If you run a charity or not-for-profit organisation such as a school or church, then online giving can be a practical and valuable addition to your fundraising website. In recent years people have become more confident using the internet and far more proficient and trusting when carrying out financial transactions online. We can see this  reflected in the growth of online donations.

Increase online giving with a Donate button

Online giving  has become an increasingly popular way for people to contribute to charities and causes close to their hearts. According to The 2013 Charitable Giving Report overall charitable giving in the US grew a healthy 4.9% last year. However, even more impressively online giving grew 13.5%. It is important that smaller charities in particular tap into this by ensuring that they have a way to collect online donations from their websites.

A donation button offers charities and not-for-profit organisations:

• an additional channel to take donations
• a quick, simple and immediate way for potential donors to contribute
• cost-effective collection tool – particularly for smaller charities where fundraising budgets are tight.

As internet usage continues to rise globally, adding a donation button to your website should be high- up on your fundraising agenda. People are turning to the internet not just for initial information research but with the intention of carrying out the entire process from start to finish online – including the final financial transaction. As online security has improved, people have become far more willing to complete financial transactions online. Indeed online credit and debit card transactions have steadily grown year-on-year and hand-in-hand with this growing confidence in making online payments. According to The UK Cards Association’s Annual Report 2013,  in the UK alone consumer internet card spending more than doubled in the period between 2006 and 2011.

“Online fundraising isn’t just for the future: it’s important for your nonprofit right now” (non-profit hub)

So how can a donate button help increase giving? Take this scenario, you have attracted a prospective donor to your to your site and they have decided that they are ready to contribute to your cause.  You are far more likely to get them to convert if you can offer an immediate payment option there and then. If you send them off to make a phone call or  to write and post a cheque, you run the risk of losing the donation altogether. It is important you make it as easy as possible for someone to make a donation. You must  strike whilst the iron is hot or in this case whilst your prospective donor  is on your site ready and willing to pay. If you donor leaves your website, the moment may have gone and you run the risk of your organisation losing out on a potential conversion.

Use digital marketing to help drive traffic to your donation button

A donation button is an essential addition but  don’t look at it in isolation, rather as a part of your fundraising efforts as a whole. I’m not saying that simply dropping in a donation button will suddenly solve all your fundraising problems. However using it in conjunction with your other digital tools can help increase those all important donations. Try to drive potential customers to your website donation button using email and social media. This way you have more of a chance of converting potential donors off the back of other campaigns. Once they are on your site make sure you have a good landing page where you can focus your efforts on converting prospects into potential donors.

 Integrating a ‘Donate’ button to your website

When you are looking to integrate a ‘Donate’ button, think about choosing a flexible buyer chooses value option that enables a your donor to choose the amount he or she wishes to give.  Indeed,  by enabling your donor choose the amount they wish to contribute you may well end up with a larger overall donation. In fact, studies have  indicated that when people can actually choose the amount they wish to contribute they feel in control and are therefore increasingly likely to pay or donate a higher amount.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this post, so please do leave a comment.

 Pink Donation image courtesy of winnoud / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Donate Computer Key image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net