It probably comes as no surprise to many of you that online giving is growing. What may be surprising, however, is that the very wealthy (a reported 1% of donors that are responsible for 32% of nonprofits’ annual gifts) are among those that prefer giving online. Generally speaking, however, they are frustrated with nonprofit websites. In this article we will highlight two very important things you can do to impress them and capitalize on the growth in online giving.
The wired wealthy
In large part, because few large donations are made via the web, nonprofits have been under the impression that large donors are not active online, but according to a new report by Sea Change Strategies¹, that’s not the case.
The wired wealthy as defined by the report are people who give at least $1,000 per year to a single cause, who average $10,896 in donations per year to charities, and have a median gift size of $4,500.
They are the kind of donors charities want to attract and keep, because while they may only make up about 1% of donors to charities, they account for approximately 32% of their annual gifts.
According to the study, more than half of the wired wealthy prefer giving online and 80% do at least some of their donating via the Internet. Unfortunately, however, less than half of respondents thought nonprofit websites were well-designed or inspired them.
Nonprofit websites: Small changes to attract big donors
With the growth of online giving and the emergence of the wired wealthy, who are very open to online giving, it is more important than ever to ensure your website encourages and supports this kind of giving. If you want to capitalize on online giving, therefore, you should do two things: make key information easy to find, and make the donation process easy.
Make key information easy to find
According to a usability study conducted by leading industry expert, the Nielsen Norman Group², if you want to encourage online donations, it is imperative that your website be user-friendly and answer a prospective donor’s questions.
The good news is you can generally predict what questions a prospective donor will have. When participants of the study were asked what information they want to see on non-profit websites before they decide whether to donate, their answers fell into two groups of information:
- What you are trying to achieve? (i.e. mission, goals, objectives and work)
- How will you spend my money? (i.e. how do you use donations and contributions)
Out of the sites studied, only 43% answered the first question on their homepage and an astonishingly low 4% answered the second question. While typically this information did exist somewhere on the site, users expressed considerable frustration with finding it.
So, if you don’t currently have all of this information on your website, make that your first priority! And don’t hide it in the “About us” section. You only have a short time to impress potential donors, so showcase what great things you do and how you use generous donations on the homepage if possible.
Making it Easy to Donate
Now just think of what a shame it would be to have impressed a wealthy prospect with all of the wonderful things your organization does and how their donation can help, and then lose him during the donation process. Believe it or not, it happens all the time. Take a good look at the donation process on your website. If it is too long or complicated, it can be a deal-breakers for potential donors. Here are some simple things you can do to ensure the donation process goes smoothly:
- Have a “Donate Now” button on each page of your website.
- Make sure the “Donate Now” button actually allows donors to go straight to the donation page and not a page that links to the donation page. An extra page will just give donors an opportunity to change their minds and it’s frustrating for donors who really are ready to donate.
- Allow donors to enter the donation information first before asking for additional information. The exciting part for donors is giving, so allow them to get to this part fast and they will be happy. Then you can ask them for any additional information required.
- Make sure your website accepts credit cards. According to the Sea Change Strategies study, a good portion of the wired wealthy donate using credit cards because they like to collect the benefits associated with their premium cards.
- Finally, make sure the payment page opens up inside the website itself. On some nonprofit websites, the payment page looks entirely different than the rest of the website. Potential donors see this as a red flag and they may quickly lose trust and abandon the donation.
Follow these simple tips and your organization will be securing many more online donations in no time — and not just from the wired wealthy, but from anyone else who may stumble upon your website.
¹The Wired Wealthy: Using the Internet to Connect with Your Middle and Major Donors. Published by: Sea Change Strategies. March 14, 2008. Available at: http://my.convio.com/?elqPURLPage=104.
²Donation Usability: Design Guidelines for Improving the Donation Process and the Usability of Essential Information on Charity and Non-Profit Websites. Published by: Nielsen Norman Group. 2009. Available at: http://www.nngroup.com/reports/donations/.
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