Your website is the main factor in increasing your nonprofit’s online visibility. Here’s how to attract more mobile viewers by optimizing your website.

By John Killoran 

Developing your website and ensuring your donors have the ability to notice you, learn about your story, and donate to your organization online was a great undertaking for you. You probably saw a spike in donations and donor engagement. But did you know there’s a way to make online giving even more effective?

Mobile search traffic has increased over time, and it shows no sign of stopping. The majority of nonprofit website traffic came from users on mobile devices — 54%, with 46% of traffic from users on desktop devices. So, your nonprofit should invest in optimizing your donation page to be mobile-friendly to accommodate these users. By adjusting your nonprofit website design and donation opportunities to appeal to mobile donors, you open up a new avenue for giving to your nonprofit organization.

In order to effectively appeal to and communicate with your mobile donors, your organization should:

1. Optimize your donation page.
2. Launch a text-to-give campaign.
3. Maximize your social media campaign.
4. Incorporate mobile-optimized emails.
5. Host a pledge campaign.

Ready to learn more about mobile-friendly design? Let’s get started!

1. Optimize Your Donation Page

Your online giving form is the first place to start your mobile optimization processes. Submitting online donations is already incredibly convenient for your supporters. But making your online giving form mobile-optimized makes it easy for people to give from any device, further growing your potential donor base.

Your donation page is a crucial aspect of your website and should be mobile-responsive. A mobile-responsive site is one that automatically adjusts to fit the screen on which it is displayed. This means the online resource is visually appealing and accessible on smartphones, tablets, and desktops alike. Make sure your online donation platform provider offers the ability to adjust form elements such as:

• Images. There’s nothing worse than having to scroll across a webpage on your phone to try to see an entire image! Make sure your images are visible, clear, and size-adjustable depending on the screen they’re viewed on.

• Straightforward text. Eliminate unnecessary “fluff” text from your donation page. Lots of text can look bulky on a smaller screen. Limiting this text to only include essential information and calls-to-action will make it easier for donors to read or skim the page.

• Customized (and limited) information fields. Typing lengthy information onto a form on a computer is much easier than on a cell phone. Most of us type much faster with a keyboard than on a touchscreen. Therefore, limit the amount of information you require from mobile donors on your donation page to speed up the process.

• Page Speed. A speedy page load time is important because conversion rates drop heavily on slow sites. In fact, the probability of a bounce (when users quickly exit the page) increases by 37% from 1 second to 3 seconds of loading time. You certainly don’t want your donor to click off because the page speed is wasting their time! Increase your page speed by minifying code, reducing redirects, and compressing images.

Ensuring your donation page is welcoming to all visitors, whether they access it from their computer or from their mobile device, is a key factor to improve higher donation rates. So, be sure to accommodate your givers who are on the go! 

2. Launch a Text-to-Give Campaign

In addition to optimizing your usual online fundraising page, a great investment to encourage mobile donations from your donors is including giving options on native texting platforms, otherwise known as text-to-give. As the name suggests, text-to-give encourages donors to text their donations to organizations.

Depending on the software you choose, you may encounter different models of the text-to-give collection process. Your provider should:

• Offer your organization a text-to-give number. This is the number your donors can text in order to donate. The number may be a complete 10-digit phone number or simply 5 digits. Whichever you choose, your donors can text their gift amount to your organization’s number when prompted.

• Collect your donor’s contact information. This is especially relevant for first-time donors who have not yet filled out any contact information with your organization. They may receive a link that will redirect them to a complete contact form. This information is critical for follow-up communications and increasing donor retention. 

Mobile giving with a text-to-give campaign is a great resource to combine with other unique fundraising ideas and marketing materials. For instance, if you host a fundraising event, announce your text-to-give number over a loudspeaker so your attendees can donate from the event. Or, you can post your text-to-give number on your social media platforms so your mobile viewers don’t even have to put down their devices.

3. Leverage Your Social Media Presence

One platform nonprofits often already take advantage of is social media. Social media is a huge driver of mobile phone use, so it makes sense to integrate it into your mobile fundraising strategy! 

Increasing your social media presence increases the likelihood your followers will see your organization’s latest updates when scrolling through their news feed and interact with your content. Bolstering your presence by posting is just the tip of the iceberg to using your social media to its fullest extent.  

