A donation page backed by a secure payment processor is far and away the best way to gather donations online. That’s why most nonprofits offer giving forms embedded in their websites for donors to easily access.
However, getting donors to navigate to your online donation page is just half the battle. Encouraging prospective supporters to follow through on their intention to donate can be a major challenge for nonprofits. In fact, the average donation page conversion rate for nonprofits is just 19%.
Luckily, you can improve your donation page conversion rate in just a few quick steps. In this article, we’ll cover these six tips for increasing conversions:
- Streamline your donation page.
- Make your donation page more accessible and inclusive.
- Ensure the page is mobile-friendly.
- Enable multiple secure payment options.
- Reiterate the impact of donations.
- Offer donors something in return
Lists of top nonprofit websites, such as Kanopi’s roundup, make it clear that effective donation pages facilitate a seamless giving experience with flexible donation options and compelling details. Let’s take a closer look at how you can design your page to offer a similar experience.
1. Streamline your donation page.
A simplified donation page is much less overwhelming for donors, ensuring that they don’t get distracted by unnecessary information or flashy design elements.
Here are a few ways to streamline your donation page:
- Keep form fields to just the essentials. Contact information, donation amount, payment details, and donation frequency are the essentials you’ll need to collect from donors.
- Allow for guest checkout. Speed up the giving process by not requiring donors to create an account in order to give (but you can still offer the option for those who are looking to track their giving histories).
- Include clear calls to action. Make your submit button stand out on the page by using colors that contrast against the background.
When it comes to donation page design, less is more. When donors see that your form is quick and easy to fill out, they’ll be much more likely to complete the donation process.
2. Reiterate the impact of donations.
Don’t assume that supporters are completely convinced to give when they click on your form. Encourage more donors to follow through by highlighting your mission on your giving page through storytelling. You can tie donations to positive change in the following ways:
- Align giving amounts with impact. For example, the CARE donation page explains the impact of giving at different levels. It shows that a $70 donation equips four families with food gardens, $116 provides four families with direct food aid, and so on. This helps donors visualize the real, tangible impact of their gifts.
- Give donors control over where they direct their giving. The Memphis Zoo giving page allows donors to choose the specific campaign they want to support, whether the general support fund, capital fund, or endowment fund. Donors can choose which cause is most meaningful to them, giving them a greater sense of fulfillment.
- Incorporate a compelling hero image. For example, the charity: water giving page features one captivating header image. The rest of the page is uncluttered and straightforward, making use of contrasting text colors and blank space.
Essentially, your donation page should be donor-centric. Donors should have a clear idea of how your organization will use their gifts and who they will help through their donations.
3. Make your donation page more accessible and inclusive.
To create a welcoming space for all audience members all of your website’s forms should be inclusive and accessible—and your donation page is no different.
Accessible forms ensure that website visitors with physical or mental impairments can still access your giving opportunities. Inclusivity means that your forms are sensitive to the wide range of backgrounds and experiences supporters may have.
Improve your donation page’s accessibility and inclusivity by following these guidelines:
- Clearly label form fields. Make sure each form field has a written description that appears outside of the field itself.
- Use sufficient color contrast for buttons and infographics. A contrast ratio of 4.5:1 is the minimum recommended contrast by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Use WebAIM’s contrast checker to verify the colors on your donation page.
- Avoid auto-playing videos. Auto-playing videos can be confusing and distracting, incompatible with assistive tech such as screen readers, and can even cause seizures. We recommend not including any videos at all on your donation page because they can distract from the donation process.
- Don’t add time limits to your form. Time limits can also create a negative experience because users may feel rushed or unable to complete the form within the limits.
- Don’t require character maximums, minimums, or other restrictions for names. Some names may be much longer or shorter than average, and some may also include symbols such as hyphens. Avoiding character restrictions and validation requirements to make your form more inclusive.
If you’re not as familiar with online accessibility requirements, don’t hesitate to reach out to a nonprofit web design professional for help. These experts are familiar with the accessibility guidelines for nonprofit organizations and can help you incorporate these necessities across your website, not just on your donation page.
4. Ensure the page is mobile-friendly.
Making your online donation page mobile-responsive is one of the easiest ways to boost your conversion rate quickly. Mobile-friendly donation pages generate 34% more donations than those that aren’t mobile-friendly.
Mobile-friendly donation pages are:
- Responsive to multiple screen sizes
- Uncluttered and simple
- Fast-loading
- Pop-up free
- Touch-friendly, with easily-clickable buttons, form fields, and links
Run your donation page through Google’s mobile-friendly test to determine whether it’s currently hitting the mark and discover changes you can make to improve your mobile responsiveness.
5. Enable multiple secure payment options.
Offering a variety of secure payment options ensures that donors can fill out your giving form using any payment method they have on hand.
Consider offering multiple payment options such as:
- Credit/debit cards
- ACH bank transfers
- Paypal
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Cryptocurrency
- Venmo
- Cash App
Any payment services you use should offer PCI compliance and anti-fraud measures. That means they should adhere to security standards set by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council and leverage fraud detection to prevent unauthorized payments or identity theft.
6. Offer donors something in return
It never hurts to show donors that they’ll receive tangible benefits in return for their contributions. Use your donation page to offer donors perks such as the opportunity to:
- Send an eCard. According to Fundraising Letters’ guide to donation eCards, these digital messages allow donors to share their support for your cause with family members and friends. They can also use eCards to request donations for your cause on your behalf.
- Share their donation on social media. Give donors the chance to spread the word about their gift via Facebook or Instagram.
- Join your exclusive donor mailing list. Add donors to your supporters-only email list to receive insider information about your nonprofit’s programs and services.
- Gain early access to events. Allow donors to sign up early for your nonprofit’s most popular events.
- Receive free merchandise. Send donors a token of appreciation, such as a free sticker, water bottle, or magnet.
Access coupons or gift cards for local businesses. Partner with local businesses to give donors access to coupons or deals.
Promote your donor benefits using your social media pages, email newsletters, and the donation page itself.
These tips don’t just apply to nonprofits — universities, healthcare organizations, and other organizations that collect donations can apply these tips to their donation pages as well. As long as you keep the form streamlined, accessible, and focused on your mission, you can increase the likelihood that donors will complete it fully. Be sure to track your conversion rate before and after implementing any changes to see which versions of your giving page are most effective.
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