t really see anyone showing and indeed scientifically
proving what things are going to make the difference in ensuring we successfully
engage (at the landing page) and complete online transactions (through the
donation process) to a healthy percentage rate and therefore return on investment.
Online Usability is a science these days and we have a great deal of knowledge about
the psychology of giving and how to tap into this creatively – so we thought if we
bring these two things together then we should be able to create – The perfect
donation experience. Or at the very least, a really really good one!
Figure 1: 3-stage donation model
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Looking for evidence
One of the key questions we asked ourselves at the beginning of this process was, is
this going to be worth the effort? By that we mean, what is the head room for
growth, is the best we can ever hope for a tiny percentage increase in the levels we
are getting already? We looked at several sources to get a sense of what could be
achievable by creating and refining the engagement and conversion ratios for online
givers. The first was the commercial sector, we observed that:
■ Amazon added $2.5B simply by adjusting the sort order of their
user comments;
■ Microsoft Bing increased their search revenue by $80M by
adjusting the colour of their hyperlinks.
Secondly we looked at data from the not-for-profit sector:
■ 47% of people who visit a website intending to make a
donation, don’t get to the end of the process;
■ The average conversion rate of a form that has not been
usability tested is 15%.
We also did a small piece of research amongst ten leading non-profits and found
that:
■ Current unprompted donation page conversion rates on your
main website:
Defined as ... the number of people who land on your regular donation
form divided by the number of actual regular gifts.
Had a variance from the best to the worst performing of 28%.
■ Current prompted donation page conversion rates on a
fundraising campaign micro-site or landing page:
Defined as ... the number of people who land on your regular donation
form divided by the number of actual regular gifts.
Had a variance from the best to the worst performing of 30%.
This told us that there is in fact huge room for improvement that could make a
significant difference to non-profits in terms of cost per acquisition online. Imagine if
you could improve your conversion rates by 30% in any channel or even half of that,
what a difference that would make!
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Figure 2: Shows the difference between the best and worst performing
donation journeys
Why now?
The current economic situation seems to make the case even stronger for increased
understanding in this area. Learning and testing online do not come with the high
price tags of media investment or man power of TV and face to face respectively.
Our approach was to apply DM techniques to this new(ish) media. As with all
marketing the best place to start is to improve what you have already, by A/B split
testing and then to move to Multi-variant as volumes and confidence increases. So in
many ways it’s back to the old school days of Direct Mail to eek out those percentage
point improvements in conversion - but given the medium and its speed to test,
learn and roll-out, do it every day or indeed every hour!
Our methodology
The on-going program of work we are carrying out falls into two very distinct areas:
■ The first is the actual act of engaging people who get to a giving
landing page. This involves evaluating the donation journey
from an experiential perspective (content, creative and
usability), and;
■ The second is the actual completion of the journey and the steps
the donor has to complete.
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A key area, that we examined in detail as part of first step involved a more
psychoanalytical approach to the reasons why people give. We used this to start
piecing together the ingredients that would be important in supporting people in
that initial period of engagement. This is also critical because it allows us to
understand how we can sustain their motivation once they start.
As part of our analysis we consulted with key stakeholders at the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to understand the decisions underlying
the current design. We also reviewed the analytics to understanding how the site
was currently being used. The donation experience end-to-end was wireframed so
we could gain a holistic understanding of the whole process. The wireframes were
then discussed and refined. All the invaluable insights we generated were factored
into a new donation landing page and reward page which we tested with 12
participants in one-on-one usability sessions.
Figure 3: From left to right: the current UNHCR landing page and thank you
page, followed by the wireframes and pages.
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We have completed the first part of our research evaluating how best to motivate
people to give and we reported our findings at a presentation at the 2011 Institute of
Fundraising national convention. We also evaluated the ‘thank you’ part of the
process and currently we are working on the bit in the middle, the actual steps a
person has to move through to complete the donation process. We will be using
multivariate testing in a live situation to rework the steps and create the perfect
donation experience. Once we have all the data we will provide a follow-up white
paper and a blue print that any charity can use to deliver an optimised donation
experience.
The power of empathy and reward
We have been aware for some time that people respond much more favourably to
empathy than they do guilt. Structuring a landing page so that it communicates
empathy can be a powerful motivator because people can immediately relate to the
content, e.g. it creates an ‘it could have been me’ scenario!
Figure 4: Generate empathy to increase the motivation to give
Interestingly, we wanted to understand if this principle was being applied across
other non-profits so we conducted an analysis of the current donation experience for
a number of national and international charities. The results revealed that many of
them could be providing a more powerful and engaging experience by helping
people to feel ‘greater’ empathy.
Our understanding of the donation experience is that it is a transactional process
that has many similarities with an ecommerce experience however the underlying
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motivations may be different. To put it another way people are more motivated and
therefore likely to complete a donation transaction when compared with an
ecommerce transaction: The act of giving produces a greater level of motivation!
Another critical discovery was witnessing the power of rewarding people
appropriately and even more importantly at the right point in the transactional
process. Typically, charity sites can often start off the donation journey with a
reward and therefore people can lose interest and abandon the process. The reward
is most effective once a person has completed the donation task. In fact, the correct
use of the reward allows additional tasks to be set which have a much greater
chance of successfully establishing a deeper donor relationship.
Figure 5: People respond more favourably to individuals than groups
Therefore, the use of empathy allows the formation of an emotional relationship to
develop between the charity and the donor. The reward stage brings closure to the
donation transaction and makes a donor feel good about what they have just done.
Charities need to give much greater appreciation when designing the donation
experience to the factors that motivate and engage people: ultimately, stopping
people from abandoning the journey.
