All you need to know about building donation pages Marta Fornal de Seixas

Agenda Why is it important? Things to consider Get inspired – great client examples In the software – useful features and implementation Questions

Why it’s important Attracting new donors –Are your donation pages well designed and engaging –People are more likely to share a positive experience –Returning donors Convert traffic to your website into a monetary value Investing in great donation pages now will bring return on investment

Building your donors community - things to consider Think about your donation pages carefully – are they engaging enough? Do you create a positive experience? –Out of the box tools –JavaScript, HTML changes, CSS –Working with designers to achieve better results Importance of storytelling – it’s all about an emotional response –Tell new stories –People share stories –Video, Images, copy Reach further - are your pages optimised for mobile devices? –Increasing use of mobile devices to open s and pages –It is critical to format both and landing pages for mobile –Check how much of your web traffic is coming from mobile users - analytics

And more… Don’t be afraid to ask your supporters to get involved a bit more – tie fundraising asks with other supporter activities – connect advocacy and fundraising campaigns Create long term relationships – why not encourage monthly giving? Provide easy ways to share your appeals – social sharing buttons, your friends page Build trust and confidence: branding – don’t send your donors to third part pages Form testing can have dramatic impact on conversion – have you tested your forms? –It is unlikely that untested page will convert at a great rate

Make it easy Make the donation button prominent Simplify your pages –Remove navigation, adds, promotions –Remove search tools –Reduce content in side columns Give donors options – single/ monthly, suggest giving amounts Show how specific amounts help – help donors understand how their money makes a difference Giving you money shouldn’t be hard

Get inspired

Implementation – write your copy Tell the story – embed videos, include images, animations Give examples of how the money is used Give your pages some structure – use headers to assure clear content flow: your gift, personal details, payment details Add logos of available payment methods Increase credibility of your pages – SSL certificate logo Thank you & receipt Refund policy Show social proof – display widget

Implementation – create the form Think about form fields to include – make sure to include only the necessary fields Use different field types to make the process easier for donors (dropdowns, radio buttons vs. plain text fields) Recurring payment fields – encourage long terms engagement Dynamic forms –Hide/display fields depending on payment method selected –Update currency based on the country selected –Multiple gateways

Design and styling Html & CSS Widgets Themes Mobile optimisation: –Build-in template generator –Keep it simple: one column, simple header and footer –Full width form fields and buttons

Reach further Make it easy to share your appeals –Add share buttons on your thank you page – a friend page Action redirect – link advocacy and fundraising appeals

Test your pages Single vs multiple pages Form fields layout Page structure Different gift strings – values & formatting Trust seal placement What works for one organisation might not necessarily work for another

Publishing your appeals Standalone pages – full website design & mobile template Iframe embed: –widgets, themed forms –HTML campaigns (stripped website design) Mobile: is your website optimised for mobile users? Reporting & Analytics –Publishing campaigns on different channels – tracking parameters –Google analytics

Take away points How many of the features mentioned today have you tried? Are you missing out on donations by not optimising your pages? Have you tried using CSS or Themes to improve the look and feel of your pages? Are your pages optimised for your audience? How much testing have you done so far?

Questions ?