Much of the time, online donation forms aren’t as intuitive for donors as we would think. Sometimes we’re missing important elements that donors look for.
However, if we take some time to think like a donor, we can make sure we include features that address their biggest questions.
Let’s go through a list of common questions donors ask during the giving process, addressing all the ways you can improve your online donation forms to convert more donors.
Where’s the donation form?
Sometimes the simplest thing, like finding where to donate, can prevent donors from contributing. Make it easy for them to find your donation form by adding a modal popup button to your navigation menu. This makes your donation form very obvious with the option (and benefit) of placing it on every page of your site.
Want to know how to add a Give form to your main menu? Check out this tutorial here for a walkthrough, as well as for more helpful tips on how to make your donation button super obvious to your donors.
How can I trust the organization?
Most people choose to donate to an organization because they’ve either used their services, know someone who has benefited from their services, or they have volunteered with them before. Those in this circle have already gained your trust, but how to extend that circle of trust?
One of the best ways to do this is by highlighting reviews and testimonials that inspire confidence. User stories can highlight how your donations have made a real, tangible change. Plus, when care for the cause comes from outside the organization, and the focus is on the end result and not the ask, the request for donations seems more genuine.
How will my donation be used?
Be transparent! Just as testimonials build trust, they also provide a roadmap of what will happen next with the donor’s funds. Use stories to show end results that have been made possible through donations. By collecting as many kinds of stories and recommendations as possible, you boost both the transparency and credibility of your organization – two factors that inspire donors to give.
Don’t assume donors know the whole story. Just because they’ve decided to donate does not mean they have a complete understanding of your organization’s inner workings. Use every opportunity to give the full story behind your organization and what you address. Even if you’ve shared this story before, share it again – a reminder won’t hurt.
Where’s the option to give in honor of someone?
One compelling reason that people give is in honor of a loved one. A tribute add-on to your donation form can engage your donors on a personal level. It will also add a sense of belonging and individuality, making the donation feel more important and impactful.
Some tribute donations come naturally (for example, a breast cancer nonprofit can fundraise in honor of a lost loved one or current warrior). In other situations, you may need a creative approach for the tribute donations to not feel forced. You could try using the tribute feature to highlight a single user story who benefits from your work, or have donors challenge their friends as tributes to match their donation. The goal is to provide a place for a donor to indicate what (or who) is important to them in connection with the donation.
Can I give regularly?
Address this donor question before it’s asked by adding the Recurring Donations feature. This add-on brings in more dependable payments by letting your donors choose how frequently and how much to give. This gives your donors full control over their giving.
In the Recurring Donations settings, the Donor’s Choice feature allows donors to choose their subscription frequency, while the Admin’s Choice feature chooses the donation frequency for the donor to give at time periods of your choice. This add-on is supported with the most popular payment gateways, too, for giving with a credit card, or through PayPal.
Can I give in my own currency?
This simple question can be easily addressed to increase your overall giving and attract an international audience who will appreciate the ability to give in their own currency. Donors can switch their currency with the GiveWP Currency Switcher add-on. This add-on was developed with an intuitive interface to give maximum flexibility when setting up multi-currency donation forms. You can set the add-on to automatically switch based on location so donors don’t have to choose their currency from a drop-down, or configure exchange rates. You’ll also receive updated exchange rates in your add-on, so you can track numbers in your own currency as well.
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How much do you need to raise? How much has been raised?
Simply put: donors want you to reach goals. There is an immense sense of satisfaction seeing a donation threshold crossed, or in knowing that your donation helped fund an important project. Give donors this sense of satisfaction by adding tracking and counter options to your site or fundraising event.
One way to do this is with a goal countdown. Seeing a countdown clock psychologically motivates donors to give before it’s too late. There’s a free add-on for Give that enables a countdown timer for the top of your donation form.
A visual way to show how much is needed is through a progress bar. Progress bars are huge motivators to help encourage donors, as it frames their donation around a goal. Other gamifying methods, like badges or leaderboards, can be a fun way to both show how much has been raised and/or how much is left, gamifying the giving process a bit. Gamifying features are available on the new Donor Dashboard 2.10.
Have others given to this cause?
Donors like knowing they’re a part of a larger community and enjoy seeing their name among peers who also believe in your cause. With the Give Donor wall, you can display donor information publicly on your website when donors opt in, easily showing donor details in a grid display.
This shortcode can also be customized and displayed anywhere on your site. It’s a great way to encourage potential donors to turn into real donors, by seeing in a snapshot all the success and public recognition from previous efforts.
Where can I see my donation history?
Donors will want to track their giving specifically tied to your organization, and now they can with the GiveWP 2.10 update. This update introduces the Donor Dashboard, where donors can control their data in their own portal. With this, they can access their donation history, update their recurring subscription, download their individual and annual receipts, and more. This update is available to download for free and includes some innovative new features that your organization and your donors will greatly benefit from.
How else can I be involved?
Keeping your donors in the know is the best way to maintain recurring donations. Send out a regular newsletter of events and information to keep donors connected and involved. Make sure to link to any opportunities to volunteer or get involved in ways that aren’t necessarily monetary – a local drive or fundraiser, for example.
You can also give donors early access to fundraising events and make them feel like VIPs to encourage participation. By keeping in contact through a regular newsletter or other chain of communication, your donors should never have to explicitly ask or seek out ways to get involved.
Can I sign up for a newsletter?
This option should be available to your donors within minutes of browsing your website. A pop up or visible sign-up link for a newsletter should be a part of any nonprofit’s web strategy.
Fortunately, GiveWP has an integration with ActiveCampaign, a robust client-relationship manager that allows for email marketing right in your donation tool. When you use the GiveWP ActiveCampaign add-on, donors are automatically added to your ActiveCampaign contact database. With that database you can easily send out email newsletters and contact individual donors, as well as dozens of other tools. (Or checkout the add-ons for Mailchimp, AWeber, ConvertKit, and Constant Contact, too!)
What are you doing with my personal information?
Along with being transparent in where donations are going, your organization also needs to be open about what you are doing with their collected information. Additionally, you’ll want your donors to be informed of certain clauses or policies regarding donations. Commonly this information will all be rolled into a “Terms and Conditions” page.
GiveWP allows for a global “Terms and Conditions” option so donors aren’t left wondering on important policies. With this option, donors can acknowledge your Terms and Conditions with a simple click, without cluttering up the donation form. You can also customize the terms per form, as well as the title of the page, perhaps asking the donors a more robust question than “Agree to Terms?” if you choose. If you do customize this option, keep in mind that you should make it clear that this form requires their action and acknowledgement. In addition to Terms and Conditions, you may also want a privacy policy page to explicitly state what happens with their information.
Think like a donor
Ultimately, thinking like a donor helps you make sure you’re not missing key things that donors want, which will help convert more of them in the end. Including the features that donors ask for the most will keep donors coming back to your page again and again to donate, as they’ll feel acknowledged and heard.
The best part is that at GiveWP, we’re always thinking of what donors want and how to improve the giving experience. With new improvements like the GiveWP 2.10 update, the donation process should feel more intuitive and engaging.
Book a Demo with Customer Success to see how you can improve your online fundraising experience for your donors.
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