The results so far…
The new designs for both the donation landing page and reward page were
preferred over the current designs. The main differences are the way the new
designs provides a superior page layout and helps guide the donor to make decision
but not providing too many choices.
The current design presented six choices (donation packages) whereas the new
designs provide only 3. People felt less overloaded with the information presented
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in the new designs and were able to make a decision more easily and quickly. This
was highlighted by the fact that the majority of participants tested selected the
middle option which was higher in value than the package selected in the current
landing page. This represents an increase of 200% of donation revenue. What is also
interesting is that the information presented (donation package) was identical in
both the current and new landing page, but people felt a higher donation value was
justified even if they previously selected a lower value. This demonstrates the power
of a donation landing page design that presents the information in a more
meaningful way and helps people to empathise without overloading them with
choices.
100% of participants preferred the new reward page designs. People were much
more likely to complete additional task at the reward step (e.g. signing up for a
newsletter or joining the Facebook group). In fact, people commented that the
current reward page was devoid of emotion and did not reflect what they had just
done. We often forget it is more than just the money that people are donating but
their time (the most valuable commodity of all).
Donation experience tips
Below is a selection of tips that we feel will really help any charity deliver a superior
donation experience. They are in no particular order but as we uncover the details
from the results of the next stage of evaluation we will share this with you as well.
However, please use these tips because they will help you better present the
donation experience, the organisation and ultimately raise the revenues you need to
make a difference.
■ Use empathy and avoid guilt.
■ Make it transparent how a donor’s money is used (e.g. pie charts
showing the ratio that goes to a cause or the charity and how
much is required for administration purposes).
■ Don’t overload the donor with too many choice (e.g. we
recommend 3 with an optional box so people can donate what
ever value they can – remember it all adds up).
■ Use quality photography and specifically pictures of individuals
so donors can relate more easily (in the future we suspect video
will become a powerful motivation aid in the design of a
successful donation experience).
■ Don’t use big numbers because it can undermine what a person
feels their contribution will make and may even stop them from
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giving all together. Therefore, show them how they can make a
difference, even if it is a little bit.
■ Where possible use reciprocity to encourage success by giving a
donor something because this will make them feel exclusive and
important and therefore, more likely to ‘give’.
■ Use reward appropriately and don’t use it to start the giving
process but as a powerful thank you to encourage forming a
deeper relationship with the donor.
■ Use social validation by telling the donor the difference other
people like them are making.
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About the authors
Simon Norris, CEO, Nomensa
Simon founded Nomensa in 2001. He had the vision
that the Internet should be more inclusive and the
industry a more accountable profession.
As CEO Simon is responsible for the growth and
strategic development of Nomensa. Simon has over
sixteen years experience in the Internet industry,
breaking new ground in the field of accessibility,
usability and user experience design.
During the last 10 years Simon has helped to develop
Nomensa into one of the most respected userexperience design agencies in the world.
Contact Simon:
■ [email protected]
■ @simon_norris
■ www.nomensa.com
Jason Potts, Director, THINK Consulting Solutions
Jason has worked in digital media for 10 years, both in
technical specification, implementation management,
online marketing and strategic consultancy. His
experience ranges from public sector organisations
(leading International charities and campaigning
organisations, arts organisations and museums, UN
departments and Government) to traditional corporates
looking to add online to their media mix and dot.com’s.
He is widely recognised as an innovative and pioneering
contributor to the development of the digital
communication and e-commerce marketplace. He
speaks regularly at Conferences, both in Europe and
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North America about the future of online ethical brands.
His work has encompassed overseeing the strategy and implementation of a website
and e-commerce platforms for Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (formerly known
as Jersey Zoo) and developing a mixture of e-commerce, online fundraising
strategies and e-CRM strategies for Amnesty International, The International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, The United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, Razorcuts (an online personalised CD business) and
Gaming Club (one of the world’s biggest online Casino’s). All of which involved
tracking, tailoring content and maximising customer or member value through ongoing communications.
He has also been involved in projects that have required research and specification
of technologies beyond websites, such as: AffinityServe (based in Nokia’s research
and development unit) which involved strategic advice on global SMS technologies
and their application, CareZone, (a project that recently received over £1 million of
Government funding to develop a virtual world for children in care) this required
research and implementation of technologies from retina readers to intelligent
agents, Hackney Borough Council’s e-government pilot, that involved exploring
content delivery on everything from touch screens to interactive digital TV and
Fleming’s Investment Bank, that involved displaying live share information to the
global salesforce on laptops and handhelds whilst they were with customers.
Jason has global experience, having work in markets outside Europe, including;
North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. In Italy, he has worked with UNICEF,
UNHCR, Save the Children and ActionAid.
He speaks regularly at conferences, both in Europe and North America about the
future of new media for ethical brands, writes articles for several industry journals
and is regularly quoted in the press. He has recently featured in several books,
Wiley’s, Nonprofit Internet Strategies and New Trends in Direct Response
Fundraising , Jim Greenfield’s anthology of fundraising best practice, for the North
American market and The Worldwide Fundraiser’s Handbook, published by The
Directory of Social Change.
Contact Jason:
■ [email protected]
■ @JasonSeanPotts
■ http://www.thinkcs.org/
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Nomensa and THINK
THINK and Nomensa having worked together on several successful User Experience
(UX) projects for organisations such as the British Library, Kew Gardens and UNHCR
and have decided to announce more formally a partnership to deliver excellent
online experiences for non-profit donors and campaigners. This is signalled by a
project, announced at this years’ Institute of Fundraising national convention to
create the perfect online donation experience.
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