TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Low number of clicks to give
- Custom URL
- Appeal Codes
- Provide payment options
- Offer Designations
- Say THANK YOU (to every donor)
- Provide a tax receipt
Low number of clicks to give
It’s extremely important that there is a low number of clicks to give. How many clicks from your home page until the user reaches the form to donate? How many clicks from your email? How many clicks from your social media posts? Be aware of how easily your donors can access the actual giving form – from everywhere.
Custom URL
Be sure to always create a custom (and preferably short) URL for your online giving campaign – and promote it everywhere – so that your audience can remember it and use it to quickly find campaign details. This is important for your mobile audience, too.
Appeal Codes
Experiment with Appeal Codes so you can actually track where traffic is coming from and learn more about where your efforts are most productive.
Provide payment options
Give them payment options: offer scheduled payments and allow donors to schedule their gifts to be given in installments of monthly, quarterly, or bi-annual payments, as well as choose the number of payments and when payments will begin.
Offer Designations
Research on major donors showed that donors will often give MORE if you let them designate their gifts. They want to see impact and ROI. Even if donors are making an unrestricted major gift to “operations,” they understand why and what that will achieve. (Source: Fired Up Fundraising / gailperry.com) Use the Designations feature to let your donors designate how their gifts will be distributed, either by choosing from a list of pre-defined options or entering their preferences in a text box
Say THANK YOU (to every donor)
Say “thank you.” Earlier, we talked about fostering relationships with people who are already engaged with your institution. Use the email tool – the automatic confirmation email, or role-base some thank you emails based on gift amounts, or embed a thank you video on the form finish page, whatever you need to do for your institution, but whatever that is, send a thank you to EVERY donor. Again, it shows alumni that no matter the size of their contribution, it’s not just a donation; it’s a gift that makes a difference.
Provide a tax receipt
Provide a tax receipt. Do you remember this step? It can easily be accomplished through the automatic confirmation email that the system will send once a transaction is complete.