Do giving incentives work?

When it comes to recurring giving, it’s really common for organizations to offer incentives like t-shirts, tote bags, and other typical marketing materials.

But are those things the best incentives for donors to give more generously?

In this experiment, the organization tested adding what I would call “Value-focused Incentives” as well as additional explainer copy about why they should give monthly rather than just once.

Let’s take a look.

Hypothesis

Adding an additional “value-focused” incentive for making a monthly recurring donation will increase the number of recurring donors.

Why might this work?

Clarifying the benefits associated with a monthly gift provides additional clarity around why someone should give monthly rather than just once.?

The treatment also provides an incentive to give at the $20/month level or higher. But these incentives aren’t just one-time giveaways. Instead, they’re using content that will serve as a cultivation tool and allow the monthly donor to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of their donation.

Control

Treatment

Results

By adding these additional monthly giving benefits, the treatment increased recurring giving by 138%.

Some tips for testing this (and other) ideas

1. Test a callout (like in the grey box of this test) to draw more attention to your giving incentives.
2. Test the length of copy you use to clarify the benefits of giving—new donors often need more explanation, while existing donors often need less.
3. Test using value-focused giving incentives rather than typical branded marketing items.?
4. Always clarify the unique impact of a monthly gift over a one-time gift. If a donor’s impact is perceived as the same regardless of gift type, they’re going to choose the easier option of a one-time gift.

A/B testing is the primary way to cut through subjectivity and let your donors tell you exactly what works to improve results. Discover the power of a/b testing and start building your own testing program through this data-driven training course. Click to learn more!