Donation Page Blunders
They’ve ‘opened the envelope’. They’re checking out the ‘order card’. But then they walk away … without making a donation.
Why? You had them right on the verge.
Possibly, just confusion, discordant message, too many choices. Crafters of direct mail packages know how hugely important carefully designed order cards are for ‘closing’ the gift.
And the same — including the same mistakes to avoid — applies to online Donate pages.
Only the ‘walk away’ (aka ‘shopping cart abandonment’) probably occurs much faster, due to the impatience consumers have with anything that marginally slows down their online experience.
Here are some very straightforward blunders to avoid from John Haydon, writing in NonProfit Pro, to improve the performance of your Donate pages.
Five simple rules to follow (with illustrations):
- Your Donate page isn’t mobile.
- You’re missing an emotional hook (remember: you made the donor feel something to get to your Donate page … don’t forget that once she gets there!).
- Your message is inconsistent (again, follow-through is important; don’t switch signals — or offer a generic page — once they’ve been inspired to act).
- Too many distractions (resist the temptation to ask for more than the gift!).
- Your ask is weak (and/or disconnected from the donor and the impact they want to have).
In the next 57 days, you’re going to send out a gazillion email appeals. Don’t waste them.
This weekend, take some time to browse a few websites, including your own. Note who’s doing it right … clean, simple, mobile-friendly.
Are you making any of John’s blunders?
Tom
2 responses to “Donation Page Blunders”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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Thanks for this, Tom. It’s astonishing how little attention so many organizations pay to their donate page. We’ve been running a mystery shopping experiment for the past few years, making online gifts to two organizations every week and tracking the follow-up. It has NOT been pretty. For those who are looking to improve their processes (and create their year-end email campaign), John Haydon and I, along with Julia Campbell, have launched an online fundraising webinar series. Today’s the last day to register: http://basicsandmorefundraising.com/
Some good tips but Tom’s post would have been a lot more credible to me without the spelling (your vs. you’re), punctuation (period outside the single? quotation marks) and grammatical (pronoun/antecedent agreement) errors.
Tip #6: Have someone with a superior command of spelling, grammar and punctuation proofread all content several times before it’s published. It absolutely matters!!