Value copy before the donation ask: -28% donations
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding value proposition copy and endorsement quotes ahead of the donation ask cut conversion on Dallas Theological Seminary's donation page by 28%, a statistically significant loss.
NextAfter ran the test for the seminary, and MarketingExperiments published it.
Visitors reaching this page had already decided to give, so the extra copy got in their way.
- Donation conversion fell 28% on the version with value copy and quotes. The result was statistically significant per the source.
- This was a loss: the extra persuasion added friction rather than value.
- The test told NextAfter that visitors on this page were already highly motivated, which led to a follow-up test on the homepage.
The change
Value copy and endorsement quotes were added before the donation ask.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A donation page that went straight to asking visitors to make a gift online.
Variant
A donation page that first set out the seminary's value proposition and showed quotes from well-known Christian figures, then made the ask.
Why it likely lost
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- People who reach a donation page have usually made up their minds, so more persuasion only delays the action.
- Extra copy pushed the form further down the page and added reading before the visitor could give.
- Endorsement quotes address doubts these visitors no longer had.
Caveats: Sample size and duration were not shared. The result reflects a donation page whose visitors were already very motivated, so it may not hold for pages that get colder traffic.
Who ran it
NextAfter ran this test and published the results (MarketingExperiments). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on NextAfter →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we remove persuasion copy above the form on our donation or sign-up page, then more visitors will convert because people who arrive are already convinced and only need a clear way to act.
- Primary metric
- Donation (or form) conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Average gift or order value
- Form abandonment rate
- Who should test it
- Nonprofits and lead-gen sites whose form page mostly gets visitors who have already chosen to act. If your form page gets cold traffic from ads, value copy may still be needed.
Questions
Should a donation page explain why to give?
Not always. If visitors arrive already set on giving, as here, extra explanation can cut conversions; a 28% drop in this test.
Do testimonials help donation pages?
They can help undecided visitors, but on this page the endorsement quotes were part of a version that lost.
Match the page to how motivated your visitors are.
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