You’ve got online fundraising on lockdown, right? It’s true—as a whole, we’ve come a long way. If you’re a nonprofit veteran, you know that even 10 years ago, online fundraising wasn’t as important as it is now. But alas, times have changed.
And according to the Online Fundraising Scorecard released by Dunham and Company, there’s still much room for improvement. And Frogloop’s Allyson Kapin pulled out some key findings from the report. Here are the key stats Allyson hits on, and our ideas to help blow your online fundraising out of the water (year-end giving is coming up, after all!).
The stat: 84% of donation pages were NOT optimized for mobile.
It’s the age of the smartphone. So why aren’t we acting like it? It’s time to embrace the Androids, iPhones and other pocket-sized computers we know and love. If your website isn’t mobile responsive, you’re missing out on fundraising dollars (or at least making it harder to donate). The simpler the process, the more likely your organization is to receive donations.
The stat: 65% required donors to go through three or more pages to donate.
3 clicks or less? Let’s go with less. Another click, another donor lost. Sayonara, precious dollars that could have gone toward making your mission matter. Why? Because we’re in a society where ease means everything. It’s simple—a complicated form means a confused donor that no longer wants to take the time to figure out how to give. Could an elementary schooler make it through your form? You might not have to go that basic. But it should be simple.
The stat: 63% of donors didn’t offer action opportunities on their thank you page or emails.
Spread the love. If you think you don’t have time to thank every single donor, it’s time to reevaluate your strategy. Because although it’s time consuming, it’s the difference between that next donation and another lost donor. Get personal. Be genuine. It’s time to stop pretending that we’re too busy to reach out to donors. In reality, your organization should be calling every single donor.
The stat: 37% of organizations did not engage in any communication with new subscribers within the first 30 days.
Not having time isn’t an excuse. Your NPO could be setting up an automatic email reply (yet STILL warm and personalized). After all, you want to thank them right away for subscribing. If you can avoid an automatic reply, it’s always best. You could even surprise them by sending a warm and personal handwritten note telling them why you’re specifically glad to have them. And you can only do that if you’ve asked them enough about why they’re interested in your organization.
