How we solved the "Anonymous Donor" problem

We love FreeWill, but…

In early 2019, we kept getting the same feedback from our partner nonprofits:

 “We love FreeWill. It helps us reach donors we wouldn’t otherwise have spoken with, and the results are off the charts. BUT we are concerned about how many donors choose to remain anonymous. This keeps us from stewarding them effectively, and hurts the potential to turn them into near-term major donors.” 

At the time, 42% of donors chose to share their information, while 58% chose to stay anonymous. 

Our team loves a challenge. So we got to work. 

Some background

The problem we were solving was not specific to FreeWill, but rather one faced by the entire planned giving community. In fact, the 42% of people sharing their contact information with their bequest was already double the national average. 

As we wrote about in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, one of the largest challenges facing planned giving teams is the overall lack of data: 

"Among donors who do include nonprofit organizations in their wills or estate plans, fewer than 25 percent notify the organization, our research has found."

For large national organizations, the percentage of people who tell the nonprofit about a bequest before it matures is as low as 7%. 

A culture of testing

At FreeWill, we believe that innovation comes not from being smart, but by being intensely curious. We have a cross-functional team we call “Science Club” that has a goal of running at least 40 experiments every year.

These experiments have led to massive breakthroughs that have sharply increased giving rate, average gift size, and much more. 

Starting in early 2019, Science Club decided that solving the “anonymous donor problem” for our partners was a top priority. 

The experiments

Energized, our team created the first experiment. Would adding “social proof” (data that many of your peers did something) encourage more people to share their information with nonprofits receiving bequests? 

We were hopeful, knowing that social proof has had big effects on a wide range of tests. But the results were not promising: After two weeks, there was zero change in the “opt-in rate” (the number of people who chose to share their info.) 

Undeterred, we ran a second test. When that failed, we tried four more, all of which either did not move the needle, or actually made things worse. 

We were almost ready to give up. Maybe donors just want to remain private...after all, this rate is already 2X what most organizations see. 

But my brilliant colleagues Fred and Jada had an idea: What if we just told people it would make things so much easier for the hard-working staff at a nonprofit? 

The result

Our seventh test broke through. We asked donors:

“Will you make the work of nonprofits easier by letting them know who you are? Anonymous gifts may be less helpful because they often cannot be included in planned giving goals.” 

It turns out, the answer was a resounding yes. The percentage of donors who chose to share their info with the recipient charity jumped from 42% to 76%, almost overnight. 

Now, three to four times more people share info on their bequests when they use FreeWill compared to other processes. Organizations are able to steward these donors (and, in many cases, quickly turn them into major giving prospects). 

What’s next

There's still work to do to make sure that every donor can have the biggest impact. So we’re now also developing a system that allows organizations to annually message anonymous donors without revealing their information.

And we are always dreaming up new experiments to run. If you have ideas, please send them to [email protected]! 

About FreeWill

FreeWill is a social venture that has helped to generate more than $1.1B in committed bequests, QCD gifts, and stock gifts. In 2019, it was named one of the “50 Top Philanthropists” by Town & Country and has been named by Oprah as one of the best ways to have impact in 2020. 

FreeWill works with hundreds of the top nonprofits in the country. To learn more or request a demo, go here.