Better to Give or Donate?
Experiment No. 010
The Same, But Different
Give. Donate.
Do you like the sound of one of these words better than the other? If you’re like me then you do.
I prefer “give.” To me, “give” sounds more donor-centric. It sounds more like a gift, a selfless act. I like to think of myself as a giver, not as someone who donates. Donate sounds sterile and impersonal.
Am I putting too much emphasis on two words that have the same meaning? Like Alice, I am known to chase rabbits down ominous holes.
To get a broader viewpoint, I put this question on LinkedIn. Would other people agree or disagree with me? Would they even care?
Give vs Donate Poll
Here is the LinkedIn post asking people to vote on which phrase they think works better.
“I plan to run an A/B test on the call to action button text for a fundraising email. I have my thoughts about which one will perform better, but I would like to hear your personal or professional opinions.
“Do you think “Give Now” or “Donate Now” for button text will get more conversions?
“Or do you think it really won’t matter in the slightest? You don’t need to be a digital expert or work with a nonprofit to answer.”
Turns out quite a few people also have an opinion on whether “Donate” or “Give will produce better results. Almost 100 people voted, 51% believe “Give Now” is better than “Donate Now”(30%). The option “It won’t make a difference racked up 20% of the vote.
Melissa K. said. “In general, I think “give now is strong.” Patti B. agrees “give now” is better saying, “To me ‘donate now” seems more transactional while “give now” feels more relational.”
One person who felt “donate now” would perform better said, “Personally, I prefer “donate” as it seems like a kinder word than give. Although give is much more direct and leaves little to the imagination of what you’re being asked.”
Meredith T. believes the language won’t affect the performance saying, “My guess is that it really won’t matter much. I think that the real conversion factor lies in the quality of the messaging in the appeal.” And Crystal D. said.”I wouldn’t put a hard-and-fast rule to any kind of button text. It depends on the context, both of the button and of the organization.”
Other Tests
Seems I am not the only person to consider testing “give” vs. “donate.” Andrew Olsen mentioned, “In most of the testing I've done or seen results from over the last few years, "Give" tends to outperform "Donate"...but every audience is different, so absolutely test it.”
Six studies found that framing giving as gifts rather than donations increased donations.
Sounds like “give” is the way to go, except one individual, posted this comment on the LinkedIn poll. “The last time I tested this with about a half dozen clients was 3 years ago. I've tested in emails and landing pages (but funny enough, not donation forms). At any rate... I found a slight advantage to "Donate Now." —Philip T.
Guess vs. Donate Test
I think “give” will perform better, 51% of people polled also think so. Plus, a half-dozen studies tell us to use “give.”
But as Andrew Olsen said, “every audience is different,” so we conducted a test to find out which word would bring in the money: give or donate.
Research Question:
Does “Give Now” or “Donate Now” on the call to action button text produce more donations?
Hypothesis:
Using the phrase “Give Now” will encourage more people to give because it has a more positive connotation.
Test Element:
Call to Action Button Text
Control- Give Now | Test- Donate Now
The subject line and copy on the email were the same for both the control and test version. The only difference is with the text on the call-to-action button. I did not use “give” or “donation” in the body of the text.
Key Metric:
Conversion Rate
Other Metrics:
Open rate
Click rate
Sample Size:
Control - 534,233 | Test - 534,361.
When the list was split the contact size was even. The discrepancy upon sending happened because more addresses bounced in the control list.
Results:
“Donate Now” had a much higher conversion rate than the button saying “Give Now”
Open rate - Identical
Click rate - “Give Now” had a few more clicks (0.01% more)
Conversion rate - “Donate Now” had a 6% higher conversion rate.
Application:
For certain audiences or in certain circumstances it is better to use “Donate Now” for the call-to-action button text. With our audience asking people to donate produced more donations at a statistically significant level.
Future Tests:
A good test will often lead to more questions. This test raised a few. New test ideas include:
Does “Donate Now” work for all types of nonprofits? How about churches where “giving” is a natural term as opposed to “donating”?
Is there a difference between a letter email vs. an appeal email? (We tested a letter email from an individual.)
“Donate Now” vs longer, button copy.
This last point was raised by many people who comment on the LinkedIn poll, saying more specific copy would work better.
Joel E. said “I'm curious, have you considered the button saying something more specific as a third option? something like "My gift to provide shelter"? And Kevin F. made a similar comment, “How about "Transform a Life Now" or "Rescue a Hamster Now." Why not make the call to action more cause-specific?”
They raise a valid point. I have tested copy using specific text and it performs better than generic text, though I did not test it with this particular call-to-action. This would make a logical next test for those wanting to find a better solution.
What This Means For You:
In short, test it for yourself.
The majority of studies show that “give now” performs better than “donate now.” Yet, certain audiences respond better to “donate now,” as ours did.
Make sure the context of the email and the timing match your choice of “give now” or “donate now.”
Sure the act of giving is a donation. The words seem interchangeable, except when it comes to fundraising emails. They aren’t equal when it comes to raising money.
Don’t guess, test.
