In 2022, it’s essential that as a charity or not-for-profit, your website is user-friendly, functional and gives those who visit what they’re looking for at the click of a button.
But, with the cost to create a sleek and fully-functioning website far exceeding often-tight charity budgets, it can be tempting to underestimate the power of your online real estate.
Your website is the first port of call for donors, potential donors, potential volunteers and those who wish to fundraise on your behalf, so it’s vital it reaches its full capacity to help you achieve your mission.
Connect the donate button with a payment gateway such as Stripe or Paypal making the donation process simple and efficient. If your donate button is just bank account details to make a manual transfer, you’re likely to lose donors by making it too hard for them to support you.
Once an online donation is made, your website should connect with your CRM to capture specific data that can be used for future analysis.
SupporterHub is a charity-focused CRM that automates the creation of new donor records, adds donations to existing records and updates preferred mailing codes from information giving during online donations.
Give clear instructions on how someone can support
While a website needs to be donation-friendly, it’s important to remember that not everyone who supports you wants to donate financially.
Perhaps website visitors want to volunteer, hold an event, or offer in-kind donations as prizes or gifts. You must have a concise sitemap that meets the need of each supporter type and gives simple instructions on how they can help you further.
Add a lead magnet
Add a lead magnet to your homepage to maximise opportunity to capture email addresses and personal information from anyone who visits your site.
However an internet searcher has landed on your homepage, offering them something in exchange for their email address will mean valuable growth for your EDM list and begin the all-important communication journey.
To increase efficiencies, you can integrate your lead magnet with your email database using a data-centric CRM such as SupporterHub. Prospect information is automatically loaded into the database and you don’t have to do a thing.
Implement systems to capture interest
People may visit your site who aren’t yet ready to support you. Perhaps someone is considering volunteer opportunities in the local area or deciding on a worthy cause to make their regular tax donation.
Encourage all website visitors to sign up to a newsletter remembering to add the all-important ‘what brings you here?’ box so you can keep in touch, get to know them better and find out what steps you need to take to encourage further action.
Provide clear mission and vision statements
Your website copy should be clear and easy to read but many charities overlook the importance of a mission and vision statement. This critical information helps potential donors and supporters understand your broader core values which helps build relationships and encourages support.
Segment your database
Your website is a great tool for building your database of donors, potential donors, volunteers, potential volunteers, those who are holding an event and those who have signed up for your lead magnet.
Of course, you’re going to keep in touch with these people via email or mail, but it’s essential you segment your database via the information they provide online, so your language is appropriate.
You can’t thank a potential volunteer for a donation, and you must always thank someone for their donation. SupporterHub is a system that can manage data inpu ton the front end and can segment accordingly to direct people to the appropriate communication journey to help further build relationships.
SupporterHub is a charity-focussed CRM that integrates with your website to provide a smooth, streamlined and efficient program to capture data and provide the best user experience for your website visitors.
To see how SupporterHub can help maximise the potential of your website as a fundraising tool, sign up today and get four weeks free! Get started
