Do you know that on-line giving elevated by 9% throughout the nonprofit sector in 2021—and continues to develop for organizations large and small? On-line giving and engagement have turn into a cornerstone of the fundraising world, making it important for nonprofit organizations to supply a seamless on-line giving course of.

So, to assist your group enhance the net donor expertise, maximize on-line giving, and higher have interaction along with your donors, we’ll stroll by way of a couple of important steps to excellent the net donation course of. From data-based fundraising outreach to investing in the suitable cost instruments, we’ll cowl the next methods:

• Focus in your donation kind’s design.
• Optimize giving for all gadgets. 
• Use a safe, accessible cost processor. 
• Leverage post-gift outreach. 

Able to enhance the way in which you settle for on-line donations and promote a streamlined giving expertise in your donors? Let’s leap in.

Focus in your donation kind’s design.

When donors click on into your on-line donation web page, they need to be greeted with an easy-to-read, simple, and aesthetically-pleasing kind. In any case, in case your donation kind is simply too complicated or poorly designed, it will probably replicate poorly in your group—or worse—drive donors away and result in kind abandonment. 

These donation kind methods will enable you to to maintain donors on the web page till they full their presents:

• Eradicate pointless questions and fields. When you embrace too many fields in your donation kind, the method could turn into tedious sufficient for some donors to say “I’ll get again to it later” and finally overlook about their presents. As a substitute, follow the necessities, equivalent to primary contact and cost info.
• Use constant branding. Colours, textual content, pictures, and different design and branding components ought to stay constant throughout your whole web site—particularly in your donation web page. This isn’t solely a mark of professionalism, nevertheless it additionally alerts to your donors that they’re in the suitable place and their info shall be protected.
• Embed your kind into your web site. By embedding your donation kind straight into your web site, you’ll be able to hold donors from being redirected to a third-party web site to finish their presents. This small however vital step could make donors really feel extra snug, protect the design of your kind, and streamline the donation course of.

As with the remainder of your nonprofit’s web site, the suitable design and accessibility components can have a big effect on how donors navigate your pages and—most significantly—whether or not or not they resolve to stay round and proceed participating with you. 

Optimize giving for all gadgets. 

With the rise of smartphones, you’ll be able to now not count on all your donors to entry your donation web page on their desktops. The truth is, in accordance with 360MatchPro’s fundraising statistics, cellular customers made up roughly 33% of on-line donation transactions final 12 months. 

With this in thoughts, you’ll want to arrange for the numerous portion of customers who shall be utilizing cellular and handheld gadgets to click on into your platform and try to finish the nonprofit cost course of. 

To advertise an inclusive giving expertise for donors on totally different gadgets, you’ll be able to:

• Use giant buttons and textual content which are readable throughout gadgets
• Incorporate a sticky navigation menu
• Make the most of a vertical structure
• Put money into donation kind instruments with mobile-friendly templates

To make completely positive that the giving expertise is optimized for a number of gadgets, you’ll be able to attempt to entry your donation kind utilizing a smartphone and leverage instruments like Google’s mobile-friendliness take a look at. 

Use a safe, accessible cost processor. 

Your cost processor is the behind-the-scenes software program that ensures donor information and funds are being facilitated safely and conveniently. This makes it a essential element of the donation course of that must be as safe and dependable as attainable. 

Particularly, take note of these key options to make sure that you’re utilizing efficient cost processing instruments in your group: 

• PCI safety compliance. As mentioned within the iATS Funds information to PCI compliance, PCI compliance is “a guidelines of guidelines and necessities created by the key bank card corporations to make sure that retailers are securely dealing with buyer info.” It’s the closest factor to a golden seal of safety {that a} cost processor can obtain, and it signifies that your cost instruments could be trusted to defend donor information.
• Anti-fraud instruments. As mission-based organizations that depend on individuals’s goodwill and belief to boost funds, nonprofits are uniquely weak to the reputational backlash that comes with hacks and fraud scandals. To forestall fraud, go for cost and donation instruments which have devoted anti-fraud measures, equivalent to CVV2 verification and encryption.
• A number of cost choices. Some donors desire to offer with their bank cards, some go for ACH, and others shall be attempting to facilitate funds from the opposite facet of the world. To accommodate all your donors and develop your giving potential, be certain that your cost processor accepts varied cost strategies, equivalent to credit score, ACH, and worldwide processing. 

Poor safety, restricted cost choices, and different hiccups can flip donors away from submitting on-line presents. These options will assist uphold donors’ belief in your group and pave the way in which for a snug giving expertise. 

Leverage post-gift outreach. 

The net donation expertise doesn’t finish when donors have submitted their presents. Removed from it—the way in which that your group communicates with donors after the actual fact can decide whether or not or not they resolve to offer once more and keep related along with your group.

An built-in cost processor could be a large assist on this regard, appropriately in a position to combine straight along with your CRM and manage cost and get in touch with info. These particulars ought to then be used to create more practical post-gift outreach by: 

• Bettering future fundraising appeals with donors’ names and giving dimension
• Leveraging donors’ names and giving historical past to personalize thank-you messages and acknowledgments
• Alerting donors to extra giving alternatives, equivalent to selling matching presents applications based mostly on donors who used their work emails to submit presents

Whereas it’s straightforward to concentrate on donors as they’re within the technique of navigating your web site and donation web page, taking steps to additional steward donors within the aftermath of their presents pays again in dividends.

Now that you simply’ve explored key ideas, tips, and instruments to advertise a extra constructive on-line donation expertise, you must have every thing you have to get began with enhancing on-line fundraising in your group. Begin the method by implementing these finest practices and staying knowledgeable about donation and cost software program within the nonprofit area. 

In regards to the creator: Peggah Azarvash

Peggah, a gross sales account government at iATS Funds, is a passionate Gross sales Govt with 10 years’ expertise offering cost resolution assist and steering to nonprofits.