According to statistics, your organization could be raising up to 40% of its donations during the last six weeks of the year. And a full third (33%) of the donations made in December occur on the 31st of the month!
So, how can your organization maximize your year-end online giving? By keeping it donor-focused and make it as easy as possible by maximizing your home page, your donate page and your thank you page.
Supercharge your Home page
In this Movie Mondays for Fundraising Professionals clip, Steven Screen of UberDirect tells us that people aren’t going to your website on the last few days of the year to learn about your programs. They’re going with the intent to make a gift. Your job is to make it easy for them.
Click to play
One method is by using what Steven refers to as a “Home page takeover,” also known as a light-box. Last year Grow Report subscriber Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation used this great light-box. You can do the same thing with an inexpensive little tool known as Pippity.
Another method calls for basically taking over the top half of your website, the “above the fold” real estate, and dedicating it to year-end giving.
Maximize your Donate page
And don’t forget your Donate page. Carry through the emotional impact of your direct mail and email campaign on your donate page with photographs, stories and corresponding ask amounts. Is your site mobile-ready? Have you tested making a gift? Kerri Karvetski of Company K Media recommends giving two to three friends $10 or $20 and having them make a gift and report back on the good, the bad and the ugly.
Your Thank You page
In keeping with our focus on the donor, where do they land after making a gift? Your “Thank You for Your Donation!” landing page is one of the single most important pages on your website. Your donors need to be reassured that they haven’t fallen into some Internet black hole – and your Thank You page provides the perfect opportunity to engage your donors further. Take this opportunity to celebrate your donors! What a about using video? Here’s a brilliant example from Simple Development Systems member OneJustice of a video thank you:
PayPal can be clunky, but it’s also an inexpensive little workhorse. Even if you’re using PayPal to process donations, you can still set up a redirect Thank You page. Here’s how.
What will you be doing to gear up for year-end fundraising?
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