Fundraisers are a great way to raise money, but fostering community engagement and spreading information about a cause are secondary benefits of any fundraiser. However, today, certain friction points in the online donation process may be working against fundraising goals.
Take, for example, a grandparent trying to donate to their grandchild’s online fundraiser. Lengthy forms, extra fields to fill out, unclear instructions, and multiple checkout steps may deter certain donors who are unfamiliar with technology or the organization they’re donating to.
Nonprofits don’t necessarily need expensive technology or a complete web redesign to improve the donor experience. Organizations can take steps to streamline donations, such as:
Shorter donation forms
Mobile-friendly designs
Clear payment options
Fewer checkout steps
Transparent fundraising information
Accessible forms and donor confirmation
Small improvements such as these can make the online donation process easier to complete, improve the donor experience, and encourage sharing of the fundraiser and fundraising message.
Keep Online Donation Forms Short and Simple
Long donation forms give more opportunities for friction to occur. Donors may become frustrated and concerned if donation forms ask for information unrelated to their contribution.
Every additional field requires more time and effort; therefore, organizations should review their existing donation forms and identify which fields are essential. These fields usually include name and contact info, payment details, and any additional information required for receipts or transaction processing. Any fields that are deemed unnecessary should be removed or made optional.
By not collecting all the extra information organizations may want but not need, donors are less likely to become frustrated by privacy concerns, technology issues, and time spent on their donation. Even if your software recommends or allows you to capture extra information, use your best judgment to weed out what you may not need. Forms that use straightforward labels and instructions also help reduce these friction points.
It’s worth noting that while reducing donor friction and pain points is important, simplicity should not come at the expense of necessary payment security or recordkeeping.
Make Donation Amounts Easy to Choose
Streamlining the donation process means eliminating any potential blocks that may slow a donor down, including uncertainty around donation amounts. Especially if a donor isn’t familiar with your organization, providing a few suggested donation amounts alongside a custom amount option gives better context for their fundraising goals. Ensure these options fit your audience well and allow donors to contribute an amount that fits their budget without feeling pressured.
For example, a school walk-a-thon with many students donating to their classmates may feature lower suggested donation amounts to start, such as $5, $10, $15, $25, $50, $100, and a custom option. It may also help to associate each amount with a more tangible item, like connecting a $25 donation to classroom supplies for a single student, if that amount reflects actual costs.
Make Mobile Giving a Priority
Many supporters and potential donors frequently encounter fundraising campaigns through mobile channels. Text messages from friends and family, social media posts, and emails from schools and community organizations are all common ways fundraisers end up on a mobile device instead of a computer.
While mobile devices may be more convenient for spreading the fundraiser, friction points may come up during the donation process. Small text, buttons that are difficult to tap, forms that don’t fit a mobile screen, and too much scrolling can easily deter a potential donor. Donors can also be deterred by too much content. Mobile pages are usually scanned quickly, and your page must catch their attention with very few technical issues. Designing your website or online fundraiser around this idea is key. Responsive, mobile-friendly donation pages reduce these friction points and potential annoyances, making it easier for visitors to complete their donations.
To make mobile donating easier, nonprofits should test their donation pages on smartphones before launching any campaigns. This can be taken a step further by asking someone unfamiliar with the fundraising campaign to complete a test transaction and identify confusing steps.
Give Donors Clear Payment Options
Supporters should understand how they can contribute before reaching the final payment step. Displaying accepted payment methods prominently, such as credit cards, debit cards, and digital wallets where supported, builds trust with donors early on. Being upfront about applicable charges such as processing fees is also important. Failure to do so may undermine donor confidence and willingness to be a regular supporter.
Choosing fundraising technology can help manage donation collection and payment experiences for donors. Keeping payment instructions and processes concise and easy to understand allows an online fundraising platform to better serve donors and the nonprofit using it.
Pledges vs. Flat Donations
When contributing, donors need to know whether they’re giving a pledge or a flat donation. A flat donation is a contribution of a specified amount, while a pledge may be tied to a participant’s performance or activity.
