Online Fundraising Help Session

Notes

Collecting Donations on the Web - Jonas & AJ of DonationPay

Focus on the end:

• Make your donation page a rabbit hole
• Minimize the number of clicks to get there and minimize the number of steps in the process
• Sidebars are the enemy
• The art is balancing the content with the donation
• Make the page get out of the way - on that page they have made the decision
• Reinforces negative messaging "that's a bottom of the page issue" - the urgency is needed
• People don't give if they don't ask

What about my director who doesn't want to include the Donate button at the top?

• Explain to development staff that they are doing their own job twice - you have convinced them to click the donate button
• Try A/B testing - or at least Analytics bounce rates - bounce rate should be extremely low

Other items that can clutter your message:

• Don't fight volunteer or donate - use both
• Collect extra items after the donation
• Allow to donate with or without membership

What about my big red donate button that no one clicks on?:

• Just because you build it, they may not come
• Where are you directing them? Email blasts can go directly to donate page
• Law of diminishing returns - brains are trained to filter things out - could be user fatigue
• Combine best practices + behavior patterns on your own analytics
• Are there content or design issues? i.e. too many messages or too many calls to action

What about a simple page that has almost no content and just a take action button?:

• Need to give something as context
• Could work as a landing page/microsite
• Balance between focus of message and providing enough information/context

What About Employee Matching Donations?

• It's hard to know all of the companies that match
• Know your audience - if your average donation is $20 and your staff has to track down each one, it may not be worth your time to track it down
• You can include forms like "Many organizations in the Bay Area match their employee's donations. Check the box if you know that your employer does and enter their name in the box."
• Or if there is a specific employer (like GM in Detroit) ask them if they work for GM

Finding a Tool

• Find an online tool that reflects how you raise money offline - don't sacrifice that
• There are enough tools that there is one that will fit your needs

What about the trend of including donation levels that correlate to specific items - i.e. "$15 vaccinates 5 puppies" and keeping the donation form simple?

• Try to work it in and still keep the donation form simple - i.e. include a general statement at the top and push them to the form
• i.e. A Home Within https://www.donationpay.org/ahomewithin/

Biggest Mistake nonprofits make in donation pages:

• 1. Full navigation - too many outs - eliminate most of the navigation
• 2. No extra page between Donate button and Donate page