How Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales Can Multiply Donations To Wikipedia With A Few Simple Tweaks
So I was searching something in Wikipedia, reading articles about different media and video games I was looking for, when this pop-up asking me to donate money to maintain it popped up.
It read:
To all our readers in the U.S.,
We will get straight to the point: Today we ask you to help Wikipedia. To maintain our independence, we will never run ads. We depend on donations averaging about $15. Only a tiny portion of our readers give. If everyone reading this gave $3, we could keep Wikipedia thriving for years to come. The price of coffee is all we need. When I made Wikipedia a non-profit, people warned me I’ll regret it. Over a decade later, it’s the only top ten site run by a non-profit and a community of volunteers. Has it crossed my mind how much we could have made if it had ads? Sure. but it wouldn’t be the same. We wouldn’t be able to trust it. Most people ignore my messages. But I hope you’ll think about how useful it is to have unlimited access to reliable, neutral information. Please help keep Wikipedia online and growing. Thank you. — Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder
I’ve seen this before, in many different iterations. Usually, I would get annoyed as I have read the spiel. But, today, I looked at it again from the perspective of a copywriting marketer.
And I am horrified. This marketing copy is just off-putting. It is not optimized at all.
Wait? What? What is marketing copy? What is a copywriter?
A copywriter writes copy. Obvious, I know. Marketing copy is the text that is marketable. It is the text you see on ads, on flyers, on donation letters like this. It is the text that convinces you to part away with your money, either to buy a product, or in this case, donating my hard-earned money.
There’s a science to copywriting that is focused on persuading people to do something. Psychology, sales tracking, business, market testing, and so on and so forth factor in copywriting. It isn’t an art (or at least purely), this is meant to get results. You want to get results.
So why was I horrified? Because Wikipedia’s Donation Copy, that paragraph, will not get you results.
Let’s go over reasons.
Why is Wikipedia’s Donation Copy horrible?
First, it makes assumptions about the reader that are not justified.
First, it assumes the reader already is well-versed enough about Wikipedia itself that it gets straight to the point. Second, it assumes that the reader prizes Wikipedia’s independence. Third, it assumes that the reader cares about ads enough. Fourth, it assumes readers care about Wikipedia being a non-profit. Fifth, it assumes readers care about Wikipedia growing. All in all, it assumes readers care about Wikipedia.
Newsflash, the majority of Wikipedia’s readers do not care about these things. They do not care about Wikipedia. They care about themselves. They care about that specific article they typed up in Google’s search bar. They care about finishing their high school and college essays. They care about whatever minutia of info they were looking for. They do not care about Wikipedia as a whole.
These things might affect readers, but it takes intuition to do so. It’s the difference between these two airlines reward copy:
“By doing this and this, you get 50,000 airline reward points!”
Versus this:
“By doing this and this, you get 50,000 airline reward points, enough for two flights anywhere in the world!”
See the difference?
Which goes to our next point.
Second, the copy is all about what you can do for Wikipedia. There are no benefits for the reader outlined in the beginning.
The only clear benefit actually shows up in the bottom of the copy. The bottom!:
But I hope you’ll think about how useful it is to have unlimited access to reliable, neutral information.
Even the paragraph says “Most people ignore my messages.” These may be the reasons why. The tone is self-defeating and begging.
