Background
Wikipedia did (and continues to do) extensive experimentation with their fundraising. With over 10 million views per hour even a small improvement in donations per view makes a big difference.
Test
3 different banner copy versions where tested:
- A: Social proof: ‘600.000 readers have donated to keep it free for the world. But we need you too.’
- B: Urgency: ‘Only 4 days left to make a tax deductable donation to keep meta free. Please help Meta pay its bilss in 2011.’
- C: Low commitment: ‘If everyone reading this donated $5,- our fundraising would be over today. Please donate to keep meta free.’
Results
|
Views |
Donations |
Total USD |
Average amount |
Amount per View |
| A |
10073 |
198 |
€ 7.623,98 |
€ 38,50 |
€ 0,76 |
| B |
11143 |
590 |
€ 11.223,50 |
€ 19,02 |
€ 1,01 |
| C |
10532 |
277 |
€ 8.168,02 |
€ 29,49 |
€ 0,78 |
Learnings
While the lower commitment -just $5- leads to a lower averag donation amount – the total amount is higher due to the higher conversion rate. It is difficult to generalise this learning – you should test it.
Test details
| Test element |
Headline
|
| Page type |
All |
| Test date |
December 2010 |
Website information
| Company |
Wikipedia |
| Market |
Foundation, Not for Profit |
