The document describes the results of several experiments testing what motivates people to donate online. [1] An experiment with 3 celebrities and a friend asking their followers to donate found that the friend who asked their 200 friends raised the most at £800, more than the celebrities with thousands more followers. [2] Feedback about the impact of donations did not motivate further donations on its own. Thank you notes only motivated more donations if they included the donor's name. [3] An experiment offering previous donors the chance to double their donation for a royal wedding raised no additional funds, as people did not want to donate more than they originally intended. The conclusion is that friends are the most effective motiv

1. TESTING AN IDEA

3. The Influencer Experiment: who
1 motivates you to give online?
Stephen Kate Jordan Dom’s sister
2.1 m 20k 1.1 m 200 friends
followers followers followers

4. The Influencer Experiment: who
1 motivates you to give online?
We asked 3 celebrities and Dom’s
Stephen Kate Jordan Dom’s sister
2.1 m
sister to choose a projectfriends
20k 1.1 m 200
they
followers followers about to talk about through
cared followers
social media and encourage their
friends and followers to donate.
But how much did they donate?

5. … friends motivate us most
Stephen Kate Jordan Dom’s sister
2.1 m 20k 1.1 m 200 friends
followers followers followers
£800 £250 £0 £800

6. … friends motivate us most
Stephen Kate Jordan 2000 Dom’s sister
2.1 m 20k 1.1 m Likes 200 friends
followers followers followers
£800 £250 £0 £800

7. 9 The Feedback Experiment
• Research showed seeing
the difference they made
was top priority
• People like to be thanked
• What happens when we
say thank-you and show
you the difference it
makes?

8. Feedback didn’t motivate further donations
• Only feedback mentioned by many
customers was for the tsunami project
(with feedback delivered twice within
a month of donating and therefore
memorable).
• Only feedback mentioned
spontaneously by individual donors
was feedback with their name on it.
• As one giver put it “Isn’t it nice they
(the recipient) can see who helped
them.”
• No other piece of charity feedback has
ever been acclaimed as surprising,
delightful or awesome.
• Hasn’t motivated second donations.

9. 10 The royal ‘get more’ Experiment
We offered 1000 previous
givers to See The Difference
the chance to double their
donation in celebration of
the Royal Wedding.
How many previous givers
doubled their donation?

10. Ma’am, More is not a motivation
• Not a single previous giver
took up the option to
0%
double their donation.
• As one wag put it “If I didn’t
want to give double of
something I didn’t want to
do, is still something I didn’t
want to do”.

11. TESTING A COMPLETE MODEL

17. Watch what people actually do
Test, evaluate, iterate the whole system
(and have fun)
Be wary of people with good ideas