Part one: Rewarding users

Digital platforms for campaigns live and die by their conversion rate. According to Reason Digital in one year charities missed out on an estimated £1.5 billion-worth of donations due to high bounce rates on mobile devices, and last year the NSPCC overhauled it’s new donation platform and developed a more engaging journey seeing a 28% rise in monthly donations conversion rate.

Working with Action for Children on their Secret Santa digital campaign last year we saw some great results from the platform with a conversion rate of 6% compared to the target of 2% and an average donation amount of £23, smashing the target of £10. Over 75% of the total campaign income was taken through the digital site. Elements such as the messaging, visuals, mobile optimisation and form structure can all have a dramatic effect on site success. However what motivates users beyond that?

Action for Children conducted an in depth feedback exercise. A large number of users feedback indicated that they liked the interactive elements where they had a sense of personal involvement.

So how could we build on that to help grow conversions? One way to do this was through the gifting journey. This year, Action for Children wanted to reward users with a certificate that they could then personalise either for themselves or others. The different donation amounts correspond to a unique design giving the user a choice and therefore a feeling of ownership over their journey through the site, and donation engagement.

Working with Action for Children’s team, we also gave users the chance to personalise their certificate further by adding a name and message so each had a truly unique element created. This journey helped to increase investment in the campaign, and motivated feelings of value as users received something tangible for their donation.

It’s not just one element that will guarantee success, we also wanted to leverage an existing feature from last year’s creation. A really effective piece of engagement was a heatmap that logged the location of donors by adding a Christmas light. Like the certificates, it gave users something really personal to input into the campaign as well as creating a visual community that continues to grow during the life of the campaign. As a user, there is a psychological link where visually I feel part of something, my contribution has aided positive growth.

What more can charities consider about enticing donation conversion?
Charities don’t get to use typical methods of increasing their conversion rate. Discounts can’t be offered, added benefits like free shipping can’t be used, buy one get one free isn’t exactly suitable. Thinking laterally, and using clever mechanisms for ensuring conversion and helping drive behavioural change is imperative to digital success. Try one for yourself, we’d love to know the results.

Donate through Action for Children’s Secret Santa campaign at: https://secretsanta.actionforchildren.org.uk/

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Part two of our Challenges for Charities design thinking series is published Thursday 14th November.