Make your donation page work for you
Your nonprofit has enabled online giving, and you have started linking to your donation page in every communication and social media post, so everyone is fully aware of how to support your mission.
Good for you! But your job isn’t over, because simply having a donation page does not guarantee people are going to visit it. And when people do visit it, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to give—and give generously.
The following are some ways for you to make the most of your donation page:
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Pre-select donation amounts – Provide your donors with suggested giving levels, such as $25, $50, $100 and $250. You may consider tying each of these donation levels to a specific part of your mission. For example, $25 could pay for planting a tree, $50 could feed a family of four for a week, and $250 could send a child to summer camp.
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Carefully select your background image – Visuals matter, and your central image should reflect your mission and how the money raised supports your organization. The best fundraising page images evoke emotion in viewers, which makes them more likely to donate.
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Ask for recurring donations – A one-time donation is a gift—a recurring one is a step towards the organization’s sustainability. Use a pop-up box to ask donors whether they want their donation to be recurring., Make it convenient for them with the option to have it pulled automatically from their bank account or debit/credit card on a regular basis.
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Offer different payment options – The more options you provide, the more likely donors are to fund your mission. In addition to credit cards, consider adding options for Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and bank transfers.
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Give donors the option of covering processing fees – Most third-party vendors charge a fee between 3% and 6% for online transactions. This can add up—and eat into your dollars raised. Give donors the choice of covering those fees so the rest of their donation can go directly to you.
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Make sure you are optimizing for mobile devices – A large percentage of your potential donors are probably viewing your page from a mobile device. Use mobile-responsive design templates and minimize image sizes to make sure your page looks good on mobile devices. Before you go live, enlist help from supporters who have different types of devices to test the page.
While evaluating your donation page, be sure to consider your systems and controls relating to data security. A great donation page can make a huge financial impact for your organization. Make the most of this opportunity.
To access additional information, resources, tips and more for nonprofit and human services organizations, visit blog.churchmutual.com/NPHS.
