The donation guide to online fundraising.
24 June 2021Do you sometimes feel like fundraising is an uphill battle? We have been there too.
To help you, we have identified the not-to-be-missed essentials for online fundraising. Keep reading to find everything you need to know to avoid leaving donations at the table. You can also download the checklist here.
1- Design standards
When you are preparing your online donation request there is nothing more important than having a clear user friendly donation form.
Potential donors will be very discouraged if the form is not easy to use in simple steps. The less information you request from them the better. The ideal form for simple donations should be completed within 1 minute. You can do this by providing giving options and setting your preferred default giving amount.
19% of the online donations come from mobile devices, so make sure your form is mobile optimised. Your donation form should look good and work well on any device to max up your opportunities to capture donations.
It is critical that the donation form sits well within your website. Make sure it is on brand to add credibility and ensure your potential donors trust your donation request.

2 – Payment processing
When it comes to completing the donation, the more options you provide to your supporters the more chance they will complete the transaction. Remove barriers by offering Credit card, direct debit, PayPal or even Apple/Google pay wallets for mobile users. You can also provide convenient giving options such as Text to give, which facilitates quick donations in offline environments.
One of the main concerns for your donors will be the security of donating online. Provide visual proof of security settings to increase confidence when processing payments.
“Thank well”. Set up a sincere thank you message on the donation confirmation page, and email tax receipt – with the right tools you can set up an automatic tax receipt to reduce the administration effort.
Remember to provide an option to share on social media upon completion of the donation, this will extend the reach of your campaign.

3. Donor management
CRM, Social Media, Donation Forms, Donor databases, are just some of the many places where you can display your contacts. Having full control and organisation may take up a lot of your time.
You need to make sure you have visibility of all donor activity in an easy and accessible way. Specialised donor dashboards will give you an instant overview on donor management and will simplify communication between you and your donors.
Make sure you are using a system that allows you to easily segment and export donor data in a collaborative way. A great way to do this is by having your CRM (e.g. etapestry, salesforce) integrated with your donor management tools.

4. Campaign approach
There is one extra thing that you need to keep in mind when it comes to fundraising, and that is your donation campaign approach. This work in itself is already complex and requires a lot of strategic thinking. With the right donation platform you can use technology to boost your campaign results.
With platforms like Generous you will be able to produce dedicated campaigns – not just a single general donation page. Your donation form can appear in multiple locations. (e.g. donate button on top of page, campaign page, pop up).
You will also be able to have a progress bar to showcase how close you are to reaching your campaign goal. This works as a motivator for donors who will immediately see the impact of their contribution.
“ 12% of the population don’t trust organizations to spend their money well”
NP Source. Online giving statistics

If you want your fundraising campaigns to be a success, tell the story of how the donations will be used. Make sure your campaigns are clear, and your donors know where their funds will be spent. Include social proof to present the impact of your nonprofit, highlighting how others have contributed to the success of your fundraising.
There is definitely a lot when it comes to online fundraising, and that’s why we have compiled all this information into a checklist with the not-to-be-missed essentials. Complete our checklist to tune up your donation request and make sure you are maximizing your fundraising efforts!
If you are looking for a tool that can offer you the best donation technology, you can get started with Generous on our $0/month Startup plan.
Let’s increase giving ?