Are you eager to try using a donation page to capture online donations? If so, you’re not alone!
A donation page is a simple to create and is ready to “go live” in a manner of minutes. Plus, it’s affordable and uber-effective at streamlining all your online financial transactions. For most nonprofits and charities, choosing to use a donation page is a no-brainer.
But the trick isn’t necessarily getting your donation page up and running (that’s the easy part)—it’s getting your donors to your donation page.
Don’t let the fear of asking for donations stop you from starting your own donation page. Here are 8 easy and effective ways to get people to your donation page today.
1. Connect Your Donation Page To Your Website
First thing’s first: link your donation page to your website. After all, it’s often the first place people go to learn about your cause. You need to be sure you’re capturing donations the minute a donor starts to consider it.
As you know, a simple Google search will likely bring donors- both current and prospects, right to your nonprofit website. From there, they may decide to browse your stories of impact, your staff page, or they may go straight to your donation page.
Make it easy for your donors to find your donation page by putting a link to it right in the header. Then, make it stand out by using bold lettering, a different color, or a robust button.
Check out this great “Donate” button on the Irish International Immigrant Center’s homepage.
2. Add The Donation Page To Your Email Signature
How many emails do you send a day? 50? 100? Email is a great way to remind everyone you communicate with about where you work and the difference your organization makes in the world.
Since you’re top-of-mind when they’re answering their emails, go ahead and add a link to your donation page directly in your signature. It’s a quick and easy way to ensure those you’re connected with know how to give.
3. Embed It
Current supporters and prospective donors alike head to your website to learn about your organization. It’s often their first stop! Because they’re already there, give your website visitors the opportunity to donate seamlessly and without any added effort.
An easy way to put the idea of donating front and center is to embed your donation page right on your website. You can embed the page from a “Donate” button and even trigger a donation popup from certain points on your website.
Embedding couldn’t be easier. Simply copy and paste your individual code directly on your website or email it to whoever manages your tech-related tasks.
4. Ask Your Supporters to Share the Link
Community-driven fundraising, the process of using the influence of your supporters to raise money (and attention!) for your nonprofit or charity is one of the most effective ways to collectively raise money.
Regardless of whether you’re running a peer-to-peer or another community-driven fundraising campaign, go ahead and ask your donors to share your donation page with their contacts. It’s simple, and they can do it through email or even social media.
5. Incorporate Your Donation Page Into Your Social Media-Based Fundraising Campaign
One of the newest ways to raise money online is through a social media-based– fundraising campaign. Oftentimes, nonprofits and charities use tools such as Facebook LIVE and Instagram Stories to share reasons for giving.
Social media stories evoke emotion about your cause. Once donors have engaged emotionally, you just need to tell them what they should do next. It only takes a second to link to your donation page right within your social media profiles. You evoked emotion in your donors. Now, you just need to tell them what they should do next.
Your social media promotion can be ongoing. Regularly post calls-to-action that link to your donation page throughout your fundraising campaign.
6. Targeting Prospects
Go ahead and pull your donor data every few months or, if you’re short on time (which you most definitely are), at least annually. Look for key demographics, such as age, geographic location, average gift amount, gender, marital status, etc.
Then, get to work. This demographic information is crucial for targeting Facebook and Instagram ads, but even if you’re not interested in those, it provides an excellent picture of your prospective donors. Using this information, get out and meet your prospects them where they are, including networking and community events. While you’re reaching out to prospects, give them a business card that includes your donation page URL.
7. Share Your Story
Your nonprofit story matters to your donors. By sharing videos, images, and written stories about the positive impact your organization is making in the world, your donors further connect with your cause.
But, as you’ve heard us say time and time again, a story only gets you so far. After you share your story with donors (whether that’s through email, social media, or even a direct mailing), give them a directive to GIVE/DONATE/PLEDGE—use whichever term you prefer!
8. Make Your Donation Page A Marketing Staple
Have I stressed the importance of linking to your donation page enough in this post?
As you can see, it’s the simplest way to streamline your donation transaction process. When you have one link, one page, one spot, it’s also much easier to remember where to direct your donors and prospects.
So make your donation page a marketing staple, no matter how and when you’re making the “ask.” Use it to collect everyday donations, special campaign funds, and anything else that comes up. Remember to make sure your donation page is responsive to multiple devices as well. You never know exactly how your donor is accessing your page, so mobile optimization is important.
After some time, everyone familiar with your organization will know where to go to give, and they’ll be much more likely to share that information seamlessly and naturally with others.
Getting donors to your donation page is where most of your effort lies. Think ahead about the ways you plan to connect donors to your donation page, and then get to work. When you’re ready to create your donation page, head to CauseVox. It’s free to start and simple for you AND your donors.