You also have the ability to spread fundraisers through social media platforms for people to view (and donate to) from their mobile devices. Two of the online fundraisers most suitable for social media promotion are:

• Crowdfunding. Crowdfunding enables your organization to collect small donations from a wide audience, making the vast reach of social media the perfect platform to promote such campaigns. Conduct research on the various providers to make sure you choose the website that will best suit your organization in terms of fees and platform capabilities. Then, determine what incentives you’ll offer to donors at different tiers. A popular prize that your nonprofit might already produce is branded merchandise.

• Peer-to-peer fundraising. Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are similar to crowdfunding in that you are collecting small donations from a wide audience. However, these campaigns differ in how those donations are collected. With peer-to-peer fundraising, you invite your supporters to create fundraising pages and raise money on your behalf across their respective networks. This works perfectly on social media because your participants can effortlessly share their campaigns on their accounts for their followers to see and donate to.

Both of these fundraising opportunities are more frequently accessed on mobile devices as opposed to computers because of their reliance on social media. Therefore, increasing your visibility with more frequent posts and starting a mobile-minded fundraiser is a great way to entice your wide audience of donors who are checking social media on their smartphones.

4. Incorporate Mobile-Optimized Emails

One of the cornerstones of online fundraising outreach is email. Chances are, your nonprofit already uses this tried-and-true method. But, are your emails optimized for mobile viewers?

Optimizing your email content is very similar to optimizing your general website or donation pages. Take the necessary steps to ensure your emails are visually appealing on screens of all sizes. This includes properly sizing your images, limiting the amount of text you use, and resizing the font for a mobile screen. 

In addition to optimizing your emails’ visual appearance, you can do even more to increase the success of your donation emails. For instance, you can:

• Include actionable donation buttons. Ensure the buttons you use in your emails quickly and easily lead donors to your donation page. You may also choose to include a link to your text-to-give number or your campaign information landing page. Increasing the size of these buttons for mobile viewers can make them easier to see (and click!) from a smaller screen.

• Connect your emails to other platforms. Be sure your donors have an easy way to access the other donation platforms you have available online. For instance, including linked social media buttons will instantly connect your supporters to your profiles, and by extension, marketing for future campaigns.

• Feature a calendar with donation opportunities. Be sure your supporters know about your nonprofit’s upcoming events by using a calendar feature. This may include volunteer opportunities for them to donate their time as well as upcoming fundraising campaigns to get involved in.

Marketing emails, such as email newsletters, are a donation opportunity that your nonprofit should leverage. Many of your supporters likely check their email from their phones, so be sure they have direct access from that device to other donation opportunities.

5. Host a Pledge Campaign.

Imagine you’re hosting a fundraising campaign that your donors are excited about. However, there are a number of your supporters who can’t give to your organization right at this moment, even though they want to.

Pledge campaigns are designed to help your organization still profit in these types of situations. You can appeal to those people who can’t give right now, but have the heart and the desire to show their support and donate in the future.

Pledges are the promises of future donations. For instance, a donor can pledge $100 now, then actually give the money to the organization next week once they cash their paycheck. Choose an online tool with the option to optimize your pledge campaign for mobile devices. Situations in which a mobile-optimized pledge campaign may come in handy include:

• Social media fundraising pushes. In addition to your typical fundraising promotions featured on social media, give people the option to participate in your pledge campaign. This gives them a quick option to give while they’re feeling inspired by your or your supporters’ messages.

• Busy holiday seasons. While the year-end months are an extremely charitable time, some donors might need to postpone their giving until after the holiday season due to money spent on presents, food, and travel. A pledge provides the flexibility for them to get back on their feet and still make a difference for your nonprofit once they’re able to.

Be sure to pick a pledge fundraising tool that offers mobile customization for your organization. Pledge buttons included on these screens can help boost the user’s ease of using the tool as well.

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Optimizing your web presence over a variety of pages and platforms can help boost your donations by increasing the available giving opportunities. So, it’s worth putting forth your time and money towards whichever strategies work best for your nonprofit. After all, who wouldn’t love the opportunity to give to your organization without having to put down their phone?

John Killoran is an inventor, entrepreneur, and the Chairman of Clover Leaf Solutions, a national lab services company. He currently leads Clover Leaf’s investment in Snowball Fundraising, an online fundraising platform for nonprofit organizations. 

Snowball was one of John’s first public innovations. It’s a fundraising platform that offers text-to-give, online giving, events, and peer-to-peer fundraising tools for nonprofits. By making giving simple, Snowball increases the donations that these organizations can raise online. The Snowball effect is real! John founded Snowball in 2011. Now, it serves over 7,000 nonprofits and is the #1 nonprofit fundraising platform.