Donation Page Best Practices
Designing a better donation page always has the goal of increasing donations. We have proof that following these 10 tips on the donation page best practices will improve your organization’s ability to increase donations through your website. Need help? Let us know. We offer 30 minutes of consulting! Fill out the form to set up an appointment
1. Forms: Make it easy to donate.
Keep the donation process simple and straightforward. Forms should be simple to use with a selection of one-time or recurring donations. Have multiple levels of donation amounts and select your own donation amount. It is a worthwhile idea to show what each donation amount means to your organization.
2. Payment Processing: Offer multiple ways to pay
It always makes it easier when the donor can select the way they want to pay. That can include Credit Cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, or PayPal. Donation pages will always perform better with these solutions. Different CRMs offer different ways to pay. Check out our review of CRMs to decide the right one for your organization.
3. Mobile Design
No matter how you hold your device – vertically or horizontally – your donation page should be easy to use. Over 66% of all website traffic on average is mobile.
4: Branding
A donation page should seamlessly integrate with your website and engage users in the same way as your website. A disconnect in graphic design is a disconnect for the donor and can result in shopping cart abandonment. Design is always a part of every page on your website, but especially important in donation page best practices.
5: Tell your Story
Continue to connect with your donor. Just because they have reached your donation page, doesn’t mean that they are going to pull the trigger. You want to keep them motivated by sharing a compelling story of impact or statistics on how much their donation means to your organization. Illustrate how the donation will affect the lives of the people they are donating to.
- Videos
- Images with stories under them
- Statistics right on the donation page
- Listing how donations will help
Example donation pages
EWA.org
SSSEVA
FDC Onlne
CCLR
RiverstoneNYC
6: Clear Call to Action
This seems like a simple donation page best practice, but believe it or not, frequently not done. DONATE NOW should be in your top navigation as well as featured in many areas throughout the website. Make sure your call to action is easy to understand and visible.
7: Social Media Share Buttons
Encourage donors to spread the word about your cause by including social sharing buttons on your donation page.
8: Show gratitude
One of the most IMPORTANT elements of donation page best practices is to show your appreciation for your donors by thanking them for their support. You can also offer incentives, such as discounts or special gifts, to encourage future donations.
9: Stay on the Page
Don’t lead them astray and keep them focused. Please do not link to other pages on your website OR other pages in general. Keep them on your website and focused on completing the donation. We all have the attention span of a gnat so DO NOT give anyone a reason to leave your page.
10: Story-telling on your website:
Before they even get to your donation page, a person, sponsor, or company must be compelled to even think about your organization as someone they want to donate to. Having compelling content throughout your website, that illustrates the story of your impact is probably the most important part of donation page best practices even if it isn’t your donation page!
