Giving doesn’t come from the head — it comes from the heart. Yet, so many nonprofits experience difficulty in attracting donors and raising fund. Why is that?
It probably is because their website is somewhat lacking on what’s important. Here’s how you can make a donation page that can guarantee a deluge of donations.
Make it drip with emotion: Donating to a cause is not a financial transaction, it is an emotional connection. You need to tap into your supporters’ emotions. Do not be afraid to reach out and share your personal stories to donors, whether it’s related to a tragedy, helping a sick child, protecting animals or saving immigrants. Donors need to feel they are making a change for the better by sharing their money with you.
You should also use moving imagery and videos. Are you helping hurricane victims? Get some heartbreaking testimonials from the survivors. Raising money for a dog pound? Bring out those cute puppy pictures.
Also make your organization’s mission crystal clear and that all of the donations will go to the cause.
Minimalist Design: Some websites have too much going on. There is a menu to the left, top navigations, side bar navigations, subscription pop-ups, advertisements and so much knick-knack it successfully confuses the donor as soon as he or she lands on the site. Get rid of it. Make your website design clean and simple so that your real message doesn’t get lost in the clutter. A picture is worth a thousand words so use attractive imagery and video instead of text on your page.
Make your website mobile-friendly too. Don’t use extra-large photo that would require donors to scroll down to read the message and don’t use tiny script that’s hard to read.
Consider adding social media buttons to expand your connections across Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube and other channels. This increases awareness and engagement.
Donor-friendly UI: Keep your website simple so that your supporter is just one click away from donating to the cause. Proper navigation is extremely important. If you have a lot of stuff to share, create a drop-down menu bar in one single corner of your website that lists your mission, vision, history and whatever else you think the donor needs to know.
Many nonprofits now also allow supporters to create accounts on the website. However, your donors don’t need the added hassle of remembering a password. So consider using an alternative way to let your donors conveniently access their accounts (Facebook login maybe?).
Driving donors to the goal: You need to spell out in bold letters whether your donors need to fill a form, get in touch with you or just click a button. Adding a big box that states, “Enter your email here and click the Submit Now button,” can tell your donor exactly what to do.
Many fundraising experts believe it is better to encourage visitors to leave small monthly gifts rather than one single lump sum. This forms a long-term relationship with supporters and predicts your monthly revenue.
You can also suggest specific amounts to donate. Instead of donors typing in an amount they want to give, you can add, “Do you want to donate $25” in one box, “Do you want to donate $50” in another box and so on. Additionally, you can also create a box for “other amount,” so that people who want to give a different amount can do so.
Last tip: Making long-term relationship with your donors can help you get a steady flow of funds to your website as well as help spread word of mouth that can bring in more supporters to your cause.
Salah Hamwi
Ashraf Samhouri
Awni Shamah