Soapbox Engage Blog

Virtual fundraising is an integral part of all of the income that nonprofit organizations raise. Why? It’s convenient as donors can give on the go from their own devices. It’s also critical as we move through the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the world moving online, virtual giving tools such as text-to-give, crowdfunding, and virtual fundraising platforms are not only safe but beneficial for pushing missions further than ever before.

No matter how your organization has been handling the shift to virtual campaigns, one thing remains constant: your online donation form on your website. If you want to take advantage of online donations, you must create a straightforward and effective online donation form.

Let’s get into three ways to create the most effective online donation form for your virtual fundraising efforts:

• Make it easy for users to locate your donation page.
• Ask essential questions on your donation form.
• Implement a secure payment processor.

Let’s dive into how to make it simple for people to donate on your nonprofit’s website.

Make it easy for users to locate your donation page.

The most important success indicator for your donation form is that your users can find it in the first place. Imagine that a new potential donor is sifting through content on your nonprofit’s website and decides to give to your cause because your mission resonates with them. They’re searching for your donation page for a minute and, because it’s not immediately intuitive where your donation form is located, they abandon their search.

When your navigation is unclear and your donation form hard to locate, your organization misses out on gifts that can push your fundraising efforts forward. This issue is resolved with intentional calls-to-action (CTAs). For example, your team can implement the following CTA elements on your website:

• A dedicated button on your navigation menu
• A floating “donate” option on your webpage
• Eye-catching CTA boxes on key pages and blog articles that encourage giving

When you provide multiple ways for your users to find your donation form, your donors can act immediately when they feel inspired to give to your cause.

Once your users are on your donation page, make your form accessible and straightforward to avoid losing them on the final step of the donation process. Here are a few proven ways that you can provide an easy donation process once users arrive on your page:

• Keep your page simple, and lead them directly to your donation form with specific calls to action. These can look like banners, buttons, and pop-ups.
• Embed your form directly into your donation page.

According to the iATS Payments donation page guide, it’s easy to lose out on donors when your form doesn’t fit in well with your site. This can also raise security concerns. By taking the time to simplify your donor journey as much as possible, your organization can better prevent “shopping cart abandonment,” or when supporters don’t complete the donation transaction.

Ask essential questions on your donation form.

Donation form best practices recommend keeping your form as straightforward as possible. Besides including the design elements discussed above, it’s important to make sure your actual form is efficient in the nature of its questions.

You don’t want to ask too many questions and make it time-consuming for your potential donors to fill out your form. Instead, ask a few important questions that will inform your team of crucial information about your donor and help your team track engagement.

Here are some of the elements you should consider implementing on your donation form question section:

• Donor name: Obtaining the name of your donor is essential for a number of reasons. You’re able to build a donor profile per person and keep track of their donations and engagements over the course of their relationship with your nonprofit. You’re also able to use their name to personalize your communications, such as with thank you letters after they give to your cause.
• The amount of the donation: This is the most obvious question on your donation form, but be sure to provide an area to put in an amount to give. Consider including multiple options. Providing multiple options for giving has a tendency to encourage an increase in giving. This is especially true when a donor is unsure of the amount they want to give, and offering suggestions helps guide them in the right direction.
• A recurring giving option: Be sure to provide an easy option for supporters to donate on a recurring basis. This can be on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Adding this recurring donation option to the donation form will encourage your donors to give long term compared to one-time gifts, which can increase their impact over time.
• Contact information: Be sure to ask for an email, phone number, or mailing address in order to send further communications. When you follow up with thank you notes, invites, and more, you’re able to steward these donors and build relationships with them into the future.
• Billing information: Finally, you have to ask how your donor is paying in order for the transaction to go through. Be sure to provide a secure way for them to enter their card information.

In addition to the previous options, you can boost engagement with your nonprofit by providing an optional engagement preference section. Provide other ways to get involved in an unrequired question field where donors can check if they’re interested in also volunteering at events or otherwise receiving more information.

With such questions, your donation form isn’t just a tool to collect information that will sit unused in your database but will lead to relationships with your supporters. With the right design and questions, this is an easily attainable task.

Implement a secure payment processor.

At iATS Payments, we encourage nonprofits to use a secure and reliable payment processor. When your team is looking for the best payment tool on the market, be sure to look into the options that are specifically dedicated to the nonprofit sector. Such an option is secure and protects you and your donors’ sensitive data.

After all, when donors give to your cause, your users will enter personal and financial information that could be leaked in the event of a security breach. If you’re using an insecure processor, you’re putting your organization’s reputation at risk.

Therefore, you must look for the following security features in the payment processor attached to your donation form:

• Fraud protection. When your organization is looking into options for your processor, be sure to compare the fraud protection features of each. Be sure to look into the software options that let your team customize the features to your own unique needs.
• Payment Card Industry compliance. Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) is a nationally accepted and mandatory security measure that is practiced by all credit card companies. These will help your team keep the cardholder data safe and secure when they donate to your organization online.
• Security alerts. One of the most important features is to have a payment processor that alerts your team of any potential breaches or leaks. You’ll want to keep abreast of any potentially fraudulent transactions and activity related to your organization, so your team can take immediate action.

And lastly, communicate the security measures you’re taking. As an organization, it’s your responsibility to inform your supporters of how you’re protecting their information. When you remain open and informed about data security, you’ll establish mutual trust with your supporters.

There are plenty of options out there for payment processors. No matter which option you choose, it’s crucial that your tool takes proactive measures to protect donors and provides an accessible experience for all users on your organization’s site.

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Overall, these three items are crucial considerations when it comes to designing the most effective donation form possible. It’s crucial that you do not lose your potential donor on the last step of their journey, which is giving to your organization!

Additionally, be sure to check out all of your payment processing options, but prioritize those with the most pertinent security measures to protect both you and your donors.

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Guest Post by Matt Dunne

Driven by his desire to support numerous charitable causes in his home country of Ireland, Matt joined the iATS Payments Team in March 2016 to leverage his entrepreneurial experience in support of the non-profit industry. He empowers partner organizations to provide impartial, accurate and valuable payments information and knowledge to the Nonprofit community.