Donation Page

A donation page is a web page located on a nonprofit’s website where supporters have the opportunity to contribute funds to the organization’s mission online rather than by mail or in person. 

Donation pages provide a convenient way to contribute, not requiring travel, envelopes, or stamps for supporters to give. This low barrier to entry means that any supporter with a computer, smartphone, or access to the internet can give from the comfort of their home. 

These pages are generally paired with an online fundraising platform provider. Nonprofit organizations have various options to choose from when it comes to adding their donation page to their website, each providing a different mix of features, prices, and benefits.

What is a donation page?

A donation page is a web page located on a nonprofit’s website where supporters have the opportunity to contribute funds to the organization’s mission online rather than by mail or in person. 

Donation pages provide a convenient way to contribute, not requiring travel, envelopes, or stamps for supporters to give. This low barrier to entry means that any supporter with a computer, smartphone, or access to the internet can give from the comfort of their home. 

These pages are generally paired with an online fundraising platform provider. Nonprofit organizations have various options to choose from when it comes to adding their donation page to their website, each providing a different mix of features, prices, and benefits.

Why are donation pages important?

As we’ve already discussed, donation pages provide a level of convenience for supporters who want to contribute to your organization. However, they’ve also become an expectation for supporters. The increased popularity of donation pages and even online shopping experiences have set the precedent that all nonprofits should have an online presence and options to give digitally. 

However, convenience and expectations are not the only purposes for nonprofits to invest in an effective online donation page. Donation pages also provide the following benefits for organizations: 

Immediate engagement opportunities 

When a new supporter visits your website, they learn more about your mission and your organization’s purpose. Usually, they visited due to marketing materials or because they heard about your noble cause from a friend or family member and they want to learn more! After they’ve gained these valuable insights, they may be very driven and interested in getting involved. 

An online donation page captures supporters’ attention at the peak of their engagement with your organization, providing an immediate way for them to get involved with your mission. 

This is also a space for organizations to communicate the impact of donations on the mission. Sometimes organizations give concrete examples like, “A donation of $200 feeds a family of 6 for one month.” This gives individuals a specific ask and makes a connection between their donation and your mission. This initial immediate interaction with new supporters opens the door for a continuous, ever-growing relationship with them. 

Increased security

Think about everything that can go wrong with traditional methods of fundraising. If you send a check or cash to a nonprofit, you run the risk of it getting lost in the mail or even stolen along the way. We’ve all heard the stories of mailbox vulnerabilities during the holiday season or packages being stolen from front porches. 

To avoid mailing issues, supporters could always contribute in person. However, that’s a hassle for many who don’t want to hop in their cars to contribute, especially for smaller donations.  

Online donations, when the right platform is chosen, can provide an increased level of security that your supporters need to feel good contributing. 

However, nonprofit cybersecurity measures must be adhered to in order to make sure this security is maintained. Specifically for your donation page, be sure to look for a PCI-compliant donation platform and ask about encryption of data when supporters give. 

Access to donor data

When supporters contribute via an online donation platform, they’ll provide certain information to your organization, including their name, contact information, and other fields that you may require. This information is crucial for your organization to maintain connections with supporters and to build relationships. 

The majority of donation pages provide opportunities for nonprofits to capture this vital information and save it in a secure location. If your donation pages integrate seamlessly with your donor database software, you can streamline your data to save it automatically in individual donor profiles. 

In addition to collecting information on your donation page itself, be sure to also collect information about how your supporters reach your donation page. Track open and click-through rates from the links that you’ve included on your social media posts, campaign emails, and other marketing materials for insights into the flow of traffic to your donation page. This can show how effective your various marketing efforts have been to capture supporters’ attention.

Donation page best practices

Your donation page should capture your supporters’ attention. It’s the crucial step to begin a long-term relationship with a new supporter and a crucial engagement opportunity for your existing supporters. Therefore, follow these donation page best practices that will help you get more from your page.

Brand your donation page

Your nonprofit’s website and marketing materials probably have a certain “look” about them. These resources leverage specific colors, fonts, and even tones to convey your organization’s brand. Your donation page should also include these brand elements. 

Imagine that you’re a new supporter of an organization. You’ve explored their website, signed up for their regular newsletter, and have decided that today’s the day to donate. You’ve received an email from the organization discussing a new campaign opportunity, so you click on the “donate now!” button from that email. 

However, when you reach the donation page, everything looks different. The page has orange elements when the brand colors for the organization are blue and green, there’s no logo in the upper left-hand corner of the page, and even the URL contains a string of random letters and numbers instead of the name of the nonprofit. What are the chances that you’ll trust that page enough to enter your payment information? Probably very slim. 

When you include your organization’s brand elements on your donation page, it creates a sense of consistency and trust among your supporters who navigate to that page. 

Ensure mobile responsiveness

37% of adults in the United States say that they primarily use their smartphones when accessing the internet. From streaming music to asking Siri questions, we as a society have come to rely more and more heavily on our mobile devices and the constant connection to online networks. Similarly, people are using their mobile devices to submit donations to nonprofit organizations. 

