6 Questions To Optimize Your Online Fundraising

Does my donation page give donors opportunities to leave the page? 

Donors are already inundated with their own distractions online: news constantly flows, social media constantly updates. Don’t let your donation page contribute to the clutter. Give your donors a clear path to completing a donation with no exit links, menus or other distractors, like flashing images, a hard-to-find donate button, your donation form at the bottom of the page—or worse—on a third-party page. 

Does my donation page ensure security and credibility? 

Donors need assurances that they’re supporting a worthy cause and doing so in a secure online manner.  

• For security, make sure your page contains recognizable icons or badges indicating that the payment processor is legitimate and offers protection for the donation (and consequently, the donor). Does the page URL contain an “s” (https)? That “s” stands for secure and means all communications between their browser and your website are encrypted. 
• For credibility, include logos or quotes from advocates for your cause. People like people, so using actual faces to back up your cause helps boost believability. 
   

Does my donation page give donors suggested amounts? 

Your donors have decided to give a gift, which is wonderful, but deciding how much to give is a micro-distraction. Is $10 too little?  -Or- I had $80 in mind but $75 is the nearest option. There’s evidence that picking from a gift array helps ease the distraction and increases donation amounts. 

But don’t set limits on how much donors can give – always have an “Other” choice. And for next-level gift arrays, automated marketing tools can adjust gift arrays that start just above each donor’s last donation, planting the suggestion to grow their generosity. 

Does my donation page have a strong value proposition?  

A value proposition is a promise of value. It’s not “donate” or “help our cause.” It’s the story that give your donors a strong personal reason to take action on your behalf. Always communicate how lives will be transformed by the donor’s gift. Place your value proposition before your donation form and crown it with a strong headline to encourage donors to read on.   

Does my donation page have a clear, urgent call to action? 

Calls to action remind your donors what the goal is (giving), where to accomplish this (here) and when (now). An actionable, strongly worded CTA above the donation icons on your platform conveys all of these. “Make your gift now!” (versus “Submit donation”) is a simple, compelling directive for your donors.  

Does my donation page work on a mobile device? 

In the age where phones are fused to palms, your platform MUST integrate with mobile. Mobile friendly sites reduce the amount of time donors spend trying to decipher your messages through zooming and scrolling. A helpful hint: the ideal width for reading on mobile is 320 pixels. 

What did you learn? 

Finding what works best for your organization will be a process of trial and error as you test and optimize each component of your donation experience. Partnering with a solid platform like iDonate takes much of the stress and guesswork out of this process.