By John Killoran

In the wake of COVID-19, nonprofits everywhere are rapidly adopting virtual fundraising strategies if they hadn’t already shifted to an online platform. In addition to mastering the most effective online fundraising practices, organizations should turn their focus to optimizing their donation forms to break through the clutter.

Here at Snowball Fundraising, we know the best campaigns start with a solid foundation of fundraising software. And of that software foundation, your donation form is the cornerstone. 

That’s why it’s the perfect time to make sure your donation form has everything you need for effective virtual fundraising! You want your donation forms to be engaging and relevant, whether it’s for a brand-new donor interacting with your organization for the first time or for a long-time, dedicated supporter.

If your nonprofit is looking to create or update a high-quality donation form to boost your fundraising efforts, be sure to include these 6 key features:

1. Organization background
2. Donor contact information
3. Fundraising thermometer
4. Suggested gift amount
5. Payment information
6. Recurring gift option

As we walk through each characteristic of a perfect donation form, we’ll explain the significance of each and its purpose in the donation process. Ready to jump in? Let’s get started!

1. Organization background

Be sure to include basic information about your organization on every donation form. Not only does this remind your donors where their money is going, but it can help boost your donor engagement levels as well. After all, engagement is all about communicating with donors and demonstrating your relevance!

Here are three background elements that should be featured in every donation page:

• The name of the campaign: First and foremost, it’s important to include the name of your organization as well as a specific campaign title so donors know what their donation is funding. This should be big, clear, and easy to see.
• Your nonprofit branding: Elements like your logo, color scheme, type font, and slogan can really help to bring your donation page together and make it feel like an integrated part of your website (rather than a third-party vendor).
• A brief summary of your mission: Remind your donors what you stand for and how your organization is making a difference. By making a contribution to your cause, they’re becoming an integral partner in your mission, so it’s important to be clear about the purpose behind your nonprofit.

When donors can easily see the impact they’re making and the type of work your organization is doing, your donation page can continue to boost engagement while preventing donation form abandonment.

2. Donor information

One of the first sections of your donation form should ask your donor for basic information about themselves. After a supporter gives, this information should be stored and organized in a nonprofit CRM (constituent relationship management) system to look back on and build donor relationships. 

Be sure to include these four basic fields, plus whichever details are most relevant to your organization:

• Name: You’ll likely need your donor’s full name for legal purposes, but it’s also important to include an optional field so donors can specify a preferred name by which they’d like to be addressed. That way you can personalize your relationship going forward.
• Birthdate: This is great information to have as you continue building donor relationships. Be sure to send out a “happy birthday” message whenever it’s a donor’s special day! This shouldn’t be a required field in case donors would prefer not to provide that information.
• Address: By obtaining a donor’s physical address, you now have the ability to keep in touch via direct mail. Consider sending a handwritten thank-you note, personalized event invitations, and even some branded swag.
• Contact: Try to collect multiple methods to contact each donor, such as a cell phone number and an email address. For best practice, ask donors to specify with which method they’d prefer to be contacted and then honor it.

It’s important to find the perfect balance between gathering significant information and overwhelming your donor. On the one hand, the more information you collect, the better you can segment your audience for marketing and communications purposes. On the other hand, too many required fields often leads to donation form abandonment and a missed opportunity for funding.

3. Fundraising thermometer

Fundraising thermometers are a tried-and-true fundraising tool that are used to encourage donors and boost revenue. Traditional fundraising thermometers may have been hand-crafted and displayed in a prominent physical location. However, digital fundraising tools can be quickly and easily embedded in your donation form for better results.

