Do you know that on-line giving elevated by 9% throughout the nonprofit sector in 2021—and continues to develop for organizations huge and small? On-line giving and engagement have turn into a cornerstone of the fundraising world, making it important for nonprofit organizations to supply a seamless on-line giving course of.
So, to assist your staff enhance the net donor expertise, maximize on-line giving, and higher interact together with your donors, we’ll stroll by means of a number of important steps to good the net donation course of. From data-based fundraising outreach to investing in the proper fee instruments, we’ll cowl the next methods:
- Focus in your donation type’s design.
- Optimize giving for all gadgets.
- Use a safe, accessible fee processor.
- Leverage post-gift outreach.
Able to enhance the best way you settle for on-line donations and promote a streamlined giving expertise to your donors? Let’s bounce in.
Focus in your donation type’s design.
When donors click on into your on-line donation web page, they need to be greeted with an easy-to-read, simple, and aesthetically-pleasing type. In spite of everything, in case your donation type is simply too complicated or poorly designed, it might probably replicate poorly in your group—or worse—drive donors away and result in type abandonment.
These donation type methods will show you how to to maintain donors on the web page till they full their items:
- Eradicate pointless questions and fields. For those who embrace too many fields in your donation type, the method could turn into tedious sufficient for some donors to say “I’ll get again to it later” and in the end overlook about their items. As an alternative, keep on with the necessities, resembling primary contact and fee data.
- Use constant branding. Colours, textual content, photographs, and different design and branding components ought to stay constant throughout your total web site—particularly in your donation web page. This isn’t solely a mark of professionalism, however it additionally alerts to your donors that they’re in the proper place and their data shall be secure.
- Embed your type into your web site. By embedding your donation type straight into your web site, you may hold donors from being redirected to a third-party web site to finish their items. This small however important step could make donors really feel extra comfy, protect the design of your type, and streamline the donation course of.
As with the remainder of your nonprofit’s web site, the proper design and accessibility components can have a huge impact on how donors navigate your pages and—most significantly—whether or not or not they resolve to stay round and proceed participating with you.
Optimize giving for all gadgets.
With the rise of smartphones, you may now not anticipate your whole donors to entry your donation web page on their desktops. In reality, in line with 360MatchPro’s fundraising statistics, cellular customers made up roughly 33% of on-line donation transactions final yr.
With this in thoughts, you’ll want to arrange for the numerous portion of customers who shall be utilizing cellular and handheld gadgets to click on into your platform and try to finish the nonprofit fee course of.
To advertise an inclusive giving expertise for donors on totally different gadgets, you may:
- Use giant buttons and textual content which might be readable throughout gadgets
- Incorporate a sticky navigation menu
- Make the most of a vertical format
- Spend money on donation type instruments with mobile-friendly templates
To make completely certain that the giving expertise is optimized for a number of gadgets, you may attempt to entry your donation type utilizing a smartphone and leverage instruments like Google’s mobile-friendliness take a look at.
Use a safe, accessible fee processor.
Your fee processor is the behind-the-scenes software program that ensures donor knowledge and funds are being facilitated safely and conveniently. This makes it a vital part of the donation course of that must be as safe and dependable as potential.
Specifically, take note of these key options to make sure that you’re utilizing efficient fee processing instruments to your group:
- PCI safety compliance. As mentioned within the iATS Funds information to PCI compliance, PCI compliance is “a guidelines of guidelines and necessities created by the foremost bank card corporations to make sure that retailers are securely dealing with buyer data.” It’s the closest factor to a golden seal of safety {that a} fee processor can obtain, and it signifies that your fee instruments will be trusted to defend donor knowledge.
- Anti-fraud instruments. As mission-based organizations that depend on individuals’s goodwill and belief to boost funds, nonprofits are uniquely susceptible to the reputational backlash that comes with hacks and fraud scandals. To stop fraud, go for fee and donation instruments which have devoted anti-fraud measures, resembling CVV2 verification and encryption.
- A number of fee choices. Some donors desire to present with their bank cards, some go for ACH, and others shall be attempting to facilitate funds from the opposite aspect of the world. To accommodate your whole donors and broaden your giving potential, make sure that your fee processor accepts numerous fee strategies, resembling credit score, ACH, and worldwide processing.
Poor safety, restricted fee choices, and different hiccups can flip donors away from submitting on-line items. These options will assist uphold donors’ belief in your group and pave the best way for a snug giving expertise.
Leverage post-gift outreach.
The web donation expertise doesn’t finish when donors have submitted their items. Removed from it—the best way that your group communicates with donors after the very fact can decide whether or not or not they resolve to present once more and keep linked together with your group.
An built-in fee processor could be a huge assist on this regard, correctly in a position to combine straight together with your CRM and manage fee and phone data. These particulars ought to then be used to create simpler post-gift outreach by:
- Enhancing future fundraising appeals with donors’ names and giving dimension
- Leveraging donors’ names and giving historical past to personalize thank-you messages and acknowledgments
- Alerting donors to further giving alternatives, resembling selling matching items applications primarily based on donors who used their work emails to submit items
Whereas it’s simple to give attention to donors as they’re within the means of navigating your web site and donation web page, taking steps to additional steward donors within the aftermath of their items will pay again in dividends.
Now that you simply’ve explored key ideas, tips, and instruments to advertise a extra constructive on-line donation expertise, you must have every little thing it is advisable to get began with enhancing on-line fundraising to your group. Begin the method by implementing these greatest practices and staying knowledgeable about donation and fee software program within the nonprofit house.
In regards to the creator: Peggah Azarvash
Peggah, a gross sales account govt at iATS Funds, is a passionate Gross sales Govt with 10 years’ expertise offering fee resolution help and steering to nonprofits.
