You want your donors to move their giving online. Why? The benefits are exponential – for both you and your donors.
Think about it. When someone donates by mail, there are so many steps required just to correctly process and record your donation and then thank the donor. Your donors have to fill out a paper form and put it in the mail. Then, a person from the postal service has to pick up the mail, sort it, and place it on a truck or airplane to have it delivered back to your organization.
Once it’s received, the mail has to be sorted and given to the right person, who then has to log the donation into your database (or several if you have a separate donor database and accounting system), deposit the check or run the credit card, then write and mail a letter to thank the donor and provide a receipt.
Then that mailed receipt has to go through the same process again. That’s a lot of labor and (non-renewable) resources spent, especially for a process that can be fully automated online!
Now, when someone donates online, all they need to do is make a few clicks – and the rest of the same steps are instantly automated: the donation gets processed, logged, and your supporter receives an instant tax receipt and thank you letter in their inbox. It saves work for everyone, and it’s much easier for your supporter. Think about how much of your organization’s precious time and resources you can save by motivating your donors to give online!
So, why aren’t more people giving online? It’s not because they don’t want to, or that they are that committed to the ritual of digging around for their checkbooks and supporting the postal service. If you’re thinking, But my donors are not tech-savvy! – you’re not alone! And you’re mistaken. We’re about to reveal a very different and surprising reality, so read on.
Very few people would actually prefer this if given a more convenient alternative (that is just as or more secure). The question begs – are you providing that clear alternative?
If you’re not sure where to start, we’ll give you a step-by-step guide on how to do this – all without having to change your fundraising outreach strategy. In fact, we’re going to tackle how to handle this using the most traditional fundraising strategy: direct mail!
YOUR DIRECT MAIL CAMPAIGNS + online giving
Luckily, your existing fundraising plan can easily include—and strengthen—a digital giving strategy. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel; you can start by including an online giving option in your existing offline appeals. Your next direct mail campaign is a great place to start!
STEP 1: rethink your remittance form
The first step in making it easier for your supporters to donate online and give them a chance to change their habits is to give a clear alternative on your existing appeal letter and remittance form. Let your supporters know that making a contribution to your organization online comes with the added bonus of being more efficient, secure, and less wasteful. The time and resources spent manually processing their donation can be devoted to your mission, payments online via credit card are more secure than mailing the number, and it’s better for the environment. Plus, they’ll receive an instant tax-receipt and thank-you!
For this to be effective, have it meet the following criteria:
- Clearly indicate the benefit to your supporters.
- Emphasize the option to donate online and have a web address that is easy to type.
- Your supporters need to know it is both easy and secure, so be sure to state both.
For example, your additional text can look like the following:
For an instant tax receipt, you can also donate securely online at yournonprofit.org/donate2018. Donating online also helps us cut our costs by 20%, so your donation goes even further! If you have any questions or want to donate by phone, call us at (800) 555-5555.
Notice the benefits to the donor: instant tax receipt and having their donation go further. Then we reassure them that it is secure and give them more options for their convenience. The web address given is unique to this donation appeal and easy to manually enter into their browser, which brings us to the next step.
STEP 2: CUSTOMIZE YOUR DONATION PAGE
Don’t send your donors to your generic donation page! It will confuse them and they will abandon the task. Your direct mailer appeal has a distinct ask, language, and images. When donors enter the web address you gave them, they will expect to see something that relates to this donation appeal. To create a seamless experience, use the same theme, language, and images from your mailer on this page. This will build confidence and reassure them they are in the right place.
Also, make sure that the giving options and descriptions match what is printed on the remittance form. While this page should be mobile-optimized and feature a donation form that is easy to use (if you’re not sure how to get this done, we can help!), make sure it’s easy for donors to get in touch with you should they have any questions or trouble. Post a phone number to reassure them they can speak to a person for help with donations. For example:
step 3: Include a phone number they can call for help
Finally, should your donors have any questions or concerns about giving online or run into any trouble, they should be able to call someone for assistance. Having a real person help them navigate the online donation process over the phone, in real-time, will ensure a smooth transition for donors who previously donated by check. Plus, it’s a great way to build one-on-one relationships with your donors!
BONUS: ONE SHOCKING STATISTIC
It surprised us, too.
A recent survey shows that donors who are 75+ make more online gifts in a year than any other generation. It’s counterintuitive enough that one skeptical blogger double checked the numbers from this survey against data from his client base of smaller organizations—and got the same results.
Clearly, online fundraising is more than just a way to engage millennial donors, though it certainly helps.
The real reason your supporters have been writing you checks may very well be less about their own preferences and more about the options you’ve given them. If you aren’t making it easy for all of your supporters to donate online, you could be missing out on major support – leaving money on the table from all generations, missing opportunities to convert, and wasting precious staff time and organizational resources.
So there you have it. No more excuses from your board about not being ready to add an online component to your existing fundraising and help transition your supporters to online giving!
The preceding strategy to mobilize donors to online giving came from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The ATC is an organization that has been around for 90 years and whose supporter base is as traditional as it gets. They moved their donors to over 50% in online fundraising with this strategy (compared to less than 25% for organizations on average) and shared their advice at NTEN 2018. If they can do it, so can you!
How are you integrating your online and offline fundraising tactics? Let us know in the comments below!
Good article. Directing donors to online giving in both the letter and the response envelope helps. Great tip to include a phone number for help.