The Key to an Attention-Grabbing Online Donation Form

One of the biggest challenges in nonprofit fundraising is leveraging modern digital marketing techniques while staying true to your organization’s mission and purpose. Your website’s online donation form is an often overlooked piece of that puzzle.

Creating an effective donation form is an ongoing struggle for nonprofit organizers, whether used on websites, newsletters, or social media platforms. As more people shop and socialize online, more people also opt to donate to their favorite causes online. According to Philanthropy News Digest, online giving increased by 20% in 2020. With current online social trends, the emerging preference for online donations is likely to continue to grow.

To entice donors, you need to offer a clear, focused message and a great donor experience.

Your donation page is one of the most crucial elements of your nonprofit’s website. Focus on creating a donation page that inspires giving. An attractive online donation form also helps convert interested visitors into actual donors.

Since the ultimate goal is to convert supporters and visitors into donors. Your donation page must be:

  • Well-organized
  • Easy to navigate
  • Donor-centric
  • Align with your key messaging, values, and needs
  • Contain a strong call to action
  • Help your donor focus without feeling overwhelmed
  • Visually consistent with your organization’s branding

Donation Form Best Practices

Here are a few tips for creating an attention-grabbing donation page. Pick and choose among these donation page best practices for a form that aligns with your organization’s branding, mission, and online fundraising strategy.

Use a Donor-Centered Approach

In other words, think of things from your potential donor’s point of view.

Use your copy to communicate the benefit or value to the donor: For example, instead of writing “we are a 501(c)(3)” write something like, “since we are a 501(c)(3), your gift is tax-deductible.”

Your user interface and design should make it easy for donors to complete the form quickly and find any relevant information.

Focus on design and copy that is easy to skim and read. Clearly express the donation’s potential impact. Some organizations see results from defining the impact of each popular giving level. For example, what can your organization accomplish with $50? What about $150? Be sure to focus on how that impact aligns with your core mission and your donor’s ideals and interests.

Let Your Donation Form Take Center Stage

Make it easy for visitors to find your donation page. Sometimes nonprofit fundraisers who want to avoid seeming “too spammy” actually end up burying their donation form. We want a happy medium.

Here are a few ideas on how to make your donation form visible without spamming your readers:

  • Consider including the form on multiple pages of your website in or just above the footer.
  • Have a dedicated donate landing page and include a link within your navigation menu.
  • Add call-to-action buttons towards the bottom of any appropriate page. The button should link either to your donation landing page or directly to your form.

Too often, the donation page is an afterthought in nonprofit web page design. However, it should take center stage.

Make it Easy to Give

In addition to focused design and copy, look at other ways to make giving easy. Use a payment processor that accepts popular credit and debit cards. People are more likely to give if they can use their preferred payment method.

These days, many people are security- and privacy-conscious. Be sure to use a secure method to collect donor information and handle financial transactions. Also, be sure your website has a valid SSL certificate as many people will not visit a page that doesn’t have one. Even if they visit your site, they certainly trust it enough to make an online donation.

Finally, look into automating your donor acknowledgment or setting up a workflow, so your fundraising team promptly sends receipts and acknowledgments via email.

Integrating Your Fundraising Platform

Given the technical challenges as well as the need for security and privacy, it might make sense to use a trusted third party to handle your online donation form. Most popular fundraising software applications may offer a web and mobile-friendly solution.

UncommonGood’s 360-degree nonprofit productivity platform offers affordable, user-friendly tools for nonprofit fundraising and marketing.

Using our donation widget, organizers can easily create efficient donation forms and embed them to their WordPress or Squarespace website. Maintain consistent branding by choosing your color palette, fonts, logos, donation options, and more. Together, these features allow you to create eye-catching forms that align with your brand and contribute to a positive donor experience.

Leverage your website to make it easier for new and existing donors, volunteers, and other stakeholders to give. To learn more, contact UncommonGood for a free demonstration.


Book a Demo

By UncommonGood

November 30, 2023

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