Here is how a reader reads the copy:
To all our readers in the U.S., (Okay, I’m from America, let’s see what this has to say)
We will get straight to the point: Today we ask you to help Wikipedia. (Wait, what? Why? You need help?) To maintain our independence, we will never run ads. (Independent from what? I just want to read the article, dude. Ads or no ads. I even have Adblocker installed.) We depend on donations averaging about $15. (So? Are you asking money from me?!?) Only a tiny portion of our readers give. (Trying to guilt trip me, but I don’t even know why I need to give. And your tone! Sounds begging.) If everyone reading this gave $3, we could keep Wikipedia thriving for years to come. (Seems like y’all are doing alright so far…) The price of coffee is all we need. (I don’t know why I would need to give up a coffee for you. You still haven’t told me what is in it for me.) When I made Wikipedia a non-profit, people warned me I’ll regret it. (How does that matter to me? By now, I probably stopped reading, because it’s all about me-me-me. Wikipedia this, Wikipedia that. I DON’T CARE.) Over a decade later, it’s the only top ten site run by a non-profit and a community of volunteers. (So what? Who cares?!?) Has it crossed my mind how much we could have made if it had ads? (Why are ads relevant to me?! I just want to read my article.) Sure. but it wouldn’t be the same. (Same what? What am I missing? Sounds like you only really care about yourself.) We wouldn’t be able to trust it. (I’m not following.) Most people ignore my messages. (I can see why. You sound so needy.) But I hope you’ll think about how useful it is to have unlimited access to reliable, neutral information. (OH! So that’s why I should donate. Even though I probably X’ed this out long ago. And even then, not a very strong incentive for me.) Please help keep Wikipedia online and growing. (How is it growing matter to me? Although I do like the articles. But you should have told me that long ago.) Thank you. — Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder (Okay, you done now? Article. Gimme.)
This is how normal people read things like this. You should never expect an altruistic, intuitive, self-aware, thoughtful audience. Even if your audience is largely like that, don’t expect them to be always those things.
How do we fix Wikipedia’s Donation Copy, then?
Put the singular reader’s benefit higher on the copy. This is the simplest tweak you can do. Compare the following from the first iteration.
To all our readers in the U.S.,
Think about how useful it is to have unlimited access to reliable, neutral information like Wikipedia provides you. With that in mind, we will get straight to the point: Today we ask you to help Wikipedia. To maintain our independence, we will never run ads. We depend on donations averaging about $15. Only a tiny portion of our readers give. If everyone reading this gave $3, we could keep Wikipedia thriving for years to come. The price of coffee is all we need. When I made Wikipedia a non-profit, people warned me I’ll regret it. Over a decade later, it’s the only top ten site run by a non-profit and a community of volunteers. Has it crossed my mind how much we could have made if it had ads? Sure. but it wouldn’t be the same. We wouldn’t be able to trust it. Most people ignore my messages. Please help keep Wikipedia online and growing. Thank you. — Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder
Of course, this still has some of the aforementioned problems. But with a size audience of Wikipedia, even a 0.01% increase in conversions will be profitable. But we want way more than 0.01%.
Delete the begging and needy tone. Frankly, you are subjecting yourself to your readers’ judgmental whims by the guilt trips.
To all our readers in the U.S.,
Think about how useful it is to have unlimited access to reliable, neutral information like Wikipedia provides. With that in mind, we will get straight to the point: Today we ask you to help Wikipedia. To maintain our independence, we will never run ads. [REMOVED] If everyone reading this gave $3, we could keep Wikipedia thriving for years to come. The price of coffee is all we need. When I made Wikipedia a non-profit, people warned me I’ll regret it. Over a decade later, it’s the only top ten site run by a non-profit and a community of volunteers. Has it crossed my mind how much we could have made if it had ads? Sure. but it wouldn’t be the same. We wouldn’t be able to trust it. [REMOVED] Please help keep Wikipedia online and growing. Thank you. — Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder
Talk directly to the reader. Instead of generalizing an “everyone” or “readers”, communicate to the reader as a person.
Dear Reader in the U.S.,
Think about how useful it is to have unlimited access to reliable, neutral information like Wikipedia provides you. With that in mind, we will get straight to the point: Today we ask you to help Wikipedia. To maintain our independence, we will never run ads. We depend on donations averaging about $15. If you, along with every reader, gave $3, we could keep Wikipedia thriving for years to come. The price of coffee of your coffee is all we need. When I made Wikipedia a non-profit, people warned me I’ll regret it. Over a decade later, it’s the only top ten site run by a non-profit and a community of volunteers. Has it crossed my mind how much we could have made if it had ads? Sure. but it wouldn’t be the same. We wouldn’t be able to trust it. Please help keep Wikipedia online and growing. Thank you. — Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder
Add more benefits for the reader. Why does Wikipedia’s independence need to matter to me? Why does Wikipedia’s not having ads need to matter to me?
