Most nonprofits today rely on the Internet for at least a portion of their fundraising and some rely on the internet for ALL of their fundraising efforts. As a result, you want to make sure your website is designed in a way that brings in the largest possible amount of money. Today we want to share some tips to attract new donors and retain existing ones by optimizing your website for fundraising. 

1. Add a pop-up for email capture

Website visitors generally do not like pop-ups on for-profit websites. However, they are much more open to them on nonprofit pages. Various studies have found that these windows increased newsletter sign-ups by high percentages. Sumo is a user-friendly platform that can help you get the pop-up set up and track the results. 

1. Utilize storytelling

Storytelling about your mission is extremely powerful in gaining support and you want to show this on your website. Ways to do this include adding blog and news pages, incorporating testimonials, and showcasing photographs of your work. You want donors to feel as connected to your mission as if they have visited your physical space and seen your work firsthand. 

1. Encourage recurring donations

Recurring donations are a great way to not only keep the funds flowing in but also to keep donors engaged with your organization. You may funnel recurring donations to a specific project so that these donors know exactly where their money is going and feel united in helping that cause. On your donation page you could also try making the recurring donation box checked by default which could encourage more donors to choose that option. 

1. Optimize for mobile

More and more web browsing is happening online and you want these users to have an experience that is just as great as if they were on a desktop. Make sure that your site is easy to navigate on a phone and that the donation page is fully functional. 

1. Think about SEO

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot online today. But what does it even mean? Essentially, it is the process of including phrases in your website copy that search engines will read and use to inform whether or not you should be featured in results. Even a few hours of research and a couple updates to your site can help your site rank higher giving your organization more online visibility

1. Make the donation button easy to find

Once a site visitor has decided to donate you don’t want them to have to waste time clicking around to do it because they could quickly lose interest. Keep your donate button in an easy to see spot in the header and footer and make it a contrasting color to catch the user’s eye. 

1. Assess your branding

Your brand says a lot about who you are as an organization so you want to make sure its sending the right type of message. Carefully consider not only the design of your logo, but also the colors and fonts used. Feeling stumped? A few hours with a web designer can give you some great ideas for a brand refresh. 

1. Add social proof

Seeing what other people have done can be a powerful force in encouraging others to “jump on the bandwagon.” One way to show this is by displaying images from your recent fundraising events that show how many happy attendees there were. If you are running a specific fundraising campaign you can also add information about how many people have donated so far and what percentage of your goal has been raised. 

1. Make your donation page look like your own

You likely direct your users to a third party page to process donations, but your donors do not need to know this. Making the donation page look as much like your own site as possible will cut down on confusion and make donors feel more comfortable. Evening designing the page in your colors and adding your logo can make a big difference. 

1. Remove distractions on your donation page

Once a site visitor has decided to click on the donation page you want to keep them there until they have completed the donation. Keep the page as clean as possible and make sure there are no links to other pages where the user may become sidetracked. 

We hope these ideas help to increase your total fundraising and as a result deepens your impact. Do you have other ideas about how to increase your fundraising through your website? Let us know on Twitter, @KuvioCreative.

Kuvio Creative is a web design and development company comprised of a team of remote workers scattered across the globe who come together to innovate and bring our clients’ ideas to life. Get to know us and see our work here.