Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

6 Top Features of a Successful Online Donation Page

by Leave a Comment

A guest post from Abby Jarvis at Qgiv

If you had asked a nonprofit twenty-five years ago how they asked for donations, they likely would have responded with some combination of in-person appeals, direct mail solicitation, phone donations, and fundraising events.

Today, many of those traditional methods are alive and well but have been joined by new online approaches.Online has been a growing trend due to convenience—donors can give on the go without digging in their pockets for cash or a check.

But now, online fundraising is more than just convenient—it’s critical. In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, online options like text-to-give, crowdfunding, and virtual events are the safest ways to engage with supporters.

These digital strategies all converge in one place: your nonprofit’s website. If your donation page is confusing, too long, or—worse—broken, visitors will abandon the page before making a donation. In order to succeed with your virtual fundraising campaigns, you must create a well-designed and functional donation page. 

We’re going to take a look at some of the key components that every great online donation page should have. We’ll break down these six key characteristics that will help your nonprofit’s online donation page stand out and raise more:

  1. Make your donation page easy to find.
  2. Keep the clutter out.
  3. Offer different giving amounts.
  4. Keep it short and sweet.
  5. Offer recurring donations.
  6. Include social media info.

Let’s jump in!

1. Make your donation page easy to find.

This tip relates more to your overall website than to the content of the donation page itself. But clear and intuitive navigation is an important component your nonprofit absolutely cannot afford to overlook.

Imagine this scenario: a potential donor finds themselves on your nonprofit’s blog, sifting through articles you’ve posted over the past few years. One story in particular tugs at their heartstrings, and they feel moved to give to your cause.

But they’re months back in your archive, and you don’t have calls to action on any of your posts. Instead, the user ends up clicking back and forth several times to different pages, looking for a way to give.

They eventually give up because your donation page wasn’t easy to locate.

The issue could have been easily solved had you included a link to the donation form in any (or all) of the following ways:

  • Eye-catching call to action graphics
  • Throughout blog posts
  • At the footer of your website
  • In a prominent location on your navigation menu (Pro tip: make it a contrasting color that makes it even easier to find!)
  • On your website’s homepage

Making your donation page easy to locate is the first step in receiving more online donations.

2. Keep the clutter out.

Your donation page should be free of distractions and links that might lead users away from your form before they complete the donation process.

Once you have a potential donor on your page, you want to make sure they stay there for a while. 

This is not the place to link to blog content or embed a full-screen video about your nonprofit’s mission. You can still include images and text that enhance your donation page, but don’t push donors away before they have a chance to finish their donation! As this guide to digital fundraising discusses, an overwhelming number of images can detract and distract from the main content.

For an example of a donation page that uses content to drive donations rather than distract, see what Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern New Jersey does:

BBBS NJ donation form

The BBBS of Northern New Jersey explains to donors where their donations are going and reminds them that the form is secure. The text and image at the top of their donation form adds to the giving experience and doesn’t confuse or distract donors.

Adding a single, emotional image and compelling copy at the top of your donation page will remind donors of why they’re giving in the first place.

Any more than that, and you run the risk of leading donors away from the donation form.

3. Offer different giving amounts.

When you give donors the chance to choose from a buffet of giving suggestions, your nonprofit ends up receiving higher donation amounts over time. But why?

To answer that question, let’s consider two scenarios:

  1. Supporters land on a donation page with an empty field next to “Donation Amount.”
  2. Supporters land on a donation page with multiple suggested giving levels, for instance, between $25 and $250.

On the first donation page, a donor might give $20. On the second, they may decide to opt for the $25 gift because it’s an easy choice. The options that have been laid out for them can lead to a more generous donation.

Of course, you should always include an “Other” field where donors can fill in their own amount. But offering different giving levels on your online donation form can inspire donors to give larger contributions, especially if the suggested amounts are slightly higher than their original gift.

