What We Learned From One Mobile Tweak

We all know how easy it is to lose people on mobile.
A small delay, a confusing button, one too many steps, and the moment’s gone.

That’s exactly the problem a large national broadcast ministry wanted to solve. Their website looked great on desktop, but when it came to mobile, something subtle but significant was happening: it took four separate clicks to reach the main donation page.

For a supporter who already feels the tug to give, that’s four opportunities to get distracted, second-guess, or simply move on.

So we asked a simple question:

Would adding a clear “Donate” button right on the mobile homepage make it easier for visitors to follow through?

The Experiment

We ran an A/B test with two versions of their mobile homepage:

• Control: The existing design, no Donate button on the homepage. Supporters had to click through several menu items to find the giving page.

• Treatment: The same page, but with a bold orange Donate button placed in the top-right corner, identical to what desktop visitors already saw.

Nothing else changed. The only difference was one small call-to-action.

We measured clicks to the donation page as the primary metric, testing over a sample of more than 18,000 visitors across both versions.

The Results

The numbers tell a pretty clear story.

The version with the Donate button produced a 40.4% increase in clicks to the main giving page, with a 100% level of statistical confidence, meaning the result wasn’t just a fluke.

And that lift wasn’t just theoretical.

Looking at their internal giving data over the same period, the ministry saw:

• 93% more gifts from mobile visitors

• 115% increase in total revenue attributed to mobile giving

Interestingly, conversion rate and average gift size didn’t change, people weren’t giving more or converting more frequently once they reached the donation page. But far more people were getting there in the first place.

In other words, simplifying the path created more opportunities for generosity.

Why It Matters

This test reinforces something we all intuitively know but often overlook: the easier we make it to give, the more people will.

Not because they’re less thoughtful or impulsive, but because digital friction erodes intent. A potential donor’s motivation is at its peak in the moment of inspiration. Every extra click between that feeling and the donation form is a leak in the pipeline.

On desktop, those leaks are smaller. On mobile, they can be fatal.

What this ministry discovered was that ease equals access, not just in terms of UX, but in emotional availability. By reducing a 4-step journey down to 1, they met their donors in the moment rather than asking them to persist through it.

What You Can Learn From This

You don’t have to overhaul your website to increase giving. Sometimes, the biggest lift comes from removing barriers, not adding features.

Here are a few simple ways to test this principle yourself:

1. Audit your mobile giving path. How many clicks does it take from homepage to donation form?

2. Replicate desktop clarity. If your desktop version has a clear Donate button, mirror that same visibility on mobile.

3. Track intent, not just outcome. Measure clicks to your giving page, not only donations. It’s often the earliest indicator of donor readiness.

4. Think “moment to gift.” Every second matters in that emotional window when a visitor decides to give. Make that path as short and frictionless as possible.

Key Takeaways

• A small design change, adding a Donate button to the mobile homepage, resulted in a 40.4% increase in clicks to the giving page.

• The increase in traffic (not conversion rate) drove 93% more gifts and 115% more total revenue from mobile visitors.

• Simplifying the journey to give is one of the most overlooked drivers of digital generosity.

• When you remove friction, you make room for follow-through.