According to the Fundraising Advisor 2015 Benchmark Report, a majority of missed fundraising opportunities come from nonprofits not using a complete online fundraising strategy:

  • 44% of professionals say their most popular online fundraising strategy is through a single donor page
  • 16% of professionals say they don’t do any online fundraising

In today’s digital world, a cohesive online fundraising strategy is a must if you want to improve donations and donor loyalty. How can you improve online fundraising in 2016? We list 4 ways below!

Ways to Improve Online Fundraising in 2016

Optimize Your Website for Donations
If you’re funneling your donors to your website, it’s imperative that your site be user-friendly and optimized for donations. This also includes optimizing your website for mobile and tablet visitors. The process for making a donation online should be different on the mobile version of your site to make the giving experience easy and simple on smaller screens.

Use strong call-to-actions, bold colors, and a simplified donation process to direct donors where to go and how to donate.

Example of donation optimization: Oceana.org

The Oceana.org homepage uses a strong message to catch the attention of potential donors. And it’s bright green donation button in the top-right corner is ready for donations, as its primed with a $25 donation.

Donation Optimization for Nonprofits
Grow & Segment Your Email List
Email marketing is still a must for nonprofits, as it’s responsible for about 1/3 of online fundraising revenue. Your organization should take advantage of email marketing’s powerful ability to improve online fundraising by growing a quality email list of supporters, and tailoring your email messaging through list segmentation.

Tips for growing your email list:

  • Make it easy for supporters to sign up for your email list
  • Include social and forwarding options at the bottom of your emails so supporters can pass them along to friends and family
  • Add an email sign up call to action on your Facebook page

Since not all your donors are the same, you should segment your email list into various groupings. These groupings can be loyal donors, monthly donors, end-of-year donors, etc. – with the end goal to have different segments for unique email content.

By tailoring your emails to your segment/audience, you’ll be able to use specific call-to-actions, social proof, and imagery that directly resonates with their giving persona.

Use Compelling Imagery
Images have the power to make people feel. Getting them emotionally involved in a cause can lead to action, whether that’s donating, volunteering or becoming a brand ambassador.

Using compelling imagery on your website, in your email newsletters and social campaigns, and other online media will help you evoke emotion that will motivate people to act.

Take a look at these examples of compelling imagery:

Nonprofit Compelling Imagery

SPCA Imagery
Social Proof!
Social proof is a great way to demonstrate that other people are also supporting/donating/sharing/etc. your cause and mission. You can use social proof to improve online fundraising by adding it to key areas of your website, in email updates to your donors, in social media ads, and more.

Incorporating these key elements into your digital campaigns will improve online fundraising, resulting in more donations, an increase in donor loyalty, and more awareness and support for your cause.

Improve Online Fundraising with Raiser’s Edge Training

Need help implementing your Raiser’s Edge software for online fundraising success? Our RE training and consulting services can help you maximize the functionality of your database, customizing and tailoring your solution to your unique needs. Learn more about our Raiser’s Edge training and consulting services by contacting Andy Thorson at 888.366-7527 x 26, athorson@capitalbusiness.net or filling out this form.