To capture your supporters’ online donations on mobile devices, you’ll need to make sure your online donation page is mobile responsive. This means all of the text, images, and forms on your donation page adjust to fit the screen size for the smaller device. Look for a donation page platform that offers mobile responsiveness and double-check your own page before it goes live. 

Keep your design simple

Your donation page shouldn’t be distracting for your supporters. It should provide a simple experience where they are guided through an easy donation process. Keeping your donation page simple allows this guidance to be easy and keeps the page navigable. When you’re designing your donation page, be sure to keep the following tips in mind for simplicity: 

• Reduce the number of clicks. There should be just one “submit” button at the bottom of the page to make sure it’s easy and quick to submit the donation. 
• Limit images. Using just one emotion-evoking image that represents your organization’s mission prevents images from distracting your supporters from the task at hand. 
• Don’t make the form too lengthy. It’s very tempting to ask a ton of questions on your donation page to collect as much information as possible about your supporters, but this can actually make the process too long, causing supporters to abandon the page. 

Simple donation pages encourage more conversions from your supporters, so be sure to only include the necessary elements. 

Offer donation options

When you offer online donation opportunities, be sure to provide them with options for their giving experience. When supporters give to your organization, they have to make several decisions, namely, how much they want to contribute. 

Offer your supporters several options on your donation page to make their decisions easier. The following can help make it easier: 

• Suggested giving amounts. Suggested giving amounts are buttons that provide optional gift amounts that your supporters can choose from to give to your organization. It provides some insight into the amount you’re expecting or other supporters give on the same form.
• Recurring donation options. Recurring gift options make it easy for supporters to make the decision to give on a regular basis. Make it easy on your donation form for supporters to check a box that will allow them to donate monthly.

Help your supporters to make the decisions necessary by providing the options that will help guide them. This takes the guesswork out of the donation form. 

Maximize the use of your confirmation page

Once your supporters have filled out your donation page and submitted their gift to your organization, that doesn’t mean their interaction with your organization is over. You can continue their engagement with your organization by providing more value on the confirmation page. 

Your confirmation page is primarily used to confirm that the donation was received. However, you can also help it do more by providing additional options, for example: 

• Link out to your volunteer or event pages. Ask supporters to explore other interaction opportunities that allow them to give back in other ways. For instance, they may sign up to volunteer or to attend your next event. 
• Provide options to follow your nonprofit on social media. Ask your supporters to continue their involvement by maintaining this interaction on another platform—like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. This way they’ll be able to keep up with your organization on multiple platforms, which increases future involvement opportunities. 
• Ask supporters to search for their matched gift eligibility. Include a matching gift database on your organization’s confirmation page and invite them to search to see if they’re eligible for a match from their employer. Matching gifts are a common corporate philanthropy program, but even those who are eligible are often unaware of their eligibility. Provide them the opportunity to see if they can receive a match and take the next step to obtain that match. 

When supporters contribute to your nonprofit, they’re at the height of their engagement with your organization. By providing options to continue interacting, you’re able to take full advantage of that engagement.

Donation page example

Now that we’ve covered some of the best practices that nonprofits should keep in mind when they design their donation page, it’s time to see those best practices in action. The donation page below shows some of these best practices at work:

In the above example, you can see these key takeaways:

• The entire donation process takes place on a single page. There are no “next” or “continue” buttons on the page. All you need to do is fill out the form, then hit “submit,” making donating quick and simple for your supporters. This also provides fewer opportunities to abandon the page. 
• The mobile version of the page contains the same information. Both the desktop and mobile versions of the donation page are easy to navigate and provide suggestions for gifts and a recurring donation option that make it easy to contribute. 
• The focus of the donation page is on the form itself. Rather than distracting the reader with a significant number of images or fancy graphics, the focus of the donation page is on the form elements. This item keeps the supporters engaged in completing the form throughout their donation process. 
• The page offers gift options for the supporter to choose from. Supporters have the opportunity to give just once, or they can hit a button on the page to make the donation recurring. They can also select their donation amount, or they can use the suggested donation amounts provided by the organization on the donation page. 

By looking at this and other donation page examples, your organization can gather ideas about the design elements that best capture your supporters’ attention. Plus, you can determine any visual elements that you might not like and customize your page according to your preferences. 

Explore a number of different donation page options and begin visualizing your perfect page. Then, choose a platform that can help make that happen!

Bottom line

Donation pages are important tools in the nonprofit world, allowing organizations like yours to collect gifts online and providing supporters the opportunity to get involved with your mission. Make the most of your donation page by maintaining some of the best design attributes to encourage form completions.

Don’t forget: When supporters submit their contributions on your well-designed donation page, that’s only the beginning. Continue reaching out, stewarding them, and building an impactful relationship.

Related Resources:

• Kindful Blog: What These 6 Nonprofits Are Doing Right On Their Donation Pages
• Kindful Blog: 3 Effective Donation Page Elements (That Actually Work)
• Kindful Blog: Why Landing Pages and Donation Pages Are Both Best