How to Make an Online Donation Website

For most nonprofits, answering the question of how to increase online giving is a primary concern. While your church provides for its community, that’s only made possible by the generosity of donors. To worsen matters, 2020 brought about a fresh wave of social complications. Suddenly, having an online donation website couldn’t be more important.

Fortunately, nonprofits that were already adopting a digital presence did not get hit as hard as those unfamiliar with online donation websites and other tools. However, many nonprofits had to turn to less-than-ideal solutions with a rush to adapt, like a simple PayPal donation link. Others remained overwhelmed and still haven’t pursued a digital presence. Recent events highlighted the importance of staying connected with the church communities and donors, via intuitive digital platforms. Now’s an excellent time to consider a remote transition.

Regardless of where your nonprofit is right now, with the help of this guide and other DonorWerx resources, you’ll be able to catch up and start getting ahead again in no time.

Find The Right Software to Host Your Site

Many nonprofits start with a simple solution just to get up-and-running, and that’s okay. However, most organizations will quickly outgrow a PayPal link or similar setup. Even before they do, it’s essential to understand that these non-branded, non-immersive experiences can make an effort to collect online donations much less effective.

The right software will offer you:

• Customizability so the form will fit your brand image.
• An engaging experience that gives donors options.
• A frictionless process with minimal steps and complications.

When thinking about making your donation form more engaging, look to examples from some of the most prominent nonprofits. By quantifying impact (i.e., $5 = food for one child), you can maximize donation size and donor interest in the long-term.

Build and Support The Donor Experience

As a nonprofit, your goal shouldn’t be just to get a donation. It’s about attracting new donors. In other words, one-time donations are helpful in the near future, but they don’t make a difference for the long-term success of your organization. To continue growing, you need to create a donor experience that convinces people to make a recurring donation for their preferred cause.

Thinking about how you can quantify a donation, if someone donates $5 to feed a child, most will not continue contributing unless they’re getting some sort of feedback. Likewise, someone who does donate once is far more likely to donate again if they hear more about the impact their money made.

Therefore, figuring out how to get more online donations isn’t a simple matter of setting up a form or sharing the link to it. Getting more online donations requires you to build out a donor experience. This experience should include personalized follow-up emails, donor updates, and other insightful content that shows donors the difference they’re making.

Tell Potential Donors About The New Option

You can’t launch a donation form and expect people to use it. To get more online donations, your organization has to devote effort to talking about the various ways in which people can support you and then emphasize the quantifiable impact of any actions they take.

You should also make your donation form sharable, along with all of your content related to it. You might even add a custom after-donation page that gives a donor the option to share their decision to support your cause. Anytime someone shares information about your organization, it exponentially increases your reach because their friends may share with their friends, and so on.

Of course, some organizations will be met with hesitation from donors about using an online donation form.  The resistance to digital technology is common in churches, and the best way to address uncertainties and concerns is to speak directly to your congregants or supporters. All organizations should view and present online donations as an additional option and never the sole method of supporting your cause.

Create Content That Drives Action

As you figure out how to get more online donations, realize that content will play a crucial role. Consider checking for the following points for every blog post, social media post, FAQ page, or email sent:

• Your content should address your supporters’ preferred topics.
• It should reinforce the actions your organization is taking for a cause.
• Content should remind readers that donations are crucial in running church communities.
• Your content should structure around a clear and concise CTA.

If you’re setting up a donation website for the first-time, there are a few important things you should know. This is also true if you’re new to the world of content marketing. Taking the time to learn about content, keywords and creating a strong call-to-action (CTA) will prove priceless. Still, remember that you can’t expect results overnight.

As your organization moves forward with setting up an online donation website or revamping its old online donation collection method, it’s essential to acknowledge that this process requires time and energy.

Get More Online Donations with DonorWerx

To build up a list of consistent supporters, your organization has to put the donor experience center-stage.

This commitment requires a frictionless and branded donation experience. You also need great content that helps convince supporters to donate. In fact, even better content that convinces them to do so routinely can prove invaluable.

With all of that in mind, building an exceptional donor pipeline and experience isn’t easy. Fortunately, some tools can help. With DonorWerx, your organization can achieve more online donations thanks to an easy-to-use donor management system. Even better, it’s fully integrated with our suite of software. Interested in learning more? Explore our products and other resources here.