One of the strongest predictors of a donor’s long-term value is their first gift amount. And with more giving happening online, the design and structure of your donation page matter more than ever. A few small changes to your gift array can meaningfully increase your average gift amount — and, by extension, your donor lifetime value.
Here are three practical A/B tests to try on your donation form that are rooted in behavioral science and designed to raise your average online gift.
1. Increase the Amount of the Lowest Ask
People are surprisingly influenced by numbers — even when those numbers are arbitrary. This is thanks to a cognitive bias known as the anchoring effect, where our brains use the first number we see to make subsequent judgments.
In one study, donors who were asked if they would donate $5 ended up giving an average of $20. But when donors were asked about a $400 gift, they gave an average of $143. That’s a dramatic difference, driven by nothing more than the initial amount presented.
Unfortunately, many standard donation forms start with a low number like $15 or $20. When the first number donors see is this low, it anchors them to a lower giving mindset — dragging down your average gift.
Test: Set the lowest ask in your gift array closer to your current median online gift. This creates a new anchor and encourages higher giving from the start.
2. Reverse the Order of the Ask Array
Consider these two descriptions:
“Steve is smart, diligent, critical, impulsive, and jealous.”
“Steve is jealous, impulsive, critical, diligent, and smart.”
Even though they include the same words, the first version feels more positive. That’s the primacy effect at work — a bias that causes people to place more weight on the first pieces of information they encounter.
Most donation forms list gift options from smallest to largest. But when the smallest amount is shown first, it’s given the most cognitive importance — and, unsurprisingly, that’s often the option donors choose.
Test: Flip your array. List the largest gift first and the smallest last. This gives your higher asks the benefit of primacy and subtly reframes the lower amounts as more approachable.
3. Make the Biggest Ask Really Big
Take a look at a high-end restaurant menu. You might notice a particularly expensive item — say, a $95 seasonal seafood special — sitting at the top. It’s probably not there to be ordered, but rather to make the $48 steak seem more reasonable. That’s the contrast effect in action.
When we see an extreme option first, it changes how we perceive the rest. You can apply this same psychology to your donation form by adding an outsized ask to your array.
Test: Add an extra-large gift amount — like $1,000 — to the end of your array. While few donors will choose it, it reframes the next-highest option as more reasonable, which can nudge donors upward in their giving.
Wrap-up
Small tweaks in how you present your donation options can lead to meaningful gains in donor value. By increasing the lowest ask, reversing the array order, and including a higher anchor amount, you’re tapping into how donors think — often subconsciously — about giving.
These tests are simple to implement and could lead to significant improvements in your online fundraising performance.
What are you waiting for? Try one (or all) of these tests and see what happens. We’d love to hear what you learn — share your results with us!
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