All that we have discussed earlier leads to the donation page. This is the moment of decision that will drive our ability to fundraise and complete our mission. Everything prior is to entice and convince people to visit our donation page. All that work will be for naught if your donation page doesn’t engage the visitor, is hard to understand, or takes too long to lock in the donation. The donation’s page’s job is to make it as easy as possible to make a donation and confirm the visitor’s desire to support the organization. You’ll need to focus on smart design and copy choices to increase engagement.
Creating the Funnel
Arrival
Goal
First, we need to make sure the donor realizes they’re in the right place. If they clicked on a button for a specific campaign or program, make sure that the donation page is specific to that campaign to minimize confusion. It should be easy for donors to confirm that this is the right page and the right campaign for them.
Tactics
Ensure that the headline and top of the page is matching the campaign that sent them to your page. Make the branding reflect continuity with the email or advertisement that sent them to the page. This is where developing a brand guide will be incredibly helpful for you to maintain constant imagery. Include trust badges such as nonprofit status, guidestar status, and security compliance certifications to help potential donors recognize that your page is safe and your nonprofit is not a scam. Finally, make sure the page is as easy to navigate as possible by removing navigation distractions.
Tactics:
Bounce Rate: percentage of visitors who leave your website after only looking at one page
Time to first interaction: the amount of time it takes for donors between loading the page for the page visitor to click on something or type something. The shorter the better.
Scroll Depth: how long your page is. Donation pages should be as short and effective as possible.
Decision
Goal
Now that the potential donor trusts the site, we have to help guide them towards a decision around funding. We have to help them pick an amount and a frequency of gift that makes sense for them and us as an organization.
Tactics
Ground giving amounts with impact framing that helps donors see what their gifts actually do. This will help them develop giving that connects with them and grounds the work. Make the default option a monthly recurring gift. More on this later, but recurring giving is way more effective for you as an organization, but also them as a donor. However, make the option to switch between recurring and singular gifts clear with a toggable button. Finally, most giving platforms offer the option for donors to cover the transaction fee. That ensures that the processing fee from the donation doesn’t come out of your gift and you maximize your donors intent.
Key Metrics:
Tier selection distributions: the amount of giving options that you provide for potential donors
Recurring giving opt-in rate: percentage of donors who choose to give recurring gifts
Average gift size: size of the gift
Form Completion
Goal
Now that the donor has made the decision of how much they want to give, we have to process the gift. The best way to do this is to minimize the friction in entering details. The more pages or clicks a user has to go through to complete the transaction, the higher the probability that they will not make it through the process.
Tactics
Ensure that you have the minimum amount of required fields possible. Provide as many giving possibilities as possible. Options such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Paypal increases the ease for people to give donations. Use giving platforms that offer address autocomplete so that donors can enter in their addresses with ease. Utilize inline validation so that donors can see incorrect entries in real time rather than getting a bounceback after the form submission to reduce frustration.
Key Metrics
Form Completion Rate: percentage of people who finish the donation form
Field Level Abandonment: what field of the form do people stop filling the form out at
Payment Method Mix: what giving platforms and payment methods receive the most donations
Confirmation
Goal
The donor has now committed and made a donation. We must now reinforce that the donation was a good decision, acknowledge it, and move them through the door into being a supporter of the organization.
Tactics
Create personalized thank-you pages so that each donor (especially major donors) feels recognized and special. Immediately provide a receipt email that gives them access to any information they may need for tax purposes and shows a level of efficiency from your organization. Give the option for donors to share or refer their donation with friends and family or on social media. While they are still engaged with your organization, they will have high levels of affinity and be willing to share with their networks before the connection cools off. Finally, provide a suggested next step. Whether it’s subscribing, volunteering, following, or sharing more information, don’t let the donation be your last step of engagement. Immediately start the engagement process.
Key Metrics
Share Rate: the percentage of donors that share with their networks
Email open on receipt: percentage of emails that are opened after donation
Stewardship
Goal
Donors have made their first donation. Now it’s time to ensure that they stay with your organization long term. Being able to steward donors is what keeps them engaged with your organization for years to come and develop their giving.
Tactics
Ensure that your organization sends day one thank you letters from leadership to major donors thanking them for their gift. Continue to build relationships with donors by providing a thirty day impact report to donors that shows them what their gifts have gone towards. On the anniversary of their gift, give them an anniversary recognition. Develop prompts for monthly conversion.
Key Performance Indicators
Retention Rate: percentage of donors that are repeat donors
Recurring Upgrade Rate: percentage of donors that increase their gift year over year
Lifetime Value: Amount of giving for each donor
How to Design Your Page
Hero Banner:
Add your campaign headline with an emotional image and a message that carries the urgency of the need
Impact Framing:
Provide concrete and specific examples of what donations provide
Amount Selector:
Provide no more than five preset tiers of gift along witha custom field that donors can enter a gift of their choosing
Frequency Toggle:
Have a button that allows donors to choose between onetime and monthly recurring gifts. Set the default to recurring gifts
Donor Information:
Only things that are mandatory:
First Name
Last Name
Address*
Only if you do snail mail
Optional Fields:
Tribute
Employer Match
Comment
Donation Button:
Make your donation button match the action (“Give $20 monthly” is way better than “Submit”)
Trust Strip:
Provide digital security and nonprofit transparency seals, information, and certifications
Provide tax-deductible information
Provide a contact link
Create Killer Copy
Specificity wins! “A gift of $20 provides 3 meals” is way better than “A gift of $20 helps fight hunger”.
Use “you” more than “we”! Centering the donor and framing them as the actor rather than your organization is key to bringing them into the fold.
Don’t cry wolf! Urgency has to be honest. If you are facing funding gaps and are attempting to meet deadlines it’s ok to be honest with your donors.
Avoid jargon or acronyms that the general public don’t know. Write at a level that would allow you to explain your organization to a middle schooler.