You can also use the suggested donation amounts to illustrate the impact of the donation. This improves transparency and creates a stronger emotional connection between the donor and your mission—hopefully yielding a larger donation!

For instance, this form from Styles4Kidz helps donors visualize what each donation will accomplish:

donation form

By showing donors examples of what their donations will go toward, your nonprofit is able to reassure them that their contributions aren’t just going in a general fund. They also may choose a higher giving level when they can see the tangible difference their donation can make!

Morweb’s guide to donation page design also advises listing other ways to contribute, such as volunteer opportunities, event registration information, or matching gift information.

4. Keep it short and sweet.

Donors don’t want to fill out a donation form that requires them to give an overwhelming amount of information.

And, while your nonprofit has to collect some information, you should keep the fields that donors have to fill out to a minimum. Get the donor’s name, contact information, and payment details, but leave things like communication preferences for another time.

This way, your supporters don’t get irritated halfway through the donation form and leave in a huff. Plus, they won’t have an excuse to put off making a donation for when they have more time.

After all, fundraisers know that “later” often never comes!

In general, donor conversion drops slightly if a form includes even one additional mandatory field. Conversion rates drop sharply if there are two or more additional mandatory fields. Even making the fields optional doesn’t make a huge difference on the number of donors completing their gift.

Simpler is better.

The less information donors are required to give out during the donation process, the more likely they’ll be to make it to the final step.

5. Offer recurring donations.

In the fast-paced world we live in, it’s easy to forget your clothes at the dry cleaners, to feed the dog, or to give your monthly gift to a nonprofit. You can help donors with one of those tasks (and no, it isn’t  swinging by the cleaners or feeding Fido).

Offer a recurring donations option on your online donation page to encourage supporters to give a monthly, quarterly, or yearly gift without ever having to revisit your donation form. 

According to Qgiv’s guide to donor retention, nearly 70% of donors only make one-time gifts. Securing regular support right from your donation page can help decrease this donor attrition rate and give you more reliable revenue streams.

6. Encourage social sharing.

You’ve probably already integrated social media into your overall online fundraising campaign, but don’t skip the opportunity to add it into your donation page, too!

By adding social media sharing buttons on your donation form, you can give your donors the chance to brag on themselves and give your nonprofit some good press at the same time.

These sharing capabilities won’t reveal any personal information about the donation itself, but they do encourage your donors to spread the word about their contribution in general, and perhaps persuade others to give to your cause.

Plus, if supporters tag your organization, it will be easier for you to re-share their posts as an appreciation tactic. Publicly honoring your donors (with their consent) is a great way to show gratitude.

 

Author: Abby Jarvis

Abby Jarvis QgivAbby Jarvis is the Nonprofit Education Manager for Qgiv, an online fundraising service provider. Qgiv offers industry-leading online giving and peer to peer fundraising tools for nonprofit, faith-based, and political organizations of all sizes.

When she’s not working at Qgiv, Abby can usually be found writing for local magazines, catching up on her favorite blogs, or binge-watching sci-fi shows on Netflix.

Donor Stewardship from a Distance: 3 Tips for Communicating

by Leave a Comment

A guest post by Carl Diesling of DNL OmniMedia

How are you doing stewardship for your donors during Covid-19?

Loyal, supportive donors can see your organization through even the bleakest of crises. However, many nonprofits were simply not prepared with enough loyal donors to outlast the fundraising challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thankfully, it’s not too late to build those strong connections with your nonprofit’s donors. But, to do so, you’ll have to optimize your communications strategy.

At DNL OmniMedia, our team specializes in nonprofit marketing and technology consulting. From our experience working with nonprofits throughout this year, we’ve collected three tips that we’ve found valuable for mid-sized nonprofits looking to continue stewarding donors while social distancing:

  1. Communicate Regularly
  2. Use Multiple Channels
  3. Emphasize Impact

During times of uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to have strong donor stewardship tactics in place. Read on for our top three tips to stay in touch with your supporters.