Dear Reader in the U.S.,
Think about how useful it is to have unlimited access to reliable, neutral information like Wikipedia provides you. We never run ads to bother you while you are reading. However, to maintain our independence from ads, we depend on donations averaging about $15. If you, along with every reader, gave $3, we could keep Wikipedia thriving for years to come. The price of coffee of your coffee is all we need. When I made Wikipedia a non-profit, people warned me I’ll regret it. Over a decade later, it’s the only top ten site run by a non-profit and a community of volunteers. Has it crossed my mind how much we could have made if it had ads? Sure. but it wouldn’t be the same. The ads would clog up the articles, slow the website down, and in some cases, make them unreadable, which would have been a bad experience for you. We wouldn’t be able to trust it because the information would be controlled by advertisers. Please help keep Wikipedia provide you with the information you want. Thank you. — Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder
Add counters to objections. Add urgency and scarcity. Add bonuses. Add a guarantee. Add a postscript. Now we are getting to long form copy here!
You are not selling anything, except yourself, so some of these do not apply as much. You can’t return knowledge, so we can’t put a return policy. No 30 day money back guarantees for satisfaction. So we need to get creative.
Dear Reader in the U.S.,
Think about how useful it is to have unlimited access to reliable, neutral information like Wikipedia provides you. We never run ads to bother you while you are reading. However, to maintain our independence from ads, we depend on donations averaging about $15. If you, along with every reader, gave $3, we could keep Wikipedia thriving for years to come. The price of coffee of your coffee is all we need. When I made Wikipedia a non-profit, people warned me I’ll regret it. Over a decade later, it’s the only top ten site run by a non-profit and a community of volunteers. Has it crossed my mind how much we could have made if it had ads? Sure. but it wouldn’t be the same. The ads would clog up the articles, slow the website down, and in some cases, make them unreadable, which would have been a bad experience for you. We wouldn’t be able to trust it because the information would be controlled by advertisers. However, because of costs, a day is coming where we are forced to take on advertisements, or worse, shut down, if we have no revenue, which will inconvenience you greatly. It can come as soon as next year or even next month. Please help keep Wikipedia provide you with the information you want. We guarantee that with your contribution that Wikipedia will be up tomorrow, without ads. If you want opt in for a monthly donation, cancel anytime. Thank you. — Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder
P.S. Your contribution is tax deductible.
I’m just being creative here. I do not know if donations to Wikipedia is tax deductible. I also do not know how bad it is that Wikipedia would be forced to take on ads or shut down. But if that is the case, it needs to be on the copy.
Rewrite the whole thing and focus on the reader, not Wikipedia.
This may be a last resort, especially if the prior copy seems a bit unwieldy. However, coming up with a whole new effective copy takes hours to do. But if you want to throw money at it, consider hiring me or another copywriter to tackle the challenge. It can potentially double or triple or beyond the donations when done correctly.
Test, test, test. There is a chance I could be wrong. Hence, when the rubber meets the road is where copy is tested and refined. Some things that work on one campaign do not work on another. However, I have seen previous campaigns which failed or succeeded based on the copy, and similar tweaks I have proposed and thus I am confident you will raise and multiply your donations with my suggestions.
Hopefully, you will take to heart and at least test some of my proposed changes, Mr. Jimmy Wales! I look forward on seeing your donations increase with these simple tweaks.
Sincerely,
Jandyre Samuel Garcia
P.S. If for some reason you are consumed with time, and can’t assign this to one of your Wikipedia minions to do, consider hiring me to do it for you.
