Do you know that on-line giving elevated by 9% throughout the nonprofit sector in 2021—and continues to develop for organizations large and small? On-line giving and engagement have change 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 crew enhance the net donor expertise, maximize on-line giving, and higher have interaction along with your donors, we’ll stroll via a number of important steps to excellent the net donation course of. From data-based fundraising outreach to investing in the proper cost instruments, we’ll cowl the next methods:
- Focus in your donation type’s design.
- Optimize giving for all gadgets.
- Use a safe, accessible cost processor.
- Leverage post-gift outreach.
Able to enhance the way in which you settle for on-line donations and promote a streamlined giving expertise in your donors? Let’s leap 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, easy, and aesthetically-pleasing type. In spite of everything, in case your donation type is simply too complicated or poorly designed, it may possibly mirror poorly in your group—or worse—drive donors away and result in type abandonment.
These donation type methods will aid you to maintain donors on the web page till they full their presents:
- Eradicate pointless questions and fields. In case you embody too many fields in your donation type, the method might change into tedious sufficient for some donors to say “I’ll get again to it later” and finally neglect about their presents. As an alternative, stick with the necessities, similar to primary contact and cost data.
- Use constant branding. Colours, textual content, pictures, and different design and branding parts ought to stay constant throughout your whole web site—particularly in your donation web page. This isn’t solely a mark of professionalism, nevertheless it additionally alerts to your donors that they’re in the proper place and their data will likely be secure.
- Embed your type into your web site. By embedding your donation type instantly into your web site, you possibly can preserve donors from being redirected to a third-party web site to finish their presents. This small however important step could make donors really feel extra snug, 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 parts can have a huge impact on how donors navigate your pages and—most significantly—whether or not or not they determine to stay round and proceed partaking with you.
Optimize giving for all gadgets.
With the rise of smartphones, you possibly can now not anticipate all your donors to entry your donation web page on their desktops. The truth is, in accordance with 360MatchPro’s fundraising statistics, cell customers made up roughly 33% of on-line donation transactions final 12 months.
With this in thoughts, you’ll want to arrange for the numerous portion of customers who will likely be utilizing cell and handheld gadgets to click on into your platform and try to finish the nonprofit cost course of.
To advertise an inclusive giving expertise for donors on totally different gadgets, you possibly can:
- Use massive buttons and textual content which are readable throughout gadgets
- Incorporate a sticky navigation menu
- Make the most of a vertical format
- Put money into donation type instruments with mobile-friendly templates
To make completely positive that the giving expertise is optimized for a number of gadgets, you possibly can attempt to entry your donation type utilizing a smartphone and leverage instruments like Google’s mobile-friendliness check.
Use a safe, accessible cost processor.
Your cost processor is the behind-the-scenes software program that ensures donor knowledge and funds are being facilitated safely and conveniently. This makes it a crucial part of the donation course of that must be as safe and dependable as doable.
Particularly, take note of these key options to make sure that you’re utilizing efficient cost processing instruments in 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 firms to make sure that retailers are securely dealing with buyer data.” It’s the closest factor to a golden seal of safety {that a} cost processor can obtain, and it signifies that your cost instruments could 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 forestall fraud, go for cost and donation instruments which have devoted anti-fraud measures, similar to CVV2 verification and encryption.
- A number of cost choices. Some donors desire to present with their bank cards, some go for ACH, and others will likely be making an attempt to facilitate funds from the opposite aspect of the world. To accommodate all your donors and increase your giving potential, be sure that your cost processor accepts varied cost strategies, similar to credit score, ACH, and worldwide processing.
Poor safety, restricted cost choices, and different hiccups can flip donors away from submitting on-line presents. These options will assist uphold donors’ belief in your group and pave the way in which for a cushty giving expertise.
Leverage post-gift outreach.
The net donation expertise doesn’t finish when donors have submitted their presents. Removed from it—the way in which that your group communicates with donors after the very fact can decide whether or not or not they determine to present once more and keep related along with your group.
An built-in cost processor is usually a large assist on this regard, appropriately in a position to combine instantly along with your CRM and arrange cost and make contact with data. These particulars ought to then be used to create more practical 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, similar to selling matching presents applications primarily based on donors who used their work emails to submit presents
Whereas it’s simple to deal with 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 presents pays again in dividends.
Now that you simply’ve explored key ideas, methods, and instruments to advertise a extra optimistic on-line donation expertise, you must have the whole lot it’s good to get began with bettering on-line fundraising in your group. Begin the method by implementing these finest practices and staying knowledgeable about donation and cost software program within the nonprofit area.
In regards to the creator: Peggah Azarvash
Peggah, a gross sales account govt at iATS Funds, is a passionate Gross sales Government with 10 years’ expertise offering cost resolution assist and steerage to nonprofits.
