Competition for donations is only getting tougher. With many in-person events canceled, a well-designed donation web page is essential. Fundraising research firm Next After has many suggestions to make your donation page effective, engaging, and easy to use. Here are a few:

1. Keep the top of the page simple, with no way to skip to the donation form below. A “donate now” button that takes visitors directly to the form actually reduces conversion and gift size.

2. Avoid video. While video is a popular form of media on most other web pages, it seems to distract from donations. Having a central image is fine, but tests show that imagery doesn’t contribute to conversion.

3. In your headline, clearly express the impact of donor’s gifts, and continue that theme on the page. Use bullet points for easy reading and a single call to action to start the donation process.

4. Let the donor enter the amount of the contribution, but don’t default to making the gift a recurring one. Tests show a negative impact if the recurring option is auto-selected. Also, consider providing preset amounts. Use no more than five options and use larger boxes for better impact. Your gift array will be most effective if you have good distribution data on your gift sizes and can reflect an accurate dollar range.

5. Design your form so that sections are clear. Minimize scrolling. Indicate that the form is secure either with a lock icon or words in your section title.

If you are driving potential donors to your donation page with email campaigns, pre-fill the email field, but don’t make the phone number field required. Remember, donors may be contributing online because they don’t want to talk on the phone.

 

 

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