1. Communicate Regularly

Take a close look at your nonprofit’s current communications strategy. Which dates do you have highlighted as key times to communicate? You likely highlighted the time leading up to key giving days, leading up to fundraising events, and the end of the year.

As a nonprofit communications director, you send out fundraising letters, coordinate event marketing, and follow up with thank-yous. However, if you’re only communicating around the dates when you have a big event going on, you’re missing out on key opportunities to connect!

Our first tip for stewarding donors from a distance is to communicate regularly throughout the crisis. Your donors shouldn’t just hear from you when you’re seeking something from them.

During times of crisis, the needs of your nonprofit and your response to the crisis change every day. Staying in touch during this fluidity is key to drawing supporters closer to your organization.

According to Dennis Fischman of Communicate! Consulting, some tips to stay in touch are:

  • Post regularly to your website and social media profiles.
  • Align your communications with the current events that your donors are interested in.
  • Tie your communications to direct action.

A few additional communications in the time between your main outreach efforts can go a long way.

2. Use Multiple Channels

In recent years, we’ve seen the fundraising landscape diversify. There is a decent chance your nonprofit is now seeking donations from five unique generations of givers— all the way from the Matures to Gen Z. Just as each may have different giving preferences, they will have unique communication preferences as well.

Our second tip is to use multiple communication channels to reach all of your donors.

By leveraging a variety of platforms, you’re more likely to reach a representative sample of your entire donor base. Consider using the following channels:

  • Website: This is often the first place a supporter seeks information about your nonprofit. In addition to providing giving information, share updates about your crisis response efforts and ways to connect (such as links to follow your organization on social media).
  • Direct Mail: Don’t discount the power of direct mail to reach supporters. According to Fundraising Letters, this is one of the most consistently effective ways to connect with a donor.
  • Social Networks: There’s a decent chance you have a wide age range of supporters connecting via social networks. This channel is particularly valuable for creating a two-way conversation with donors.
  • Mobile Apps: There are now mobile apps created to meet specific nonprofit needs, such as mobile advocacy apps. When it comes to communicating with convenience, mobile apps are a great tool to engage tech-savvy supporters.

Structuring your communications in this way is called multichannel marketing. When it comes to multichannel communications, be sure to create a comprehensive strategy where the channels work in sync, to structure messages to best fit the communication channel, and focus on the channels most popular with your audience.

With a multichannel communication strategy, you’re more likely to make multiple impressions on your supporters. As it can take up to 18-20 impressions to connect with a first-time supporter, multichannel efforts can be instrumental to successful stewardship during times of separation!

3. Emphasize Impact

When so much of the future feels out of anyone’s control, what your donors seek most is validation that the efforts they are taking are having a positive impact.

Our final tip is to emphasize your donors’ impact.

Donors give, both their time and resources, because they want to make a difference. This means that the best thank you, the one that will continue stewarding donors, will showcase donor impact.

Consider the following ways you can emphasize donor impact in your communications:

  • Sharing photos of volunteers giving their time on social media
  • Sending nonprofit email marketing communications with specific impact data
  • Sharing testimonials from constituents in blog posts on your website

The list can go on! But the key in each communication is to get specific. Let’s look at an example:

“In this year’s technology drive, you raised $500,000 to benefit elementary education. With this, X tablets were purchased for kindergarteners participating in distance learning this year.”

This isn’t a time to brag on the impact of your nonprofit! Highlight the direct correlation between the donors’ support and the impact toward your cause to make the message more personal and persuasive.

When you’re unable to host in-person events or meetings with major donors, you may struggle to steward donors into impactful, long-term support of your organization. With these tips, you’ll be communicating successfully despite the challenging circumstances.

Carl Diesing DNLCarl Diesing, Managing Director – Carl co-founded DNL OmniMedia in 2006 and has grown the team to accommodate clients with on-going web development projects. Together DNL OmniMedia has worked with over 100 organizations to assist them with accomplishing their online goals.

