Hi, John. Thanks for taking the time to share your questions, and I'm happy
to answer them. I've included your original questions and my answers inline:
*Does this involve paying Facebook and Instagram? If so, how much is being
allocated that part of this pilot?*
Yes; we’ll pay a cost per click, or per impressions, for these ads. We’ve
allocated $5,000 USD for this experiment.
*What targets have been set to evaluate whether this pilot will be
considered successful?*
The ultimate goal of running an ads program would be 100% ROI; $2 raised
for every $1 spent. We will also be able to compare ROI with that of our
existing payment processors and determine if Facebook helps increase our
efficiency. But we have no expectations because we don’t yet have data. For
the purpose of this experiment, we simply want to establish benchmarks that
could guide further testing. That being said, our online fundraising model
is entirely built around a/b iterative testing, and we'll employ those
principles in this pilot.
*If it is just to *learn* about potential demographics, I fear that most of
the knowledge gained will already have been published previously by other
non-profits who've tried similar.*
A fair point, though I’d note that, as far as our banners and emails, ‘our
donors don’t always behave like other donors.’ The copy, design, and ask
amounts that work for us do not track exactly with the experiences of other
non-profit peers, whom we also monitor and consult.
If the ROI is favorable, it also gives us the opportunity to engage a new
set of Wikipedia users. This new medium opens the possibility to get new
donors on our list, and educate more people about the Foundation and the
movement.
*I cant help but notice that you mentioned the work will be done by Middle
Seat <http://middleseat.co/ <http://middleseat.co/>>, and not that it is
former staff member Zack Exley's company. Is there a requirement that this
consulting job will culminate in a published and openly licensed report by
Middle Seat?*
Zack Exley is not directly involved in this experiment, though he is a
founding member of Middle Seat. We’re working with Middle Seat to tap into
their expertise in social advertising and targeting, but all content
approval and reporting will be handled by the Foundation in keeping with
our established best practices.
I appreciate your scrutiny and the chance to offer some more clarity on
this test.
regards,
sam
On Thu, Jun 29, 2017 at 2:45 PM, John Mark Vandenberg <jayvdb(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Hi Sam,
Does this involve paying Facebook and Instagram?
If so, how much is being allocated that part of this pilot?
IIRC, at least Facebook has a separate program for non-profits, but
they didnt offer ads for non-profits at reduced rates as part of that
program.
What targets have been set to evaluate whether this pilot will be
considered successful?
If it is just to *learn* about potential demographics, I fear that
most of the knowledge gained will already have been published
previously by other non-profits who've tried similar.
I cant help but notice that you mentioned the work will be done by
Middle Seat <http://middleseat.co/>, and not that it is former staff
member Zack Exley's company.
Is there a requirement that this consulting job will culminate in a
published and openly licensed report by Middle Seat?
Regards,
John
On Fri, Jun 30, 2017 at 12:58 AM, Samuel Patton <spatton(a)wikimedia.org>
wrote:
Hi everyone,
I'm writing to let you know about a project we're trying on the
Foundation's fundraising team. Thanks to all the help and advice we've
received from our colleagues in Communications, Legal, and Community
Engagement.
*I've posted this announcement as an update on Fundraising's Meta Page
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising/Updates>, and would be
happy
to answer questions and keep the discussion up
there.*
Over the next three weeks, the Advancement team will be conducting a
small
fundraising pilot on Facebook and Instagram. This
will involve sponsored
posts, served in English to people in the United States, that will direct
users to donate to the Foundation using our own donation processing
pages.
Fundraising is always interested in exploring new ways to reach people
who
find value in Wikipedia and are interested in
supporting the Foundation’s
mission. Advertising across social networks is a proven and popular way
for
nonprofits to find new supporters and build
organizational awareness, and
we’re excited to dip our toes into this.
Like the many tests we run for Fundraising, this pilot will involve
experiments testing different imagery, copy, and calls to action. We hope
to answer the question: how well does our
on-Wikipedia.org messaging
perform when presented on another site? It will also examine how our
appeals perform across demographic and interest groups.
*Where will the ads appear?*
This pilot will use “sponsored posts,” which is what Facebook calls
content
that appears in the news feed of Facebook users.
They will also appear on Instagram as “sponsored stories” that appear
within the flow of photo and video posts users scroll on that network.
(Instagram is a Facebook property.)
They will not appear as banners, pop-ups, or display ads that appear
alongside the news feed. This is a test in what is called “native”
advertising, meaning it uses the same content display area that users
expect from Facebook and Instagram.
*How will you target your ads?*
In addition to the broad parameters of language (English) and country
(U.S.), we have identified a few target audiences that might respond
particularly well to our appeals: educators, philanthropists, and
frequent
consumers of news. We will build these audiences
based off self reported
information about educational achievement, news readership, and
philanthropic interest. I've included details on each audience below. In
addition to these, we have discussed the value of comparing effectiveness
across other characteristics - age, gender, etc.
A large part of the value in running this experiment is to *learn*
whether
there are any demographic differences in how
people respond to our
messaging. If this experiment does give us compelling info about who is
more likely to donate, that is exciting! And we'll talk as a group about
what to do with that knowledge.
*Can users opt out?*
Of course. Users can hide individual ads if they are not of interest to
them. This is also something we can measure to better understand how to
not
annoy or impose on social media users in future
fundraising drives.
*Who is working on this?*
Fundraising is partnering with the social media folks in Communications
to
run this test. The promotion and measurement of
ads is being managed by a
small company called Middle Seat.
*Will you keep us in the loop?*
Absolutely. By July 15 we intend to share an overview of our testing so
far.
Stay tuned for more updates!
sam
-----------------------
*Possible target audiences:*
*STUDENTS & EDUCATORS*
*How likely to donate are current students and educators?*
Age: 18 - 65+
Target: Current students above high school level and educators based on
self-reported “job title”
Reach: 1,000,000+
*PHILANTHROPISTS*
*How likely to donate are Facebook users interested in both philanthropy
and donating to charitable causes?*
Age: 18 - 65+
Target: Facebook users with self-reported interests in philanthropy and
donating to charity
Reach: ~460,000
*NEWS READERS*
*How likely to donate are Facebook users whose behavior suggests they’re
daily news consumers?*
Age: 18 - 65+
Target: Facebook users with interests and behavior that suggests daily
news
consumption
Reach: ~1,000,000
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/
wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
https://meta.wikimedia.org/
wiki/Wikimedia-l
New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
<mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
--
John Vandenberg
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/
wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
https://meta.wikimedia.org/
wiki/Wikimedia-l
New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
<mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>