Optimizing Your Donation Landing Pages for Higher Conversion
Every nonprofit organization knows the importance of a donation landing page. What’s more, building a compelling page is now easier than ever. The rise of digital media means we have more tools at our disposal and better ways of pulling on donors’ heartstrings to persuade them to support charitable causes.
But despite these innovations, many nonprofits still struggle to build intuitive landing pages that lead to conversions. As a result, they’re missing out on donations they desperately need.
Here, we’ll explore why you need to optimize your landing pages. We’ll also share steps for building the best page possible.
The importance of optimizing donation landing pages
Put yourself in a donor’s shoes for a moment and picture two scenarios.
In scenario A, you land on a bland donation page. There are no images or any other media. The message on the page is very generic and basic.
In scenario B, you arrive at a page featuring carefully curated images that display a nonprofit’s work. This is accompanied by a compelling message emphasizing the importance of your donation.
There’s a high chance that you’d be more likely to donate in scenario B. The average donor is no different. That’s why it’s essential to build a landing page that conveys a compelling message and
encourages donations.
How to optimize your donation landing pages
Unsure where to start with your donation landing page? Begin your optimization by focusing on the following areas.
1. Identify donor personas and tailor your messages
Modern audiences are accustomed to tailored experiences. They expect your messaging to speak to them on a personal level. For instance, as younger, tech-savvy users make up a growing portion of your donor base, they will expect a mobile-friendly, easy-to-navigate experience with personalized content. By failing to meet this need, you’ll find it harder to attract donors.
But to offer personalized experiences, you need to understand the different subsets of donors in your audience. So before optimizing anything, you need to carry out thorough donor research.
You’ll likely already have strong data about existing and former donors. Look to your social media,
website analytics tool, and other sources to gather a wealth of data. You can use this information as a basis to construct ‘donor personas,’ which create profiles of different subsets of ‘ideal’ donors within your audience.
When creating donor personas, be sure to include the following information:
- Demographics: How old is your average donor, what is their ethnicity, and where are they located?
- Career information: What industry do they work in? What is their average income?
- Hobbies and other lifestyle information: What hobbies does a donor enjoy? Are they religious, or do they support any other non-profit organizations?
- Contact method: Does a donor like to be contacted through email, social media, or phone calls?
2. Craft effective CTAs
An effective call-to-action (CTA) should grab a viewer’s attention. Most importantly, it should leave a donor in no doubt about how to proceed. CTAs deliver clear instructions–‘click here,’ ‘learn more,’ and so on.
Unfortunately, too many nonprofits overlook the importance of their CTAs. This results in many donors feeling confused on landing pages. They’re left to go in circles, getting increasingly frustrated until they abandon your page. So reassess your use of CTAs.
Begin with the basics by considering your use of text in buttons and headers. A CTA should be concise, consisting of no more than 2-3 words. A donor should be able to receive a clear instruction simply by skim-reading the page.
The position of your CTA is equally important. A user shouldn’t have to work to find a button or link. Make sure that your CTA is displayed prominently on the page and that a user isn’t required to scroll.
3. Simplify the donation process
With nearly 2 million nonprofits in the US alone, the average person has no shortage of options when it comes to making a charitable donation. If they’ve made it to your donation landing page, you’ve clearly done something right so far!
But the donation process itself is a critical step in their support. You don’t want to lose them at the last hurdle, so you need to make sure this process is as simple as possible. The more legwork you give to donors, the less likely they are to make a contribution.
There are several steps you can take to remove potential barriers. These include:
- Offering more flexibility for payment amounts: The more donation options you offer, the higher the chance of receiving payment. As well as offering a wide range of options, add a ‘custom donation’ option so that donors can specify a donation amount.
- Allow a variety of forms of payment: As well as providing credit card options, allow donors to use faster forms of payment, such as Apple Pay or PayPal. Several charities, like Make A Wish, also give the option of paying with cryptocurrency or by mail.
- Minimize required information: Donors will be put off by lengthy forms. Keep forms concise and limit the number of fields as much as possible to increase the chance of a donation.