As Managing Director of DNL OmniMedia, Carl works with nonprofits and their technology to foster fundraising, create awareness, cure disease, and solve social issues. Carl lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife Sarah and their two children Charlie and Evelyn.

Get to Know Your Donors: 4 Tips

by Leave a Comment

A guest post from Sarah Tedesco of DonorSearch

donors at the center

Donors at the heart

Each year, you and your fundraising team work hard to raise money for your cause and make a meaningful impact on your mission.

In the center of all your hard work are your donors, the people who genuinely believe in your cause and take the time and action to support your nonprofit.

It’s more cost-effective and beneficial to retain donors than acquire new donors, so focus your efforts on developing those current donor relationships. And the right tools can help.

Even though fundraisers are now equipped with amazing tools, you still have to learn the best ways to use these modern solutions to build truly authentic relationships. The better you know your donors, the stronger your relationships will be.

In this guide, you’ll be learning about the best ways to get to know your donors and the tools you can use to truly understand why donors give to your organization. Consider these top tips:

  1. Ask donors for their preferences.
  2. Record all donor data.
  3. Invest in a prospect research tool.
  4. Incorporate donor data into marketing initiatives.

1. Ask donors for their preferences.

In order to foster relationships with donors who continuously support your cause, it’s good practice to determine their engagement preferences at the start. This can be as simple as asking them to check off a box in your donation forms!

The more personal and targeted your fundraising engagements are, the better your donors will respond to your outreach efforts. For instance, say a donor doesn’t want any direct mail sent to their home address. Once you know this preference, the worst thing that you can do is to continue sending materials and physical letters. They’ll just get annoyed with the barrage of mail and start to ignore your engagements.

Ask your donors’ preferences on your online donation form. This way, you can record these preferences in their donor profiles right off the bat. It’s also a good idea to let them change their preference as your engagement continues. You can include a link in your email signatures for easy access.

Make sure you keep track of these preferences:

  • Do your donors want to receive email communications, direct mail, mobile text messaging, or all?
  • How often do your donors want updates? Do they want to subscribe to your newsletter?
  • What kind of communications do they want to receive? Event invitations, volunteer opportunities, or donation request letters?
  • If they opted to give a recurring donation, what is their preferred payment preference?

Once you actively make an effort to meet your donors’ preferences, it’s more likely that they’ll stick around and your retention rates won’t stagger. The best place to keep track of all these preferences is your donor database.

2. Record all donor data.

To truly reach your donors and build life-long bonds, ensure that you’re recording all the important donor data. This will depend on your constituent relationship management (CRM) system, also known as your donor database. 

Your CRM system should be recording every donor engagement and all key donor metrics in relation to your nonprofit organization. This means every email sent, every donation given, and each fundraising event ticket sold.

Investing in a capable CRM system is crucial in order to get a comprehensive view of your donors. Once you know their current relationship with your nonprofit, you can better ascertain the ways to improve your future engagement strategies. For example, if you notice that a lot of your donors are active on social media, maybe consider investing more time in that engagement channel.

How do you know if your CRM is doing the best it can for your nonprofit fundraising? Consider its integration capabilities. When the tools within your entire fundraising system are integrated with your CRM, you ensure that your donor data is centralized and accurate. Even as actions and engagements are happening in real-time, the information seamlessly flows into your CRM.

Make sure you’re receiving data from these key fundraising tools:

  • Online donation tool. Ensure your CRM captures the donor name, key financial information, donation amount, and any other information that was required in your form.
  • Event registration tool. If your nonprofit often hosts events, ensure that your CRM records data regarding event attendance, registration level, payment preference, and more.
  • Email marketing tool. Make sure you have all the essential information to communicate effectively with your donors. For example, as soon as a donor makes a gift, your CRM should keep track of their email and send them an appreciation email thanking them for their contribution with that donor’s name and donation amount. Additionally, track which emails are opened and which are ignored to know which engagements are working.

