Roadblocks to Student Philanthropy
MSU Annual Giving
Roadblocks to Student Philanthropy
MSU Annual Giving
Why do students abandon their donations?
Why do students abandon their donations?
Michigan State University's Annual Giving Department utilizes CrowdPower, a crowdfunding website, to host over 90 funds that support the MSU community.
Michigan State University's Annual Giving Department utilizes CrowdPower, a crowdfunding website, to host over 90 funds that support the MSU community.
March 2025 to May 2025
Excel, Google Surveys, Voyant
Individual
Timeline:
Timeline: March 2025 to May 2025
Tools:
Tools: Excel, Google Surveys, Voyant
Work type:
Work type: Individual
Problem
Problem
Encouraging student philanthropy is an ongoing challenge for colleges and universities. The Annual Giving Department was about to undergo changes to their crowdsourcing and gift cart pages, and I wanted to assess potential barriers to student philanthropy on the website after the first phase of changes to identify issues that should be addressed during the remaining updates.
Encouraging student philanthropy is an ongoing challenge for colleges and universities. The Annual Giving Department was about to undergo changes to their crowdsourcing and gift cart pages, and I wanted to assess potential barriers to student philanthropy on the website after the first phase of changes to identify issues that should be addressed during the remaining updates.
Role
Role
I worked independently as the main researcher for this project.
I worked independently as the main researcher for this project.
Part One - Designing the Research
Part One - Designing the Research
First Steps
First Steps
To begin this research, I created an organized plan utilizing a research plan template. This template helped me manage and plan all aspects of the research including the objectives, timeline, methodology, and expected results. My objective for this research was to understand usability challenges with the page that may cause a user to abandon the website. The questions I asked to guide my research were:
What are the pain points users (students) encounter when locating a fund to donate to?
How intuitive is it for users (students) to search for a project to donate to?
How long does it take for a user (student) to make a donation?
To begin this research, I created an organized plan utilizing a research plan template. This template helped me manage and plan all aspects of the research including the objectives, timeline, methodology, and expected results. My objective for this research was to understand usability challenges with the page that may cause a user to abandon the website. The questions I asked to guide my research were:
What are the pain points users (students) encounter when locating a fund to donate to?
How intuitive is it for users (students) to search for a project to donate to?
How long does it take for a user (student) to make a donation?
Creating the Tests
Creating the Tests
I utilized two research methods for this project: a survey and a supplementary usability test.
I utilized two research methods for this project: a survey and a supplementary usability test.
My goal from the student survey was to understand how students viewed philanthropy and to see if they were familiar with philanthropy on campus.
I based the usability test off of the process of locating a fund to donate to and making a donation (stopping the test before entering payment information). From the test, I wanted to see how long it took users to navigate each step, what their user path was, number of clicks, and perceived versus actual task completion.
My goal from the student survey was to understand how students viewed philanthropy and to see if they were familiar with philanthropy on campus.
I based the usability test off of the process of locating a fund to donate to and making a donation (stopping the test before entering payment information). From the test, I wanted to see how long it took users to navigate each step, what their user path was, number of clicks, and perceived versus actual task completion.
Part Two - Gathering Data
Part Two -
Gathering Data
Survey Results
Survey Results
I received 60 responses to the survey. Due to a large concentration of one major represented, I utilized the first 30 responses. Below is the visualization of some key findings:
I received 60 responses to the survey. Due to a large concentration of one major represented, I utilized the first 30 responses. Below is the visualization of some key findings:
Do you know what philanthropy is?
Do you know what philanthropy is?
Define philanthropy
Define philanthropy
Are you familiar with CrowdPower?
Are you familiar with CrowdPower?
Of the three "Yes" responses, the participants had not used CrowdPower previously.
Of the three "Yes" responses, the participants had not used CrowdPower previously.
Usability Test Results
Usability Test Results
I recruited 3 participants from the survey to participate in an usability test. I used excel to keep track of and code data. Below is the visualization of the qualitative results:
I recruited 3 participants from the survey to participate in an usability test. I used excel to keep track of and code data. Below is the visualization of the qualitative results:
Key Findings
Key Findings
From this research, I determined three notable pain points that created a barrier to students trying to make a donation. The pain points were:
Students do not associate themselves with their campus zip code, which is a metric the gift cart used to pull profiles.
Students struggled to determine what was required of them when navigating the gift cart.
The keyword search in CrowdPower was inflexible, causing funds to be completely hidden due to spelling or grammatical errors.
From this research, I determined three notable pain points that created a barrier to students trying to make a donation. The pain points were:
Students do not associate themselves with their campus zip code, which is a metric the gift cart used to pull profiles.
Students struggled to determine what was required of them when navigating the gift cart.
The keyword search in CrowdPower was inflexible, causing funds to be completely hidden due to spelling or grammatical errors.
Part Three - Sharing Results
Part Three -
Sharing Results
Once this research was completed, I organized the work into a research article, executive summary, and presentation. I presented my findings to the Annual Giving Team at our quarterly retreat. This research contributed to solving an issue that occurred during our largest fundraising day of the year, where students were unsure why they were not able search their profiles in the gift cart, which resulted in frustration and abandoned donations.
This work will be used to inform priorities to consider when choosing a new gift cart system to process donations, including ease of locating funds and retrieving profile information..
Once this research was completed, I organized the work into a research article, executive summary, and presentation. I presented my findings to the Annual Giving Team at our quarterly retreat. This research contributed to solving an issue that occurred during our largest fundraising day of the year, where students were unsure why they were not able search their profiles in the gift cart, which resulted in frustration and abandoned donations.
This work will be used to inform priorities to consider when choosing a new gift cart system to process donations, including ease of locating funds and retrieving profile information..
Maren O'Connor
Contact me at: maren.k.oconnor [at] gmail [dot] com
Maren
O'Connor
Contact me at:
maren.k.oconnor [at] gmail [dot] com