You hear “mobile optimization” and likely think make the text readable, shorten the form, enlarge the button.  But the device may also change what message works best. We’ve given considerably more thought to where the donor’s finger goes than where their attention goes.

Our phones are highly personal possessions, holding conversations, photos, favorite music and a potentially embarrassing record of what you find interesting. Its usage inherently brings your preferences, feelings and beliefs more sharply into focus.  This is called private self-focus: greater attention to what matters to me.

That shift showed up in a novel 2×2 experiment that randomly assigned people to one of 4 treatments:

• Assigned to your phone/laptop x Assigned to charity message presented as match for person’s values/popular choice

The personal values message did well with people when on their phones but didn’t matter if on a laptop. So, the device tells us something about the donor’s state of mind, but still, nothing about what matters to them. The deeper test is whether matching the message to their identity or personality improves response, and whether the device amplifies that effect.

The fundraising opportunity lies in connecting what matters to me with the help someone else needs. If being a parent is important to how I see myself, then helping another parent care for their child gives me a personal reason to care. My attention to my own values can become a route into their circumstance. The beneficiary gets helped, and I get to act on something I believe about myself.

This is how to deliver on the vague, empty request to make it “relevant” that is more than a blanket rule about emphasizing “me” or “we.”

We tested an outdoor-event ad among extroverts (you can know this for your file for 15 cents a name). The tailored version featured a crowd, energetic language and lines such as “the excitement never stops.” It beat the control overall and performed even better among mobile users.

A crowd might look like communal messaging when you’re classifying creative in a spreadsheet. To an extrovert, it looks like a great Saturday. The personal connection comes from matching the message to the person, including when that person happens to enjoy being surrounded by other people.

That gives you a specific test to run. Compare an appeal built around a known audience value or personality trait with your usual message, and randomly split the versions within mobile and desktop audiences. Does the matched message improve giving, and is that improvement greater on mobile? Comparing the effects within each device group will tell you more than simply comparing mobile and desktop response rates.

The useful question is how well the appeal connects the donor’s reasons for caring with the opportunity to help. A phone may make that connection especially consequential. “Mobile optimized” should describe the message as well as the page.

Kevin