3. Invest in a prospect research tool.

Prospect research is a fundraising strategy that involves screening your donor database to identify high-impact donors. 

While it’s possible that prospect research can be done manually and in-house, the efforts and resources your staff will use up might not be worth it. Many modern fundraisers turn to a digital solution to help. With a capable prospect research tool, you can effectively screen your donors against the nation’s largest philanthropic databases.

To determine which of your supporters are likely to be high impact donors, your prospect research tool is looking out for wealth markers and philanthropic indicators:

  • Wealth markers provide a clue about your donors’ capacity to give. Your prospect research tool is looking at your donors’ real estate ownerships, stock ownerships, and business affiliations.
  • Philanthropic indicators help determine how charitable your donors are and their affinity to give. Your prospect research tool is looking at your donors’ past giving, political giving, and other nonprofit involvement.

Your prospect research tool is great at highlighting donor metrics that you can incorporate into targeted and high-impact marketing initiatives. Donors with both wealth markers and philanthropic indicators are likely to want to give and have the means to give. Read on to learn how you can leverage this information to increase fundraising.

4. Incorporate donor data into marketing initiatives.

Major gifts make up a large percentage of your revenue, with 76% of yearly giving coming from only 4% of donors. Because your prospect research tool is screening for both a donor’s affinity to give and capacity to give, this tool can accurately highlight those who might become major donors.

Identifying your major donor prospects doesn’t mean that they’re automatically going to make large gifts. You need to cultivate this relationship and set the stage for future giving. Your best bet is to segment these potential high-impact donors for targeted communications and other meaningful engagements. For instance, segment these donors and:

  • Give them event perks like early-bird registration or a discount code.
  • Consider writing a handwritten letter instead of an email for a more personal touch. Make sure to keep in mind their communication preferences!
  • Other non-ask communications like interesting nonprofit announcements, upcoming events, and volunteer opportunities.

Not only can your prospect research tool identify potential major donors, but it can also supplement other fundraising efforts.

Increase your corporate matching gifts.

Corporate matching gift programs are great opportunities for nonprofits, but are not taken advantage of as often as they should. Eligible donors can double or even triple their donations if they just submit a matching gift request. According to one study, an estimated $4-7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed per year.

Corporate matching gift programs aren’t as well known as other fundraising initiatives, so often donors don’t even know that they can increase their gift without giving any additional funds.

Using your prospect research tool and a corporate philanthropic database, screen each of your donor’s business affiliations. Then, send out specific matching gift letters to let them know of their eligibility! For a list of matching gift letter templates from a wide range of organizations, click here.

Target donor advised funds.

Another way you can leverage your prospect research data in smart ways is to look out for donor advised funds (DAFs). As stated in this DonorSearch flash class webinar, DAFs are the fastest growing form of philanthropy today.

A DAF account is a dedicated savings account for charity where an individual will deposit cash, stock, or other assets. However, the donor doesn’t choose a recipient right away and instead makes this decision later on.

Finding out one of your supporters has a DAF is an exciting opportunity for your nonprofit. The supporter has already dedicated these funds to charity, it’s just up to you to convince them that your organization is the right one.

Use your prospect research tool and highlight donors who might have DAFs by screening their wealth metrics. Segment those donors and start fostering those relationships to increase the likelihood of them choosing your nonprofit as their DAF recipient. Focus on non-ask communications so they know that this relationship isn’t purely based on them giving you money.

Getting to know your donors is one of the most important jobs for your fundraising team. After reading this guide, you now know how to effectively reach them and can genuinely develop those donor relationships for future engagement. Good luck!

Sarah TedescoSarah Tedesco is the Executive Vice President of DonorSearch, a prospect research and wealth screening company that focuses on proven philanthropy. Sarah is responsible for managing the production and customer support department concerning client contract fulfillment, increasing retention rate and customer satisfaction. She collaborates with other team members on a variety of issues including sales, marketing and product development ideas.

Yes, I’d like weekly email from Communicate!

Get more advice

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.