Your nonprofit’s donation page is a powerful tool. However, it needs to be well-designed and accessible to encourage donors to give. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on essential funds that could be used to advance your nonprofit’s mission.
An effective donation page can help your organization attract new supporters and establish a reliable revenue stream through recurring gifts. In addition, a well-designed giving page can help donors feel more connected to your mission, making them feel inclined to give again. These donors can even turn into loyal volunteers, helping you host successful events and carry out your nonprofit’s services.
Your online fundraising strategy depends on having a strong giving page, so it’s critical that you give donors the most engaging, user-friendly experience possible when they navigate to your donation page. To develop a giving page that converts site visitors into loyal donors, incorporate these tips:
- Brand your donation page.
- Feature an impact story.
- Add engaging visuals.
- Make it accessible.
- Incorporate matching gifts.
- Optimize for mobile devices.
- Offer flexible giving options.
These best practices can help organizations of any size grow their revenue and supporter base. Let’s begin.
1. Brand your donation page.
To strengthen your nonprofit branding strategy, you’ll need a donation page that’s unique to your organization. This means that it should feature custom elements so donors know that this donation page belongs to your nonprofit.
There are many benefits to branding your nonprofit’s donation page, including:
- Increased brand visibility. Brand recognition can help improve your nonprofit’s reach. By branding your donation page, people will become more familiar with your nonprofit’s brand and feel more inclined to support your organization.
- Boosts your organization’s credibility. A branded donation page looks professional and makes your nonprofit more trustworthy. People will feel confident giving to your nonprofit, knowing that their donations are going to a reputable cause.
- Makes your giving page more engaging. A generic giving page can make donors feel disconnected from your nonprofit, even if the funds would be going towards a great cause. Instead, bring life to your donation page so donors will read through the prompts and take the time to give to your nonprofit.
To brand your donation page, use font(s), colors, and a page theme that is consistent with the rest of your website and marketing materials. You should also feature your logo prominently on the page to boost brand awareness and make your page stand out.
2. Feature an impact story.
Storytelling is a great way to help potential donors connect with your mission. Take this opportunity to spotlight someone that your nonprofit has directly benefited. This will help donors see the tangible impact of your nonprofit and how their funds will be used. As a result, they’ll trust your organization more and want to be part of the solution.
For example, if you’re an animal welfare organization, you could feature an animal that your nonprofit saved. Create a complete story arc that explains the animal’s situation before your nonprofit stepped in, how your nonprofit helped it, and its improved life after receiving support. Your story should appeal to donors’ emotions so they’ll become more passionate about your cause and want to give.
Make sure to end your story with a strong call to action. Explain to your audience the value of donating, and aim to create a sense of urgency to inspire supporters to donate the moment they see your call of action. For example, you could say “Donate now to save more lives.” This will further incentivize visitors to take action immediately, earning your nonprofit more donations.
3. Add engaging visuals.
To grab users’ attention and break up large chunks of text, use engaging pictures and videos. Not only will this help your donation page look better, but it will make donors feel more connected to your mission.
Include pictures and videos that highlight your organization’s impact. For example, you could add pictures of your volunteers at work or photos of a person that benefitted from your nonprofit’s services to go along with your impact story. In addition to photos, you can also use graphic design to create stylized images, banners, and other web design elements that showcase your brand.
Videos also give your nonprofit a lot of flexibility to showcase your organization in action, such as by featuring an interview with someone your nonprofit has impacted or even a clip of a past event. Plus, videos can be a great way to avoid having too much text on your donation page. Instead of writing about your organization’s impact, allow people in your organization to speak about it.
4. Make it accessible.
Cater to your audience by making your page as user-friendly as possible! By incorporating accessibility features, more people can engage with your website and complete your donation page without any obstacles.
Here are some accessibility tools your donation page should have to create a seamless donation experience:
- Accessibility widget. Allow users with different abilities to easily adjust your content to their needs. With an accessibility widget, users can conveniently adjust the font size, font color, and page color.
