Network for Good

Giving is personal. The closer we feel to a cause, the more likely we are to give.

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Just how much do personal connections influence giving? That’s the question Rebecca Ratner, Min Zhao, and Jennifer Clarke explored. They found that when people have a personal connection to a cause (or know someone who does), it can lead them — and others — to be more supportive. The researchers delved into the nuances of this “norm of self-interest.” What they found is incredibly important.

In one study, research subjects were told different stories about a college student. In one case, the student’s parent suffered a heart attack. In another case, the student’s parent had been diagnosed with cancer. When the student graduated, he went to work for the American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society. Some research subjects got a scenario that matched the parent’s condition and some did not. 

Research subjects were then asked how they would react if the student invited them to a volunteer event. When the event was directly related to the student’s personal experience, people were sympathetic and said they would have a hard time saying no. When the event was not — for example, the student whose parent suffered a heart attack was advocating for the Cancer Society — the effect was not the same. 

Personal connections and stories have a big effect on giving — so if you’ve got them, use them.

Another way that giving is personal is that we give more when we feel we’re helping another person to whom we can relate. This has been called the “identifiable victim effect” or “singularity effect.” 

Researchers Tehila Kogut and Ilana Ritov have shown that people donate more when they can identify with one person in need. More than that, people are most likely to help an inpidual whom they perceive to be similar to their social category and nationality — or when they share that person’s ideology. The looser that connection and the greater the psychological difference, the weaker the identifiable victim effect.

We’re biologically wired to process the concrete — that is, other people, not statistics. We grasp statistics, but they don’t tap into our emotional response.

So how does a fundraiser reduce this feeling of social distance? Researcher Deborah Small recommends:

• When you talk about a cause, discuss the need in terms of people who are as relatable as possible.
• Stop with the statistics. Tell stories about one person in need.
• Use social fundraising techniques (such as Causes or Crowdrise) to win support for a cause. Have friends ask friends to help through personal connections and social media. When we know the person asking for money for a cause, we’re more likely to give. 

Want more insight on how to connect with donors, inspire action and receive more donations? Download our free eBook: Lisa Simpson for Nonprofits, What Science Can Teach You about Fundraising, Marketing and Social Change.

People are influenced by innumerable whims, impulses, and values. You never know what marketing and fundraising strategies and tactics will work best until you test them. That is why testing is a must for nonprofits.

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Don’t just trust your gut; run experiments. We’re doing our causes a disservice each time we don’t test — potentially leaving donations, actions, and opportunities on the table.

We recommend creating an annual testing calendar in line with the scientific method so you can optimize your learning. For instance, by December (the biggest fundraising month of the year), you’ll want to have tested your donation forms thoroughly so you are serving the most optimized version.

Testing 101

Here’s a quick primer on how effective testing works:

Step 1: Be clear on your goals.

What are your objectives with this campaign or effort? If you are unclear on your goals, you won’t know how to measure success.

Step 2: Outline a testable hypothesis.

The key word here is testable. You will perform a test of how two variables might be related. This is when you are doing a real experiment.

Here’s an example: Integrated online/offline messages will yield higher results in regard to money raised, average gift, and response rate (both online and offline) than will unrelated online and offline messages.

Step 3: Outline your testing methodology.

Test group: 50% of donors (who have given both online and offline) for whom we have an email and mailing address.

Control group: Remaining 50% of donors (who have given both online and offline) for whom we have an email and mailing address.

Test group segments will receive:

• Pre-email mirroring messaging of direct mail
• Offline letter

Control group segments will receive:

• Control online treatment
• Offline letter

Step 4: Outline the metrics you will measure.

Total money raised (measured separately by channel and then combined)

Average gift (measured separately by channel and then combined)

Response rate (measured separately by channel and then combined)

Beware: Common Testing Pitfalls

We strongly advocate testing well. A poorly run test isn’t worth the effort you and your staff will invest in it. Here are some testing pitfalls to avoid:

1. When looking for breakthrough results, skip the small things.

Testing small items such as subject lines and the color of your call-to-action button may uncover low-hanging fruit. When looking for a big breakthrough, however, think big with your tests.

• Test content.
• Test treatments across segments.
• Test a long-term cultivation program on a test cell.
• Test messengers.
• Test channels.

Get creative and bold — but make sure your creativity and boldness can be tested.

2. Avoid samples sizes that are too small to produce statistically significant results.

It’s not how many people you solicit; it’s how many responses you receive. A statistically valid test requires 100 responses for each test cell. You’ll need 200 responses for a simple A/B test. For a donor renewal effort with a projected 5% response rate, this means soliciting 4,000 names (2,000 per cell) for a valid test. In a new donor acquisition effort with a 1% response rate, you’d need to solicit 20,000 names (10,000 per cell).

If you don’t have a large list size, here are some suggestions:

• Test fewer elements. Ditch the four-way test and try a 50/50 split test.
• Carry the test across multiple efforts until a statistically significant number is reached.
• Don’t extrapolate. When you don’t test a statistically valid quantity, you can’t assume a larger group will behave the same way.
• Retest. Always retest to see if you replicate your results.

