Are You Making it Too Hard for Donors to Give?

When donors are ready to give you have to make the opportunity available, easy and show your gratitude. If a site is too difficult to find, if the donation box is not easily located, or if error messages pop up on the screen, it’s more than likely that your donor will give up trying to contribute to your cause. Is your website engaging and user friendly?

Online giving has been a practice that many non-profit organizations have adopted. However, there seems to be a substantial gap between the success that could be had verses the donations that are being made using this internet resource. I was intrigued by the results of a study which was reported by user experience company Nomensa.  Three comparable charities were analyzed concerning the donation process that each presented their donors with on their respective websites. This study found that 47 percent of people who started to make an online donation failed to follow through with the process. What happens that hinders their giving?

Bertie Bosrédon, assistant director of services (information and multimedia) atBreast Cancer Care (one of the charities involved in the study) and in the foreword to report speculates that “Most charities are taking donations through their website, but the journey is neither engaging, nor inspirational; the experience still feels too similar to buying travel insurance.”

So how should non-profit websites turn away from this formal approach to receiving donations and apply a more personal and heartfelt process to ensure donors follow through on their intentions to give?

First of all, Bosrédon suggests that these websites need to be more engaging. Present your needs as urgent and necessary. Secondly, “make [sure] the next steps are clear, promotes regular giving and provides alternative ways to donate.” Next, support your donors by using a progress indicator and streamline the procedure. Ensure that your logo is on each page to garner your donor’s trust that your site is secure and legitimate. Finally, reward your users with a thank you message when they’re done. You may even want to list donors who have given to your cause on your website.

Online fundraising is the most effective and easiest way to promote donor relations, communication and giving. While many agencies try to use this web tool to their advantage, they are not tapping into the potential results that could be achieved.

At Fundly, we have created a variety of tools to help charities and political candidates connect with their supporters to reach their fundraising goals through engaging and easy to use applications. We would love to partner with you to make your non-profit mission a success!