For example, somebody may pledge $10 a mile for somebody’s jog-a-thon. This means that for every mile a certain participant runs, that donor will give $10. Five miles would be $50, 10 miles would be $100, etc.
Helping supporters understand whether they are making an immediate flat contribution or committing to a pledge, and how that pledge will be calculated and collected, builds trust between a nonprofit and its supporters.
Reduce the Number of Steps to Donate
When a donor is looking to give to a fundraiser, unnecessary checkout steps can interrupt momentum and even cause them to abandon their donation.
A complicated donation path that includes creating an account, verifying an email address, returning to the fundraising page, manually entering payment details, and confirming a contribution can be less efficient than a simpler process.
Avoiding unnecessary redirects between sites, allowing guest checkout, implementing digital wallet payment methods, and displaying a progress bar, where supported by the fundraising system, can keep donor momentum going during the checkout process and reduce donation abandonment.
Build Trust with Clear Labels and Helpful Error Messages
Momentum can also be upheld with clear donation instructions. Part of this is identifying errors clearly and explaining how to correct them. For example, instead of giving a generic “invalid entry” message, explain which field needs attention and what extra information is required.
Organizations should also make forms accessible to people using assistive technologies. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative provides guidance on using clear labels, instructions, and error messages in online forms. Donors should not have to restart the entire process after correcting a minor mistake.
Make Sharing and Donation Confirmation Easy
The donor experience doesn’t end after a supporter submits a contribution. Immediate and follow-up donation confirmations can help reduce uncertainty and unnecessary support requests.
An effective confirmation message should communicate whether the transaction was successful, the contribution amount, whether an official receipt is attached or coming, and any relevant next steps.
To keep donors engaged, they should be given the option to share the fundraiser via a copyable link or via social media. Donors should also, without interfering with the other vital confirmation information, be encouraged to keep up with your nonprofit on social media.
Test the Donation Experience Before Launching
Nonprofits should prioritize testing their donation processes before launching campaigns and asking donors to contribute. Having people unfamiliar with the campaign serve as testers is beneficial because they may identify potential errors and areas for improvement.
Observe whether donors understand the campaign’s purpose, can find the donation button, know how to select an amount, understand the payment or pledge instructions, can complete the form without assistance, and receive confirmation after completing their test contribution. Testing on different devices and browsers is helpful for identifying issues that may affect certain groups of donors.
Steps Beyond Launch
The testing and improvement process doesn’t stop when a fundraising campaign launches. Organizations can use available fundraising analytics, such as donation form completion rates and donation abandonment rates, to identify potential problems. Analytics can help small organizations make meaningful improvements to their donation experience without conducting complex technical experiments.
Nonprofits should focus on making one impactful change at a time based on analytics to better understand its impact instead of making multiple changes at once.
Key Takeaways for Easier Online Fundraising
Making online donations easier starts with identifying and removing unnecessary obstacles in the donation process.
Keep donation forms short and collect only essential information.
Make fundraising pages easy to use on mobile devices.
Clearly explain payment methods, processing fees, and pledge terms.
Reduce unnecessary checkout steps wherever possible.
Provide accessible forms, helpful error messages, and donation confirmations.
Test donation pages before and after launching fundraising campaigns.
Make Giving Easier for Every Supporter
It’s important to remember that visitors to a donation page are already expressing interest in supporting the cause. Nonprofits should make it easy for these people to follow through on their intentions. By implementing practical improvements such as short donation forms, better accessibility, straightforward payment options, clear campaign information, and simple checkout experiences, both donors and nonprofits can benefit from the streamlined experience.
Removing unnecessary barriers allows supporters to contribute with confidence. Nonprofits are also able to not only collect donations but build relationships with supporters, leading to a better sense of community and continued support.
AUTHOR BIO: Melissa Poche' is Technical Director at GoPledge, a free fundraising platform that helps schools raise money for programs, events, athletics, and classroom needs without setup fees or revenue-sharing costs. With more than a decade of experience in marketing, sales, and client relations, she is passionate about helping organizations achieve their goals through effective fundraising solutions.