As one of the leading content management systems (CMS), Morweb has launched its upgraded
Fundraising Module, ensuring that nonprofits can focus on their mission while improving donor engagement and retention. By simplifying both the donor experience and backend management, this module helps nonprofits streamline operations and maximize their impact.
4. Build trust and accountability
Accountability and transparency are particularly important for nonprofits, which must show their donors the impact their donations have had. On top of this, many grants require nonprofits to report on how they’ve spent the money and what they’ve been able to accomplish.
Use accounting software to pull financial data, create impact reports and publish financial statements. These documents prove how your nonprofit is funded and what people’s donations are being spent on. Finally, it helps to foster trust by demonstrating your commitment to complete transparency.
Alongside transparency surrounding donations, consider your approach to data. As we’ve explored, you likely collect a variety of information about donors. Make sure that people are aware of this data collection, include a detailed privacy policy detailing your use of cookies, explain why you’re collecting data and how it helps further your work as a nonprofit.
In some jurisdictions, it is a legal requirement to gather consent before collecting any data. Consider what privacy laws apply to you and make sure you have appropriate consent tools in place.
5. Utilize testimonials and success stories
A testimonial can be an extremely useful piece of social proof. It’s a chance for visitors to see other donors who have contributed to your nonprofit.
Donors or volunteers can share their stories and explain why your organization is important to them. Testimonials are also a great way of featuring people whose lives have been positively impacted by donations.
A testimonial can take the form of a short video or a written statement. You can collect these by reaching out to people who have previously supported you.
Consider sending surveys over email or through social media. You can ask questions such as ‘Why is our organization important to you?’, and ‘Why do you enjoy volunteering for our organization?’.
Video testimonials will need a little more preparation. You could connect with donors virtually using video conferencing software and record their testimonials in an interview style. Or, for a more personal touch, you could meet people in person. Remember, you’ll need the help of a professional editor to make these video testimonials look presentable.
6. Implement A/B testing for continuous improvement
A/B testing is the process of testing two versions of the same page by splitting website traffic in half. So, 50% of website traffic will be forwarded to page A and 50% to page B.
The idea is to test the impact of different pages. For nonprofits, this is an excellent opportunity to find landing pages that will accrue maximum donations.
An A/B test doesn’t necessarily have to involve drastically different designs. They can help to measure the impact of minute changes, such as featured images, video placement, banner layout, or the wording of CTAs.
Consider the different areas of your landing page that might need improvement, then A/B test before implementing any permanent changes.
7. Leverage analytics and reporting tools
Optimization involves keeping a constant eye on your resources, landing page performance, amount of donations and the overall impact for your NGO. For this, you’ll need tools that can unpack your data and deliver useful insights.
Start by considering an accounting software for charities. As a specialized tool you’ll gain more than just financial insights, it will also help you to plan your resources, monitor your donations and provide you with a holistic view across your entire organization. So, you can optimize your resources and make the best decisions that work for your NGO or charity.
Next, you’ll want to implement website analytics tools that dig deep into user behavior on your
nonprofit website. They can deliver insights such as:
- Average session time of your landing page
- Click-through rate for your CTA
- Social media channels that drive the most visitors to your page
- Audience reports detailing demographics, traits, and other donor information
Alongside website analytics tools, consider the use of heat mapping software. This highlights different aspects of your webpage based on engagement. Darker colors denote areas of high engagement, while brighter colors suggest less activity.
As you monitor your data, it’s important to ask a few key questions, particularly: ‘What pain points are donors experiencing?’ and ‘Which aspects of the page are receiving the least engagement?’ Answering these questions is key to continually improving your landing pages.
Key takeaways
The importance of donation landing pages cannot be overstated for nonprofits. With the right design, you can convey key messages to supporters and boost donations.
Unfortunately, finding the perfect design can be easier said than done. But with the right approach, you can leave visitors feeling more engaged with your cause and hopefully encourage them to support your work in additional ways in the future.
Today, we’ve explored simple ways to enhance your landing page design. Start the process with the strongest possible understanding of your donors. Carry out audience research and create comprehensive buyer personas. These should be at the heart of your approach as you craft better CTAs, carry out A/B testing, and implement other optimization activities.
It all begins with a clear strategy. Take time to review your current approach and see where small changes might have a big impact.
