Are you a non-profit organization looking for ways to increase your donations? If you are, then you need a high-converting donation form.
Often, givers and supporters get lost in the donation process because of clunky, complex, or unappealing donation forms. As a result, charities and not-for-profit organizations suffer lower giving rates because the last step wasn’t as seamless as it should be.
In this article, we’ll share tips to increase conversions on your donation form pages and share some online donation tools that can help you get better results. If you’re ready to increase your donations and make a bigger impact, let’s get started.
Characteristics of a High-Converting Donation Form
Before diving into the best practices that improve donation conversions, you must understand what makes a high-converting donation form. An effective donation page typically possesses several key characteristics that make it effective and user-friendly. Here are some of these characteristics:
Beautiful and Clear Design
Your donation page’s design plays a crucial factor in its conversion rate. 94% of a site’s first impression relies on its design. You should create beautiful and clear page designs for your giving page.
The form to donate should be straightforward to understand. Avoid using complex language or technical jargon, as that could scare off givers. You should also make the steps to complete the donation clear and concise, so you don’t lose givers in the middle of the flow.
Using free design templates can streamline this process, aiding in the creation of visually engaging donation pages that resonate with your audience and encourage contributions.
Minimal Field Count
It’s a privilege enough when someone takes the time to visit your page. You don’t want to lose more of their precious time by asking for too much information when they’re filling up a form.
Request only essential information when taking donations. This often includes name, email, donation amount, and payment information. You can collect more information you might need later or once they become regular donors. Reducing the number of fields to fill out can help increase the conversion rate.
Mobile Responsiveness
73.1% of web designers mention that the top reason why visitors leave a website is due to its non-responsive design. You should create a donation page that adjusts well on smaller devices like smartphones and tablets.
With the increasing use of mobile devices, it might even help to have a mobile-first design, meaning the page creation process primarily prioritizes what the donation form would look like on a phone or table. It should be easily accessible and functional on various screen sizes and devices.
Trust-building Elements
Generous people will only part with their hard-earned dollars for two reasons— because a cause resonates with them and you show yourself trustworthy. With all the scams and phishing operations present nowadays, you should go out of your way to prove that you’re a legitimate organization to remove any seed of doubt.
Some ways to build trust include displaying security badges and adding testimonials or endorsements to your page or website. Donors want to be assured that their personal and financial information is secure, so you should also include a privacy policy on your website.
Suggested Donation Amounts
Being unsure of how much you want to give could become a deterrent to pushing through with your donation. So, as a donation recipient, you should have suggested donation amounts already to simplify the decision-making.
Suggested donation amounts can guide donors and sometimes even encourage them to give more than they initially planned. Including an option for custom amounts after giving some suggested donations is also useful.
Contact Channel for Concerns and Feedback
Don’t assume that people’s donation experiences will go smoothly 100% of the time. Sometimes, a card might not work or a form doesn’t submit properly. Provide clear error messages if a donor fills out the form incorrectly.
Additionally, immediate feedback upon submission (like a thank-you message or email) can enhance the donor's experience.
Donation Page Inspirations
Because a donation page’s design and user experience matter, it helps to have a starting point when designing your donation form. Here are some great donation landing page examples you can use or contextualize for your non-profit organization, cause, or charity.
Sponsor a Child Template
It's a customizable template. Get it here.
Sign a Petition Template
It's a customizable template. Get it here.
Adopt a Pug Template
It's a customizable template. Get it here.
Donate to Plant a Tree Template
It's a customizable template. Get it here.
8 Tips for High-Converting Donation Forms
Now that you know what makes a high-converting donation form, let’s talk about some best practices that could help improve your page’s performance. Here are 8 tips to help you create high-converting donation forms for your non-profit organization.
Integrate with a Lead Generation Funnel
Design your donation form to be a part of a broader lead generation funnel. This means capturing potential donors' information at various stages, such as through newsletters, informational webinars, or free downloadable resources, and guiding them towards the donation form.
Use AI-Generated Text for Personalization
Are you finding it difficult to create compelling copies of your donation forms? There are tools for high-converting donation forms that provide AI-generated text. Use these tools as a starting point and polish them to fit your voice and tone.
Employ AI tools to generate personalized text for follow-up emails or on the donation form. Personalized messages can address the donor by name or reference their interests based on previous interactions, making them feel more connected to the cause. We highly recommend using a tool like involve.me if you want a generative AI feature that works hand in hand with a donation page builder.
Implement AI for Predictive Analysis
Artificial intelligence can do more than create marketing copies for your charity. You should also consider using it to analyze donor data and predict the most effective times to ask for donations.
Involve.me also has this capability. Moreover, the tool’s AI for analytics creates detailed reports on donor behavior. With these reports, you can ideas to optimize donation amounts, frequency, and timing patterns to optimize your donation forms and approach.
Optimize for Voice Search and AI Assistants
Studies show that 92% of voice assistant users utilize AI to search for information online. As voice-activated AI assistants become more popular, you want to make sure that your donation form and related pages are optimized for voice search.
Doing so will make it easier for potential donors to find and access your form using devices like smartphones and smart speakers.
Create Compelling Stories and Messages
Compelling stories of change and impact can speak volumes to a donor’s heart. It drives positive emotions that motivate them to support your cause and even tell others about it as well. Accordingly, you should craft compelling stories and tell them online.
If your team includes members with degrees in communication, utilize their expertise to craft compelling narratives. Ask them to help you create clear and persuasive messages on the donation form and in related communications.
Use AI for A/B Testing
Implement AI tools to conduct A/B testing on different elements of your donation form. This can include variations in layout, wording, and call-to-action buttons to determine what yields higher conversion rates.
Automate Follow-Up Communication
You can also use automated systems to handle follow-up communication with those who have shown interest but haven't donated yet. This can include page abandonment sequences or reminders for people who pledged to give but haven’t entered banking details yet. Personalized reminders or additional information about the impact of their donation can motivate them to complete the process.
Use AI to Enhance Accessibility
Ensure your donation form is accessible to all, including people with disabilities. AI tools can enhance text-to-speech, image recognition, and navigation assistance, making the donation process inclusive and user-friendly.
Better Tools and A Heart to Help
Using tools for high-converting donation form templates, checklist apps, and other systems can streamline your donation process. This makes it easy for you and your donors. With less friction, you could see your giving go up. At the end of the day, money isn’t everything, but having more funds to carry out your cause can help significantly. Using these tools and following these tips, you can improve your donation numbers and expand your cause’s reach and impact.
Author Bio
Syed Balkhi is the founder of WPBeginner, the largest free WordPress resource site.
With over 10 years of experience, he’s the leading WordPress expert in the industry. You can learn more about Syed and his portfolio of companies by following him on his social media networks.