3. Don’t ignore past test results.

Your test results are the voice of your donors and activists. Listen to what they are saying even if it’s not what you expected to hear. Keep a “testing bible” that brings together your organization’s learnings over time.

4. Don’t think that what worked for a competitor or another campaign will work for you.

You must test it with your audience. Enough said.

5. The data you generate is only as good as your analysis of it. 

Set up systems to accurately measure your test and incorporate that learning into future campaigns.

Finally, don’t be afraid to fumble. We’ve learned a lot about testing through failed tests. Being data-driven is a daily practice that you must exercise to excel.

Want more actionable tips on how to better understand your donors and how to communicate effectively to improve your fundraising results? Download our free eBook:  Lisa Simpson for Nonprofits, What Science Can Teach You About Fundraising, Marketing and Making Social Change

We’ve all been there: You’re at an event, and someone gives an amazing speech. There are tears in your eyes, and right at that moment, you’d do anything for that person or their cause. You sit there, rubber chicken growing cold in front of you, feeling deeply moved and inspired. Then the moment passes and there’s nowhere to put that energy.

When you have or host an event, if you have a great speaker, get them to issue a CALL TO ACTION that people can heed in the next five minutes. Make it something people can do right away to translate their emotion and support into tangible help. Like send a text or email on their handhelds to a policymaker. Or sign a pledge to help you. Or give you their email address. Or donate. So many nonprofits wonder how to build an email list. How about by asking people tearing up at the great speech for their address so you can keep telling them amazing stories?

People want to help. Help them help you. Help them translate inspiration into action. They want to.

Great nonprofit websites go the extra mile to integrate their unique brand personality and call to action into every aspect -- even error messages! Find out how one nonprofit takes what could be a frustrating experience and makes it a positive one.

Effective nonprofit websites help a visitor better understand your organization and inspire supporters to act. Great nonprofit websites go the extra mile to integrate their unique brand personality and call to action into every aspect -- even error messages! Save the Children has made getting an error a positive experience with this humorous, adorable and on-brand message that appears when you attempt to access a page that doesn't exist. It brought a smile to our faces and impressed us with the attention to a detail that many overlook. (Check out the video for yourself.)

Your nonprofit website should always help work to build relationships with those you serve as well as current and potential supporters. While it's important to plan how you direct users through your site, what happens if they take a wrong turn? Or follow a bad link? Are you making this experience one that helps visitors to your site feel good about your organization?

Save the Children does several things right with their error message experience:

• They take responsibility for the error -- by blaming it on the web intern. Poor web intern!
• They use humor to make the visitor feel good about the organization.
• They provide other suggestions for what to do next -- donate or find what you're looking for in the search bar.
• They make the message on-brand by featuring an adorable star.
• Bonus: they take the opportunity to call attention to their donate button.

Want to improve your nonprofit website to inspire action and increase donations? Our Nonprofit Websites that Drive Dollars training series is available for a limited time. Learn key strategies and get the tools, templates and expert advice you need to make your organization's website more effective. Register now and get a personalized review of your nonprofit website.

Want to increase donations through your email outreach? Here are my 7 ideas for better response rates.

1. Have a subject line that makes you want to read more.

My friend Kivi Leroux Miller talks about bad subject lines being a wrapper (example: September Diabetes eNews) and good subject lines being the candy in the wrapper (example: 6 ways to manage your diabetes). Make it interesting, so people open the message in the first place.

2. Start with story that’s compelling and relevant to the reader.

Florida Blood Services Foundation is hitting it out of the park on this front. Their newsletters are full of moving stories that are personal and highly relevant to the reader. But there are a lot of them!  Which brings me to my next point...

3. Say less.  A lot less.

An e-newsletter needs to be far, far shorter than what you’d send in print. Anything over 500 words is really pushing it, in my view.  If you must have multiple stories, just provide the first part of each and link to the rest. Remember, people tend to be in a hurry in their inbox and they skim more than they read. Your newsletters may have great content, but if there is too much of it, it’s hard to absorb and unclear where to focus first. I’m speaking from experience. The number one compliment I get on my blog from people who subscribe via email is that it’s short, with one main concept each time. (I take this as a compliment!)

4. Go easy on the eyes.

Just as you want to be short and sweet in email, you want to go easy on the eyes—go for uncluttered, easy to read messages.  Too many articles and sidebars and buttons and images will overwhelm the reader and lower your conversion rates drastically.

5. Ask for one thing.

Be clear about the purpose of each piece of email outreach. Is it a thank-you full of stories of change and transformation? Is it a fundraising appeal?  Is it to inspire involvement in an event? You want your e-news to have a focus and one clear call to action. Tightly sticking to a theme and reducing the options for action to one (or at most two) will boost response rates. Too many options, just like too much information, really hurts conversion.

6. Ask explicitly.

Are you directly and clearly asking for action? A Donate button off to the side isn’t enough if the goal of the e-news is to raise money. Ask in the text too.

7. Provide multiple, obvious links for the same action. 

Make it incredibly easy for people to act by including links throughout the text and on buttons. The more obvious, the better the conversion.

For more practical email newsletter advice, download our free ebook: From Print to Email -- Take Your Newsletter on an Epic Journey