Are you ready for year-end fundraising? To succeed, your nonprofit needs to develop its digital presence. Your nonprofit’s website must build connections with existing supporters, draw in support from new donors, and make the donation process as simple as possible.
Make the most of your website
If you don’t have web development or coding experience, optimizing your website may seem scary. However, with the right strategies and tools, your nonprofit can easily revamp its existing website. Whether you’re hosting a peer-to-peer fundraiser or an online Giving Tuesday campaign, it’s important that your website makes a great first impression and encourages supporters to give.
Use the following tips to ensure your website is ready to amp up your year-end fundraising strategy:
- Optimize your donation page
- Create a strong year-end landing page
- Prioritize simple navigation
With the end of the year quickly approaching, it’s vital that you start improving your organization’s website as soon as possible. Let’s begin!
Optimize your donation page
One of the core goals of your year-end giving campaign is to raise money. However, without a well-designed donation page that streamlines the giving process and motivates people to donate, you’ll miss out on key support. It’s important that you focus on your donation page and identify changes you can make to improve user experience and encourage people to complete the donation process.
Let’s take a close look at the features you should add to your nonprofit’s giving page.
Branding
A nonprofit web design’s best practice is to brand your entire website, including your donation page, so it’s unique to your organization. Branding can help your organization build strong connections with supporters, increase brand visibility, and give your nonprofit’s donation page a more professional look, helping to boost credibility.
Incorporate your nonprofit’s color scheme, brand font(s), and images related to your mission into your donation page so that it’s consistent with the rest of your website and marketing materials. Make sure to display your nonprofit’s logo at the top of your donation page. This way, when people navigate to your donation page, they can be sure that they’re giving to your organization.
Mobile matters – be ready
Your donation page should be accessible to computer, tablet, and smartphone users. A mobile-friendly donation page makes the giving process more convenient. That can expand the number of people who will give to your organization. In fact, according to 360MatchPro, mobile-friendly donation pages yield 34% more donations. To make your page mobile-friendly, ensure that mobile users can click buttons and complete all prompts without issues.
Limited prompts
How potential donors experience your website is critical to whether they complete the donation process. Instead of making your donation page too lengthy, which can lead to donor abandonment, stick to only the most essential prompts. This should include the donor’s contact information, donation amount, and billing information. You can always collect more information from your donors later as you form relationships with them.
A CMS with nonprofit-specific features can help you easily apply these elements to your donation page—no coding required. If your nonprofit doesn’t have web design experience or simply wants to streamline the design process, a CMS with automatic mobile optimization and drag-and-drop functionality will allow you to optimize your site in just a few moments.
Create a strong year-end landing page
When visitors navigate to your website, they should be able to learn about your year-end giving campaign or event without having to do too much digging. Consolidate all the information about your exciting fundraiser into a single landing page to promote a positive user experience and encourage donors to take action.
To design your year-end landing page, incorporate these elements:
- Logistical details. Provide site visitors with basic information about your campaign or event, such as the time span, location if you’re hosting an in-person event, and whether there’s a participation fee.
- Your campaign’s purpose. Prospective donors will be curious about the goal of your fundraising efforts and how their donations will be used. Tell them how the money raised will be used and how it will further your nonprofit’s mission.
- Your nonprofit’s mission. Some people who click on your landing page may not be familiar with your nonprofit. Include your organization’s mission statement and a brief description of your services. This will boost your nonprofit’s credibility and make donors feel more comfortable giving to your organization.
- A link to your donation page. Include a link to your giving page or embed your year-end donation form directly into your campaign landing page. This makes it easier for donors to complete the donation process.
- An inspiring story and call to action. To motivate supporters to donate, tell a story that shows the important work your nonprofit does and how donors’ contributions make a difference. For example, tell a compelling story about someone your nonprofit helped. Emphasize that donor support is needed to continue your services in the community in your call to action.
- Impactful visuals. Your landing page should be both informative and visually appealing. Include visuals that show your nonprofit in action or demonstrate your nonprofit’s impact, such as volunteers working in the community or individuals that your organization services. This will add emotional appeal to your landing page and drive people to donate.
If you’re hosting a fundraising event, include a built-in registration process on your landing page. Embedding your RSVP form directly into your page will streamline signups and likely attract more event participants.
Prioritize simple navigation
If your website is difficult to navigate, site visitors will be less likely to stick around and may donate elsewhere. Ensure that people can find the information they’re looking for quickly. By prioritizing simple navigation, visitors will have a positive association with your nonprofit, which will motivate them to explore your content and give to your year-end fundraiser.
According to Morweb, the best nonprofit websites have a navigation menu with links to all of their most important webpages, such as their year-end landing page. This navigation menu should be displayed prominently in the page header or sidebar. If your nonprofit has multiple important web pages, consider creating a mega menu where you can create a dropdown list of sub-categories from the main navigation links.
Suggested Alt Text: Create a mega menu to organize links into categories and facilitate easy navigation.
Another important element of simple navigation is using call-to-action buttons to help bring attention to important pages like your giving page. For example, you can include a prominent “Donate Now” button at the top of every webpage so site visitors can easily navigate to your donation form.
The Gist
The first step to a successful year-end fundraiser is optimizing your website. With a strong website, your nonprofit can maximize support and build strong relationships with supporters that can carry over into the new year. Remember to keep your audience in mind and ensure that your website is giving your supporters the most engaging, informative, and user-friendly experience possible. Good luck!
Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash
Murad Bushnaq
Murad Bushnaq is the Founder and CEO of Morweb. Since its inception in 2014, Murad has acted as Creative Director and Chief Technologist to help nonprofits spread their vision online through engaging design, intuitive software, and strategic communication.
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