Online Donations

A good article from Nonprofit About.com for those organizations whose websites offer this.

An excerpt.

“All the great marketing copy, email solicitations, and earnest pleadings can and do fail once a donor gets to the donation page on your website.

“It happens to all of us all the time. Just think of the times you've abandoned your shopping cart at your favorite online shopping sites. Somehow, we just don't convert to being an actual buyer. The same thing happens with your donation page. It might not get the would-be donor over that leap of faith to the actual donation.

“Convio, a leading supplier of donor software to nonprofits, and Donordigital, a consultancy specializing in online fundraising, recently explored the factors that might influence a would-be donor to become an actual donor once he or she lands on your web donation form.

“In "Beyond Best Practices," a study of the donation pages of seven large nonprofits, the two companies tweaked and tested a number of donor page elements. The goal was to determine how to improve the user experience for existing audiences on donation landing pages to increase conversion.

“According to the researchers, "...a typical web donation page that has never been tested converts less than 15 percent of the visitors that reach it." Just think of the money your organization might be leaving on the table by not testing your donation page.

“The Convio/Donordigital study found that there was no "single set of changes to a donation form...that's guaranteed to work for every organization." However it did reveal the elements on those forms that most influence conversion. Just knowing that could make your own testing easier.”