Hi friends 👋🏻

If your organization observes Giving Tuesday I'm sending you strength today ⚡️

And while the Giving Tuesday hype keeps going – and floods all of our inboxes – the next 29 days are what count.

This week, I'm sharing a few quick tips you can use to optimize your donation page as we count down to the end of the year.

Want links to recent emails or a sign-up link to share? Go to The Digital Landscape sign-up page​

On the donation form itself:

Your options here will be constrained by the online giving platform you're using, so do your best with what you have!

• Keep the number of form fields limited. Only ask for the information you absolutely need! Remember, you can always send follow-up surveys to donors to fill out their profiles after they donate.
• Provide payment method options. Ideally donors can give by credit or debit card, bank transfer, or Apple/Google wallets. The later makes giving on a smart phone really easy – it removes the need to type in 23 little numbers. Adding Venmo and PayPal options might be smart too.
• Allow gifts in honor or memory of someone. If possible, enable an optional field to dedicate a gift.
• Be deliberate about the suggested and default gift amounts. Most platforms allow you to suggest four or five gift amounts, and set one as the default. Look over your past giving data and choose options that match your audience.
• Encourage monthly giving. Make sure the monthly giving option is prominent, and perhaps even the default depending on your organization's fundraising priorities.

On the donation page:

On the donation page, near the donation form, you should also give donors easy access to:

• A clear statement about your charitable/tax status and your EIN number. Be clear about whether donations are tax deductible, and disclose whether your organization accepts donations directly or through a fiscal sponsor.
• Answers to FAQs ... you know what these are because donors ask them! "When will I receive my tax receipt?" "How will this show up on my bank statement?" "What should I do if I want to change the payment method on my monthly gift?"
• Instructions for offline donations. If donors want to mail a check, tell them how to do it.
• Information about giving through a Donor-Advised Fund, or other gifts of stock or securities.
• Legacy Giving information. These last two options probably warrant a conversation with a team member, so make that easy to set up.

Elsewhere on the website:

And looking beyond the donation page, where else can your website support online giving?

• A big, prominent DONATE button is the obvious one! Visitors are used to seeing this in the top right corner, as part of the primary navigation.
• Stories of Impact. Be clear about how your donors' gifts will create impact. On pages that describe your programming, don't be shy to add a secondary "Donate" call to action button on the page template.
• Staff and Board Member profiles. Donors and supporters like to see the names and faces behind your organization's work, to build a sense of personal connection and to see the depth of experience and skill that your team brings. Donors want to know their contributions are in good hands.
• Financial and governance transparency. It's a good move to publish annual reports, IRS 990 filings, and financial audit reports on your website. They don't have to have prime billing, but make sure donors can access them from the "About Us" type pages, and from the "Donate" or "Support" pages.
• Privacy Policy. Include a clear set of commitments around how you will protect your donors' private information.

I hope these tips are helpful!! And good luck to everyone anxiously refreshing their donation dashboards today, and as we count down to December 31.

Until next time ✨

— Ed Harris (your digital strategy guide)

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