A common mistake that newbies often make when it comes to online fundraising is assuming that they need just one donation page. The truth is, donors have varied motivations, and what nudges one person to action might not work for another.
Sending your traffic to a single payment form will not generate good returns. If you use different types of pages, like general, campaign, and instant donation pages, you will see better results.
Here is a closer look at each type of donation page, and how you can use each one:
General donation page
All organizations have a general donation page, but not all present information in a compelling way. To build this page successfully, you must appeal to various reasons people have for giving to charitable causes.
According to a 2018 benchmark report of fundraising campaigns, 83 percent of page visitors leave without donating. To remedy this, you could include a call-to-action headline with a specific ask on your main page.
You can also use bold text and headers for their most compelling points, and show broad reasons for your fundraising. However, keep your message clear and make your points short enough for bullet-point lists. Another option is to offer gifts for certain giving levels to promote engagement.
Campaign donation page
If you just focus on the general reasons people should support your organization, some donors won’t be satisfied. They want to know where their money will go and understand the impact of their donation.
Instead of a general donation page, you can create a campaign donation page. This will provide copy specific to the cause you are raising funds for, merely touching on your organization’s broad goals.
Use a payment page builder to include a progress bar on your form. It will indicate how close you are to the target amount, and a countdown clock to show how urgent it is that people donate. Furthermore, note that videos might not be as useful for pages like these.
Instant donation page
Take a different route to fundraising by using an instant donation page. Instead of acquiring a subscriber and cultivating him for months, an instant page converts subscribers into donors right away.
They do this by offering a free book, course, or petition to acquire an email address, and putting the donation ask in the context of the freebie. You might see low conversion rates, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Instant pages are more for recouping the costs of your advertising.
Eliminating friction from a donation page
People get discouraged or encounter friction when donating to a cause when there are significant barriers to sending fundings. Things that cause friction include the number of fields a person must fill out, needing to make too many decisions, or having to register for an account to donate.
Remove these barriers by simplifying your donating process. Keep forms short and try not to ask donors how they want their gift designated. Most people are not informed enough to answer this. Keep in mind that removing friction does not immediately translate to more funds raised.
The length of your copy also does not matter as much as how it is written. A short paragraph that conveys your value proposition will work much better than a feature article-length discussion of your organization and its current initiative.
Finally, there are debates about the functionality of the donation shortcut button. When a visitor clicks this, it jumps him past the copy and right to the donation form. Though the shortcut makes it easier to donate, it does not allow the donors to understand the impact of their actions. This can lead to fewer conversions in the long run.
Conclusion
Put yourself in the shoes of potential donors so you can better convince them to participate. Empathy, when coupled with testing and experimentation, allows you to inspire generosity and see significant returns for your efforts.
Get more conversions by having a hosted payment page that integrates various payment methods. Payment Page integrates with Stripe and has a WordPress plugin that allows fundraisers to accept donations easily. Join us today or get in touch for more information!