Year-end is coming! And online gifts will spike up in December. (We hope!)
Especially the last two days of the year.
Is your web site ready to handle all this attention?
And, did you know that most donors check out your web site before they make a gift? And they do this whether they are giving online or through the mail.
So your web site needs to tell a happy story about your cause. It needs to welcome donors and visitors.
It needs to have the information that donors are looking for:
1. Easy navigation.
When someone comes to your site, can they find out what they want easily?
Don’t make your donor have to think.
Make everything clear, plain and easy to read and understand.
Use a startling headline or a vivid image to engage your donor quickly.
If your navigation is confusing, you’ll probably lose your donor.
2. Lots of pictures and fewer words.
Terrific photos tell your story visually. And on your web site, images are more compelling than words.
Your donors are skimming, skimming – quickly, quickly.
Lots of words, cumbersome phrasing, crowded text will drive them away quickly.
Verbosity can kill you on a web site. Let great pictures do the talking.
3. Links to your Guidestar and Charity Navigator profiles.
I don’t like this any more than you do, especially Charity Nav. But here’s the reality:
Donors today want to check out your overhead costs. They are obsessing over admin costs.
Yes, it’s crazy. (How can you run a nonprofit without admin costs? – just don’t get me started on this!)
See my post: “How to Talk To Your Donors About Overhead Costs.”
Make it easy for donors to find this information. You will build trust.
4.Credibility.
Since donors are more mistrustful of institutions and organizations these days, try to convey credibility by sharing:
- your board members names (who’s standing behind this organization? who’s accountable?)
- your track record – successes
- longevity (a long track record means a lot)
- endorsements
- testimonials
5. A clear call to action.
Donors are in a hurry. If they come to visit, by all means, TELL THEM WHAT YOU NEED THEM TO DO!
You should have a call to action in everything you do, everything you send out, and on every web page.
6. An easy way to donate.
Don’t make your donor work to find out how to give. Don’t make them hunt.
Put the DONATE NOW button clearly where they can find it.
Show them the easy way.
Or you may lose them.
7. A simple donation form.
I hear horror stories of how many donors ABANDON nonprofit donation pages. I’ve heard figures as high as 96% of people who visit the page, will never complete the form.
Just think how many times you’ve loaded up a shopping cart in an online store – and never completed the checkout process.
Consider this: every box your donor has to fill in increases her impatience with the process.
And if she gets to the point of frustration, you’ve probably lost her.
8. A page titled “Your Gifts At Work.”
In this recession, donors want to see the impact of their gifts.
They want to know exactly where their money is going and how it’s being used.
Lay it out clearly for them in pie charts: where your money comes from and where it goes.
Make it plain and simple.
This is what transparency really means: sharing the details of how much money you are raising and what you do with it.
9. Interaction.
Invite interaction with your web visitors.
Offer a chance for doors to have a dialog with you. Perhaps a survey to answer. Can they post a comment?
Donors want the ability to comment, to discuss, to learn more about you.
Get your web site visitor involved: Ask them to volunteer or take some action.
Always ask for more than money. Treat people like real people, not like they are wallets.
10. Physical address and phone.
I wish I had a penny for every time I had to hunt, hunt, hunt for a darned phone number or a street address.
What’s with it when a nonprofit doesn’t include this essential info?
Give your donor easy access to you. Be welcoming.
And your donor may reward you with a gift, and another gift!
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