Suggested Giving Amounts can be a great way to strategically encourage donors to give gifts of a certain size. With a little planning and careful consideration, this tool can serve as a powerful way to ‘anchor’ your community members’ donations. Plus, Suggested Giving Amounts are easy to set up and offer powerful analytics about your donors' giving habits!
To Suggest or Not to Suggest?
Adding Suggested Giving Amounts
To add Suggested Giving Amounts to a campaign giving form on the Social Fundraising Platform or a form within the Giving Forms product, head to Campaign/Form Settings > Giving Form > scroll to the Suggested Giving Amounts area. These settings will allow you to set dollar values, create labels, decide whether the labels should appear above or below the dollar values on the giving form, and set a default amount. You may add up to 6 suggested giving amounts for both one-time gifts and recurring gifts.
Best Practices for Suggested Giving Amounts
When adding Suggested Giving Amounts, it's important to be strategic. Many donors will choose these preset amounts, so carefully consider the impact of each suggestion—or whether to use them at all.
Tailoring Suggested Giving Amounts
- Narrow Audiences: If targeting a specific group with similar giving patterns (e.g., a senior class gift campaign), Suggested Giving Amounts can be straightforward. For instance, you might suggest $20.21 for the Class of 2021.
- Diverse Audiences: When engaging a broader audience, be cautious. If suggested amounts are too high, you might alienate potential donors who want to participate but can't give at that level. Conversely, suggesting amounts that are too low might discourage higher-capacity donors from giving more.
Consider Your Audience
- Specific Outcomes: Tailor each Suggested Giving Amount to a specific audience and outcome. For example, if donors typically give $25, suggesting $30 might encourage them to increase their contribution. However, be aware that donors who usually give $35 might also be drawn to the $30 suggestion.
- Substantial Differences: For large and diverse audiences, offer Suggested Giving Amounts that are significantly different from one another. For example, in a reunion campaign for the Class of 1999, you might suggest $19.99, $199.99, and $1,999. This approach ensures that donors with higher giving capacities don't settle for lower amounts because those are the only options presented.
- Targeted Campaigns: In some cases, you may want to focus on small or large amounts, such as when targeting leadership donors. For instance, if you're appealing to giving societies, use Suggested Giving Amounts that correspond to each society’s qualifying gift value.
Order of Suggested Giving Amounts
- Anchoring High: The order in which you enter Suggested Giving Amounts in your settings determines how they appear on the giving form. Entering amounts in descending order (e.g., $5,000, $1,000, $250) can encourage generosity. This technique is especially effective in reunion giving, where a higher, aspirational amount can lead the list, followed by more accessible amounts.
Analyzing the results of Suggested Giving Amounts
Want to know how many donors gave a gift valued at one of your Suggested Giving Amounts? Curious about how many donors gave a gift with a value less than, in between, or greater than your Suggested Giving Amounts? Head to Campaign/Form Settings > Statistics > Suggested Amount Utilization to find out!
The Contribution Breakdown graph provides the number and percentage of donors who made gifts in the value of each Suggested Giving Amount. It also provides the number and percentage of donors who made a gift in a value of less than, in between, or greater than your Suggested Giving Amounts.
The Contribution Breakdown Graph can help you gain better insight into how your donors respond to Suggested Giving Amounts. This information is useful for adjusting Suggested Giving Amounts during longer campaigns and Giving Form releases, and planning for more effective Suggested Giving Amounts on future campaigns.
Bonus: Adding Emojis! 🤩
Want to add some fun to your form? Try using emojis in conjunction with your Suggested Giving Amounts! We LOVE this example from The Lawrenceville School who added some flair to their young alumni-themed recurring gift form. For more info on how to access your emoji keyboard, head here.
Summary
Suggested Giving Amounts should be carefully tailored to your audience and campaign goals. Whether you're engaging a narrow or broad audience, strategically selecting and ordering these amounts can significantly impact donor participation and contribution levels.