The good news is that 62 percent of adults visit a non-profit’s website before donating (according to a recent online survey conducted by Harris Interactive).
That’s also the bad news.
For many non-profits, the quickest way they can scare away donors is to direct them to the organization’s website. Too many non-profit websites are making blunders that discourage donors from browsing, donating, volunteering or referring others to the site. Here are four common blunders, and how to avoid them.
Blunder #1. Obscure website address
What would you expect to find at www.gghorg.ca? Is this address obviously for Guelph General Hospital? How easy is this website address to remember? Is it as easy to remember as www.lenoxhillhospital.org, the address for, you guessed it, Lenox Hill Hospital? If you want donors, volunteers, members, alumni, the media and others to easily find your website, give it an address that’s both intuitive and easy to remember. If your organization’s name is a mouthful, then create a unique website address, as the Arthritis Research Institute of America did with its website, www.preventarthritis.org.
Blunder #2. Donate button on the homepage only
Some visitors will find your website by typing your website address into their browser. But plenty more will find you through a search. Which means they may land on any page of your website other than your homepage. So if you want visitors to donate, put a Donate Now button or link on every page of your site, not just on the homepage.
Blunder #3. No email sign-up
The key to raising money online is not your website. It’s your email. You raise money by emailing folks who have asked to hear from you. But you can only do that if you have their email addresses. A website that does not collect email addresses is not likely to raise much money. So put a sign-up link on every page of your site, offering a free email newsletter, email updates or something else of value to your donors that they will receive from you by email.
Blunder #4. No interaction
I heard recently of a young boy who explained to his father why he didn’t watch television: “It doesn’t do anything. All I can do is watch it.” That explains the beauty of the Internet: it’s interactive. Which means your website visitors expect your website to be interactive. They expect to be able to “do something.” Your visitors will stay longer, and enjoy their visit more, if you offer them online surveys, polls, petitions, quizzes, refer-a-friend buttons, donation pages and other ways for visitors to interact with your site.
You might be interested in…
And don’t miss…
Seminar-on-Demand 008-3
How to Attract Donors to Your Website
Presenter: Alan Sharpe.
Learn how to optimize your website to rank higher on the search engines, take advantage of You Tube, My Space and other social networking sites to drive potential donors to your website, and avoid common mistakes that penalize your search engine rankings. 6 pages of tips, best-practices and full-colour samples of effective websites. 90-minute recording of a live seminar. Delivered by mail on a CD.
Handbook Number 24
75 Easy Ways to Build Your Opt-in Email List.
Acquire new subscribers, donors, members and advocates with these tested strategies.
Handbook Number 26
Raise Funds in a Recession.
Twenty-seven development professionals describe how to raise funds, cut costs and retain donors in an economic downturn.
Comments on this entry are closed.