Six Quick and Easy Tips for Improving Your Nonprofit’s Donation Form
Improving fundraising is always a hot topic for nonprofits. Of course, there are many approaches that can help to boost fundraising – too many to include in one article. But one thing that can be easily overlooked is optimizing the donation form on your organization’s website.
Once people make it to your donation form, they’re considering making a donation. The donation form is your opportunity to encourage site visitors to follow through on their gifts and maybe even give more.
You can spend a great deal of time optimizing your donation form, but you don’t have to. There are some quick ways that you can improve your donation form to provide a better experience for donors and help ensure donors complete the gift.
Six easy tips for improving your nonprofit’s donation form
Here are six quick and easy ways to improve your nonprofit’s donation form:
- Keep it simple.
No one likes to complete a long form. The more questions you ask, the more time it will take to complete the form, and the more likely you’ll be to turn off potential donors.So, ask for only the essential information you need to complete the transaction. Review your donation form and consider any questions and form fields you might be able to remove from the form to simplify it.
- Help donors understand the impact of their gifts.
You hope that once people make it to your donation form, they know something about your nonprofit’s mission and the great work you do. However, it can help to give donors concrete examples of the impact their donations can make.Consider associating donation levels with what the funds will provide for your organization. For instance, let supporters know that their donation can help feed a family of four or send a child to school for a year. This approach is more compelling than simply asking for a specific amount of money.
- Ask donors to cover transaction fees.
When a person donates online, you’re typically charged a transaction fee by your payment processor – effectively reducing the money you receive by some percentage. Recapture some of those lost funds by including an option for donors to cover the cost of transaction fees.A study by FundraiseUp looked into the impact of asking donors to cover transaction fees. Among other findings, the study indicated that, overall, donors who cover the transaction costs on their first donation are 32% more likely to do so on subsequent donations.
- Offer multiple payment options.
The Why America Gives report by Classy found that donors expect more payment options. The report showed that 20% of donors reconsidered donating when a nonprofit didn’t include their preferred payment option.Be sure to offer a range of payment options to allow members to pay with their preferred method. For example, offer options such as:
- Amazon Pay
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Credit card payment
- PayPal
- Venmo
- Encourage recurring gifts.
Research has shown that monthly donors give more than one-time donors. So, don’t pass up the chance to give donors an option to make their gift a recurring gift, with payments charged automatically to their credit cards.
One of our clients, Atlanta Community Food Bank, has a great
example of a donation page that implements the tips in this article.
- Evaluate and test your donation form.
Before and after you make changes to your donation form, be sure to review and test it thoroughly. Make sure the form:- Reflects the look and feel of your nonprofit’s brand
- Is easy to complete
- Looks good and works well on desktop and mobile devices as well as a variety of web browsers
- Processes donations correctly
You don’t always have to employ complex methods to improve fundraising for your nonprofit. A few easy tweaks to your donation page can deliver a better donor experience that drives results.
Learn more about how to improve your donation page.
Read the guide, 10 Ways to Tweak Your Donation Page to Boost Results
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by Nicole Tucker, Account Manager, Cathexis Partners
For over 15 years, Nicole has worked with nonprofits to help them use technology to raise funds and spread the word about their missions.
