Increasing Online Donations By Simplifying Donation Process

Is your nonprofit struggling to receive online donations from your donors? It's possible that your online donation process needs some attention. 

Rather than directing your donors to third-party platforms or external websites for their contributions, consider simplifying your donation process to strengthen donor relationships and increase online donations.

Developing an effective online donation process involves more than just strategy and execution. BetterWorld can help you proactively streamline the donation process and make it as easy as possible for donors to give online.

To improve your nonprofit's online donation process, follow this straightforward guide.

Ways to Improve Online Donations as a Nonprofit

Improving your nonprofit's online donation process is crucial to increasing donations, and it all comes down to user convenience. The more you streamline and simplify their experience, the more likely you are to receive donations. 

This means taking into account every interaction point for potential donors, from your website to the post-donation process. 

Consider implementing these 5 strategies to enhance your nonprofit's online donation process:

#1 Make it Easy to Donate on Mobile

To ensure the success of your nonprofit, it's essential to keep up with the current trends in the world of a majority of mobile users. 

Research indicates that roughly 50% of nonprofit website traffic comes from mobile users. If your organization doesn't have a mobile-optimized website, then it’s missing out on 50% of its users that could potentially turn into donors.

Almost half of your donors will be opening your website on their mobile devices, therefore it's important to provide them with a seamless mobile experience. To ensure that your website and donation form is mobile-friendly, check it on multiple devices. 

Make sure that the design of your donation form is mobile responsive and adapts well to any screen size it's being viewed on. This guarantees that potential donors will view and interact with the donation form with ease on any of their devices without zooming in. 

Ensure that the mobile donation form is easy to complete with minimal fields to fill in. Make sure to avoid long forms with complicated details because this can discourage the donors from fully completing the donation process. 

Imagine opening a website and trying to zoom into the text and squirting your eyes to read it, the frustration will chase away every user. Use large and easy-to-touch buttons on the website to make it easier for users to navigate the website through any device. 

Lastly, test the mobile experience from multiple devices to see the form’s usability, performance, and functionality and fix any issues that pop up. Making it easy to donate from mobile can easily increase online donations as well as boost donor engagement. 

If you’re looking for a platform that can make donating a breeze for your donors, then signup with BetterWorld because our tools seamlessly integrate with websites and are easy to use from both mobile and desktop. 

#2 Add Payment Option on Website

The fastest way to increase online donations is by creating an eye-catching and simple call to action button. This will allow the donors to donate directly through the website with the click of a button. 

If you add a payment option directly on your website, the donors can complete their donation without navigating to a third-party platform. Third-party platforms can distract donors from donating and finishing the donation process. 

Simplify the donation process so someone who is viewing your nonprofit's website should be able to click on a ‘donate’ button right then and there. 

Create prominent and brightly colored donation buttons on your nonprofit's website landing page. Make sure these buttons are easy to locate and linked to the donation form. 

Creating payment options on your website can also allow you to customize the donation process according to the brand and mission. You can use eye-catching graphics and write labels that align with your nonprofit's message to encourage supporters to contribute. 

Avoid linking these buttons through a series of different forms, this will distract the donor or second guess their intentions. Simplifying the payment process will increase the chances of gaining more donations for your nonprofit. 

You can easily do that with BetterWorld’s easy-to-use donation tools.

#3 Offer Multiple Payment Options

Various potential donors would love to donate through a credit card. However, some donors prefer not to disclose their credit card details due to preference or security concerns. Therefore, consider giving donors the flexibility to choose between multiple payment options.

However, not all donors have access to the same payment methods and some may even face limitations in using certain payment options. 

Offering payment options, including credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, or Apple Pay, which can cater to the diverse needs of the donors, will simplify the donation process for them.

Providing multiple payment options will also broaden and expand your donor circle. If your nonprofit operates internationally and has global donors, then it's important to provide multiple payment options because different countries may have different payment options. 

Multiple payment options will ensure a global list of donors for your nonprofit. This will make it convenient for everyone since they can donate through their preferred payment option to support your organization. 

Allowing these other payment options will increase the likelihood of the supporters donating and keep them coming to your nonprofit organization again. Moreover, this will eliminate any barriers that the donors may face in donating. 

BetterWorld is extremely particular with donor privacy, and securing user data is at the heart of our work ethic. If you sign up with us, you won’t have to worry about losing your data to any third-party platform.

#4 Create Recurring Giving Options

Many donors prefer that their donation is a recurring process, whether it's monthly or annually. Nonprofits create recurring giving options to build long-term donor relationships and to also secure a consistent source of funds. 

Consider providing online options for recurring donations on your website to make it easy for donors to set up recurring donations. 

You can also provide flexibility to the donors by offering different time-frequency options for their recurring donations such as monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, or annually. This is convenient for donors because they only need to enter their payment information once. 

Also, make sure to provide options for donors to easily modify or cancel their recurring donations if they need. Motivate your donors for recurring donations by highlighting the impact of the recurring donations, and they support your nonprofit's cause. 

Show support and appreciation for repeat donors to create long-term relations and encourage continuous donations. Let them know how their donations are used and how much impact their donations make to keep them in the loop and boost future donations.

Keep promoting repeat donations by incorporating recurring giving options in your campaigns, marketing materials, and social media posts to attract donors for recurring donations.

If you implement recurring donation options, your non-profit can build a strong base of donors. This will provide consistent support for your nonprofit as well as stabilize your funding for the organization. 

#5 Optimize the Thank You Process

Never leave your donors hanging because it will just decrease their retention rate. Consider giving every donor a post-donation experience that ends up making them feel great about the impact that their donation will have. This will increase your chances of donor retention rate. 

Expressing gratitude and appreciation to your donors for their gifts is not only polite but also encourages them to donate again to your organization. Optimize the thank you process of your nonprofit to make the donors feel engaged and respected. 

Creating a thoughtful and personalized thank you message will help the donors feel valued and appreciated. This in return will foster positive relations with your nonprofit as well as encourage recurring donations. 

The thank you process is a great way to share the impact stories and testimonials on how the donor's contributions are creating a good impact in the world. 

This will help the donors connect with the nonprofit's mission emotionally and reinforce their decision to donate and support your nonprofit's cause. 

Moreover, make sure to include clear next steps in the thank you message such as signing up for a newsletter, following the nonprofit on social media, or volunteering. This will also build a long-term relationship with the donors and keep them engaged with the nonprofit. 

Always make sure to include the contact information in your thank you messages such as an email, or phone number. This will make it easier for donors to reach out to your organization if they have any queries or concerns about the donation. 

Answering donor queries is also a great way to build trust and donor confidence. The thank you process is important if you want to maintain a positive donor experience, build donor relationships, and encourage future donations. 

Final Thoughts

Simplifying the donor experience is key to boosting online donations, but achieving complete simplicity can be challenging. Fortunately, even small tips can have a significant impact on the donor's experience. 

By implementing the 5 strategies outlined above, you can enhance your nonprofit's online donation process and see an increase in donations in no time. 

When potential donors arrive on your nonprofit's donation page, they expect a clean and organized layout that makes it easy to find the donate button. 

Failing to provide this can result in donors becoming frustrated and abandoning the website. 

Therefore, it's crucial to ensure that your donation page delivers a smooth and straightforward experience for donors to minimize any decision-making roadblocks that could prevent them from completing their donation.

If you’re confused about how to go about the nitty gritty, leave that to BetterWorld. We use cutting-edge technology to make online fundraising easy for nonprofits. Our fundraising platform is designed to be incredibly easy to use. Set up an account and start raising funds in minutes!