Online fundraising: Four deadly blunders to avoid
By Alan Sharpe
February 11, 2008
The good news is that 62% of adults visit a nonprofit's website
before donating (according to a recent online survey conducted by Harris
Interactive).
That's also the bad news.
For many nonprofits, the quickest way they can scare away donors is to
direct them to the organization's website. Too many nonprofit 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 e-mail sign-up
The key to raising money online is not your website. It's e-mail. You
raise money by e-mailing folks who have asked to hear from you. But you can
only do that if you have their e-mail addresses. A website that does not
collect e-mail addresses is not likely to raise much money. So put a sign-up
link on every page of your site, offering a free e-mail newsletter, e-mail
updates or something else of value to your donors that they will receive
from you by e-mail.
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.
Alan Sharpe, copywriter, author and workshop leader, is
president of Raiser Sharpe, the direct mail fundraising
agency that helps nonprofit organizations worldwide to
raise funds and build relationships. Sign up for his free
weekly newsletter: Raiser Sharpe Focus, at www.RaiserSharpe.com.