- Alt text and transcripts. Provide text descriptions of every photo you include so viewers that can’t see the images can still understand what they’re conveying. For videos, provide a transcript of the audio.
- Legible font style, size, and color. Your text and donation prompts should be easy to read. If they’re not, donors may have a difficult time filling out your donation page. Choose a text color that will stand out and a font size that shows up clearly on the screen. Additionally, the font should be simple; this way donors will be able to easily digest the information.
To make your page even more accessible, explore the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). A webpage that’s WCAG compliant is more user-friendly and more likely to rank in Google’s search engine results, helping your nonprofit expand its reach.
5. Incorporate a matching gifts tool.
Did you know that there’s an easy way to double (or even triple) your donors’ contributions? A matching gifts database is an online donation tool that allows donors to easily look up if their place of employment will match their donations. All donors will need to do is enter their employer’s name in the search field, and, if they’re eligible, they’ll be automatically paired with their employer’s matching gift application form.
By embedding a matching gifts tool into your donation page, eligible donors will feel inclined to give more since they’ll be able to make an even bigger impact. Plus, they’ll be more likely to give again in the future knowing that their donation will make a difference.
Make sure to tell your donors all about your matching gifts tool and give them directions on how to look up their eligibility. Share this information on relevant communication channels (email, text, social media, etc.) to get the word out so you can engage donors to give more and strengthen your online fundraising strategy.
6. Optimize for mobile devices.
A well-designed donation page will be accessible across all devices, from large computers to phones as small as the palm of your hand! There are many benefits to optimizing your giving page for mobile devices. According to 360MatchPro’s fundraising statistics, donation pages that are mobile friendly yield 34% more donations than those that aren’t.
To amp up your fundraising strategy and expand your reach to mobile users, make sure your donation page automatically formats to any size screen. This means that text and images should show up at an appropriate size and all prompts should be easy to fill out.
Another great way to make your donation page more user-friendly for mobile users is by using text-to-give. A text-to-give platform allows your nonprofit to create a text-to-give phone number. From there, donors can text a unique code to the number and will be sent back a link to your mobile-friendly donation page. Your nonprofit can also send texts directly to your supporters about upcoming fundraising campaigns to boost excitement and get more people to donate.
7. Offer flexible giving options.
You can expand your donor base by offering giving options beyond credit and debit cards. With more giving options, more people will be able to give, leading to more revenue for your nonprofit.
For example, you can accept popular payment applications like Venmo, PayPal, and Zelle. This opens up your audience significantly. Plus, it can be easier for donors to type in a Venmo handle rather than taking out their credit card and entering their banking information.
Along with offering more payment methods, you can make the donation experience more convenient by setting up monthly giving. According to Donately, monthly giving is a type of recurring giving in which a specific amount is taken out of a donor’s bank account each month and given to your nonprofit.
Frequent givers won’t have to worry about filling out your donation page every month, and can adjust their giving amount and credit card information as needed. To set up your monthly giving program, you’ll need a recurring billing software solution that will automatically transfer the donations to your nonprofit on a routine basis. Your organization can feel confident that it will safely get its funds, and donors will trust your nonprofit more knowing that their billing information is secure.
A well-designed donation page can strengthen your fundraising strategy and attract more supporters to your organization. Keep your audience in mind and make your giving page user-friendly and compelling enough to turn site visitors into donors.
Don’t be afraid to get creative and think outside the box! Your donation page should be exciting and a great representation of your organization. This way, donors will feel more connected to your organization and will support your nonprofit for years to come. Good luck!
Author: Jacob Spencer, Customer Success / Account Manager
I strive to make every step of our customer journey as enjoyable as possible. My goal is to turn everyone that trusts Donately into a raving fan! Raising funds can be daunting, but we know that with the right tools, it can and should be easy.
Throughout my career, I’ve been able to help sales and success teams tackle new markets, grow and expand.
Leading with empathy, listening to actually solve problems, and remembering that we are all human are the key elements to growing any business in a meaningful way.
When I’m not working you can find me spending time with my wife, 2 boys and our Border Collie, Abbie. Family>Everything.