Creating a Natural Conversation on Your Donation Landing Pages

Just as you would emphatically speak about your organization in real life, your landing page should conjure the same level of enthusiasm. A strong landing page not only rallies for your cause but sincerely encourages donor participation. The goal is to create a two-way conversation in which your readers learn about something that resonates with them and feel inspired to respond.

Elements of Donation Landing Pages

If we look at a nonprofit landing page as a living conversation, we then must analyze its elements to see how they fit. Who’s speaking/responding? And what is the conversation about? What emotions, viewpoints, and actions is the conversation moving its participants toward? These key conversational elements will create a true exchange on your landing page between your organization and its supporters.

Let’s first consider what must happen for a great conversation to take place in real life. Each person must have some level of trust (this other person is safe). Each must become engaged (this conversation interests both of us), and finally, inspiration (both people feel inspired to take any action based on the conversation – even if it’s just to interact again in the future).

Putting the Lessons to Use

Now let’s apply this symbolically to your donation landing pages. The elements of your page must take readers through each stage of a great conversation:

First, your reader must feel safe (this cause is legitimate and funds are being spent appropriately). Then, it’s time to use charisma to engage them (this cause truly does matter). Finally, let’s inspire them (I should take action on this – aka respond!) At this point, the only task left is to provide a clear avenue for the donor’s response in the conversation. Responses can be any number of things, from an email opt-in to a share on social media to volunteer signup. But most importantly, you’re seeking their donation to keep your mission and vision on track.

So the formula is: build trust –> engage –> elicit a response

Now that we know what to do, let’s look at how to do it.

Build Trust

Sharing about your organization, its history, mission, and programs can build trust and/or engage. Just as getting to know and trust someone requires that you learn things about them, getting to know an organization works the same way. Your audience needs to learn at least a bit of your backstory and what makes your nonprofit different from others of its kind. Don’t be afraid to reveal quirks and interesting sidenotes, as this is what really builds out your brand identity.

Engage

Educating about your cause and providing factual information can engage and/or build trust. Since the beginning of humanity, storytelling has been the most significant way we engage listeners. To engage your audience, they need to understand your cause (what’s happening? explain the problem you’re solving). But more importantly, they need a story that ties it to a ‘why’ factor (why does this matter to me as an individual?)

Elicit a Response

Your clear, direct call-to-action is what prompts the response, or action that you want readers to take. This is the simplest element of the formula, but it’s still easy to over-complicate. Not only does the action need to be clear, but donors need to have a simple step-by-step process to follow. In other words, a clear call-to-action to donate isn’t sufficient if the actual donating experience is long and tedious. From start to finish, each step must be thorough with no obstacles in the donation process.

Go Beyond Donation Landing Pages

If you’ve been working to increase giving, but a lack of resources, time, or expertise has gotten in the way, our online coaching provides a helping hand. We’ll review 7 key metrics to determine the biggest hole in your donor bucket and guide you to make effective changes. Because while excellent donation landing pages are essential, they’re not all you’ll need to succeed.