Snowball’s guide to fundraising thermometers explains that this fundraising tool can boost any campaign by providing:

• Instant gratification: While donating to a good cause does have a positive effect on the world, sometimes it can take some time to get results. When a donor submits their gift and sees the thermometer’s “temperature” rise, the individual gets the benefit of instant gratification, even if just a little!
• Social proof: One big motivating factor in any charitable giving is social proof. When a donor sees that others have already given to your fundraiser, they’re more likely to contribute themselves. And thanks to your fundraising thermometer, prospective donors can easily visualize the number of donors who have already taken part.
• Goal and progress tracking: Setting an aspirational, yet achievable, goal is an important prerequisite for fundraising. Then, throughout the campaign, a fundraising thermometer is a concrete illustration of your progress. When an individual sees that you’re so close to your goal, they might be more inclined to help out.

Not only do fundraising thermometers motivate your donors, but they can have similar effects on your fundraising team too. Whether that’s nonprofit staff, volunteers, or a combination of both, the dedicated leaders behind your fundraising efforts should feel motivated by the progress shown on a thermometer. Seeing how close you are to your goal and how far you’ve come as a team is a great encouragement for all involved.

4. Suggested gift amount

Including suggested donation amounts allows donors to simply select a preset donation value and move forward in the donation process. It takes a lot of the stress off your donor by giving them one less item to worry about.

Consider these best practices when it comes to setting suggested gifts:

• Adjust based on your target audience. This is where knowing your audience really comes in handy. If you tend to reach an affluent donor base, you can consider increasing your suggested asks, while more typical suggestions may be between $15 and $500.
• Include several choices. Only offering one or two options can seem limiting, which is not what you want. Including a range of 4-6 suggested amounts can give your donor a nice baseline for an average donation, but still provide the freedom to choose.
• Allow for “other” amounts too. And for those donors who don’t want to make a preselected donation, it’s important to leave an option for a write-in too. This way, donors can go smaller or larger than your suggestions, or choose a number in between.

Studies show that preset donation buttons can actually lead to an increase in the average gift size. If it’s easier on your donor and leads to boosted revenue, it’s a must-have for your donation page!

5. Payment information

One of the biggest perks of online donations is the flexibility with which donors can pay. No longer do they have to make a cash withdrawal or sign and mail a check! Instead, you can accept online payments in a variety of ways.

Listed below are the two most common types of online payments. It’s a good idea to ask first for a preferred method of payment, and then follow up with the required fields based on the user’s response.

Here are the details you’ll need for each type of payment:

• Credit/debit cards: For payments made by a debit or credit card, your donor will need to input their credit card number, CVV or security code, and expiration date.
• ACH payments: For ACH payments, or Automated Clearing House, you’ll need your donor to input the type of bank account the money will be withdrawn from as well as the routing and account numbers.

The best donation tools work with a dedicated payment processor that then uses the information submitted to transfer funds from your donor’s bank account to your organization’s bank account. Learn more about nonprofit payment processing here.

6. Recurring gift option

Recurring gifts are a nonprofit’s best friend. That’s what happens when a donor chooses to give to your organization on a regular, automatic schedule. 

Fundraising professionals know that it’s much more cost-effective to retain a donor than to be constantly securing new ones. Even better is when the donation is automatically transferred to your bank account every so often without any extra effort on your part or theirs.

Recurring gifts are a win-win because:

• They’re convenient for your donor. Although you’re working to create an easy-to-use, streamlined donation form that donors will love, the act of filling out a form takes time. If a donor wants to continue supporting your nonprofit without having to enter their financial information again (until their credit cards expire), recurring gifts are the way to go.
• They bring consistent funding to your organization. Charities often see a rise in giving around the holidays, with lower overall revenue at other times. But with recurring gifts, your organization can count on a steady stream of revenue throughout the year.

Be sure to offer various payment schedules, including a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis. If you make the option readily available and super simple, you might be surprised how many donors choose to enable a recurring gift schedule.

Because your donation page is the foundation of all your online fundraising efforts, it’s important to invest the time and effort into making it perfect. By incorporating each of these six features into your online donation form, you’ll be off to a great start.

For more inspiration, check out Morweb’s list of top donation pages to see some of these best practices in action. Learn from other successful organizations and campaigns to find out how you can improve your own! 

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.