Social sharing in the Donor Portal

Adding social sharing to the Donor Portal did not generate a measurable increase in donations.

What we tested

Supporters are often a nonprofit's strongest advocates. We wanted to understand whether making it easier for donors to share their support could help organizations reach new donors through trusted personal recommendations.

To test this, we added social sharing options to the Donor Portal, allowing supporters to share their donation via Facebook, X, LinkedIn, email, or a direct link. Each share directed recipients back to the organization's donation experience, creating an opportunity to attract new donations through existing donor networks.

The goal was simple: turn engaged supporters into advocates and generate incremental donations through social sharing.

Hypothesis

If we allow supporters to share their donations through social channels from the Donor Portal, we will generate incremental donations through their personal networks while keeping conversion to a new donation from the portal within a 10% tolerance, because personal recommendations are a trusted way to introduce new supporters to a cause.

Test setup

Duration	37 days
Timing	November–December 2025
Audience	~130,000 Donor Portal supporters
Group split	• 50% control (no sharing options) • 50% test (sharing enabled)
Key metrics	• Conversion to a new donation via a shared link • Average revenue per user (ARPU) • Recurring plan metrics (changes and cancellations)

Key results

The test generated very little sharing activity, making it difficult to create a meaningful fundraising impact.

6% of supporters clicked a Share button
0.6% completed a share
Only 5 donations were attributed to sharing
No statistically significant impact was observed on donations, ARPU, or recurring recurring plan metrics

Because so few supporters completed a share, the feature did not generate enough volume to meaningfully influence fundraising outcomes.

Conclusion

The hypothesis was not confirmed.

While supporters engaged with the sharing controls, very few completed a share, resulting in only a handful of attributable donations. The feature did not improve donation conversion, revenue, or other core Donor Portal metrics.

However, the test also showed no evidence that sharing negatively impacts the Donor Portal experience.

We won't be rolling out this version of the feature at this time. Instead, we'll explore whether clearer sharing prompts and better contextual messaging can encourage more supporters to share in a future optimization.

What this means for you

The Donor Portal was built to give supporters an easy way to manage their giving: updating payment methods, adjusting recurring plans, and staying connected to your organization without needing help from your team.

But it's also an opportunity to grow revenue. That's why we're continuously exploring new ways to help supporters deepen their engagement, increase their contributions, and advocate for your mission.

This test is a good example of that approach. While social sharing didn't generate meaningful fundraising impact in its current form, we validated the idea with real donor behavior before introducing it more broadly.

With Fundraise Up, every Donor Portal optimization is tested before it's shipped. If a change doesn't improve fundraising outcomes or supporter experience, we keep iterating until it does.

Your supporters get a simple, effective experience. Your team gets a platform that's continuously optimized to help you raise more.

→ Explore how the Donor Portal keeps supporters engaged