Donors choose to give for so many reasons, and, I’ll be honest, the majority of those reasons have little to do with your website.
That said, there are some really easy ways to make your site more donor-friendly that may help to convert a potential donor into a donor for the first (or a repeat) time.
Here are five things you can do (or check on) right now to see if your organization’s website is as easy-to-use and donor-friendly as possible.
Large Donation button on every page
Search engines can bring people to any page on your site, not to mention social media shares, links in your email blasts or text messages… and you never know for sure what content it going to trigger the impulse to make a donation.
Make it easy and straightforward to find your donation page.
The last thing you want is for a donor to give up because they can’t figure out how to give.
What we want is:
- I’d like to donate.
- *Clicks on giant button*
- *Makes donation*
And one more thing… Now’s not the time to be clever about naming your buttons. Again, straightforward is the way to go—Give Now or Support Us or Make a Donation are best.
Keep Donors on Your Site
Custom-branded donation pages can help raise up to
6x as much money!
Don’t force site visitors to leave your site to make a donation.
Why? A jarring change in the look and feel of the site you’re browsing can be enough to make you wonder if something is wrong. Imagine that you’re shopping online and the checkout page opens in a new window and looks completely different from the site you’ve been shopping. Now instead of Amazon.com, your address bar says storecheckout.com.
Suspicious? I would be.
A smooth, unbroken procedure that feels seamless from the rest of your site is the best way to encourage someone who has had the impulse to give to follow through and complete the process.
Get your logo and other branded graphics and colors onto your donation page.
According to NPSource, custom-branded donation pages on a nonprofit’s website can help raise up to six times as much money on average.
If you can embed your secure online donation form on a page of your site, do it. If you can’t, make sure to be clear with your donors that they’re leaving your site to donate via [insert your donation software/app name here].
Suggested Amounts & Recurring Giving
Keep it simple and straightforward. Remember the process we’re aiming for:
- I’d like to donate.
- *Clicks on giant button*
- *Makes donation*
Donors usually have a general number or a range in mind when they begin the donation process, but you can make their decision even simpler with a few simple additions or changes:
- Determine suggested donation amounts and note what types of things the donor could be supporting at that level.
e.g. $25 covers the cost of things like a box of diapers for a family in need or $50/month can provide life-saving medication for without insurance.
- Pre-select the donation amount you want your donors to choose.
- Include an automatic recurring giving option, pre-selected, so donors are encouraged to consider making their donation recur monthly.
As always, be sure to use open-ended language to avoid having to earmark donations for specific items, which can cause a lot of bookkeeping headaches down the line… especially if you end up with, say, 150 x $25 donations for diapers when what you urgently need is a new transmission for your organization’s van.
Optimize for Mobile Giving
Mobile giving is a growth area for nonprofits, and data is a bit “all over the place” right now. Here’s what we know:
- As of 2023, the average gift made on desktop devices is $137; for mobile users, the average gift is $83 [Source].
- A third of all online donations were made on a mobile device in 2023 [Source].
- 81% of all emails are read on a mobile device [Source].
- By incorporating mobile-responsive design to their websites, nonprofits can increase their donations by 126% on average [Source].
- 75% of young donors are turned off by out-of-date websites [Source].
When you add it all up, it’s easy to see that nonprofits need an up-to-date site to reach younger donors, and for many people that means a mobile site.
If you’re sending emails with donation links and your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re losing the chance to connect with those who impulsively click the “give now” button in your email from their smart phones.
Highlight Information about other ways to give
When a user is actively viewing your website, they are at their peak interest in your mission and organization. Take advantage of that focus by encouraging additional engagement and support.
Your site should include information about other kinds of giving beyond a one-time or monthly donation.
For example:
- in-kind donations of goods or services
- sponsorships
- legacy and planned giving
By making is simple for someone to find out the ways they can support your in large ways, you greatly increase the likelihood that they’ll take advantage of those opportunities. If they don’t know that you’re looking for legacy giving, they may not think to add your organization as a beneficiary in their Will.
NOTE: I’d also recommend including these links on the Success/Thank You page that appears after a donation is made and in the Thank You email. These are all small pieces of what should be a specific and detailed donor on-boarding process.
Keeping your website up-to-date with current web trends and new conventions can be time-consuming if it’s not your area of expertise. Lucky for you, you don’t have to spend time Googling, doing the research, and stressing your way through your website’s content management system if you connect with an expert partner who can do all the learning, strategy, and implementation for you.
Connect with us to learn more about how Lime Creative can help with nonprofit website management in Lancaster, PA and worldwide!
Now available at Amazon! Check out my ebook How to Choose the Right Graphic Designer for Your Nonprofit for practical tips to help you and your team to craft the creative team that your organization needs to thrive!
