You might be wondering, what is a post-donation thank you page? After someone makes a donation on your website, your post-donation thank you page is the first thing they see.
It confirms that their donation went through successfully, and usually says something like “THANK YOU FOR DONATING“.
We talked about thank you letters to donors, but you can use the post-donation thank you page effectively too.
What many nonprofits don’t realize is that your post-donation thank you page is a huge opportunity – not only to show appreciation but also to engage your supporters for your benefit.
Think about it – this donor just supported your cause, and they believe in your work. There’s an opportunity here for you to squeak out another action!
KISSmetrics offers ten ways for businesses to revamp their thank you landing page into a dynamic company-building tool. They wrote that for businesses, but it can apply to your nonprofit and how you do online fundraising. Your thank you page can be used to:
- Gather donor feedback
- Increase your donations
- Build brand awareness
Gather Donor Feedback
After a donation comes in online, the thank you page is the perfect place to request feedback from your supporters, which is essential to enhancing your communication efforts. In addition to using tools for getting feedback regularly, you’ll want to incorporate some of these into your post-donation thank you page as well.
1. Ask readers to complete a survey.
Surveys are the tried and true method for collecting feedback, and putting them on your thank you page is a quick, noninvasive way to get your supporters’ attention. Keep the survey short and tell them how long it will take (30 seconds? 2 minutes?) before they click. This shows your supporters that you respect their time, and increases the likelihood that people will participate and not quit halfway through. Google Forms is a free survey-gathering tool.
2. Ask readers to “tell us more about yourself.”
Learning about who your donors are will help you reach them better. You can also get information about them that you would never get from analytics alone by asking them to leave a note in the comments section. This information can lead to ideas for new blog content, special events, or services to provide.
3. Ask readers for feedback.
Learn what, why, and how people interact with your organization or website. Ask them what improvements they’d like to see, and what they liked about their experience. Watch the feedback roll in and start moving on improvements.
Increase Your Donations
You want people to be long-time supporters, not one-time donors. Use your post-donation thank you page to get people to continue to engage with your nonprofit. The more they interact with you, the more likely they are to donate again and ask their friends to as well.
1. Add links to your best content
Sharing your best content (like impact videos, stories, and photos) warms readers up to your organization even more, without directly soliciting for more donations (which can be a turn-off when they just donated to you). It also helps you communicate your impact and stewardship, which helps build long-time donors. The more links and content you have, the more it helps your SEO too!
2. Display testimonials.
Testimonials increase people’s confidence in your organization. This could be from a client whose life you’ve helped, or from other donors who had experience with you – perhaps running their own personal campaign for your cause.
3. Show a video.
Videos are a great way to create interest and engage your readers because you’re able to share the emotion that way. Read our nonprofit storytelling primer for tips on how to use video for nonprofit storytelling.
4. Display an initiative.
Do you have a special event coming up? New legislative initiatives or petitions? Take this opportunity to share relevant news that your donors could actively participate in.
Build Awareness
Educating donors about your cause and organization will help keep you top of mind, which helps drive more action and engagement. On your post-donation thank you page, you can take advantage of their attention and ask them to help you raise awareness.
1. Ask them to follow you on social media.
You’ve probably done this on other places on your site with your Facebook and Twitter icons, but here’s another opportunity to get them to sign up. It’s another way for them to interact with you.
2. Ask them to share your site.
The more your content is shared on social media, the further your reach. You’ll get points for influence and site hits. Plus you’ll have more and more eyes to see your work, which equals more and more potential donors.
3. Participate in your community.
There are lots of ways to build community among your supporters. Invite donors to participate in them. You can build your fan base by asking them to subscribe your blog or podcast.
Whether it’s gaining new insights into your support base or getting your content more views, your thank you page is the perfect place to engage your donors.
By putting one or two (don’t bombard them with all of them at once!) of these tips into action, your post-donation thank you landing page will work harder for you.
