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Your church relies on the generosity of community members to fund your operations, from Sunday services to youth programs. While in-person giving is still valuable, online fundraising has grown in popularity and can make a huge impact. In fact, 54% of donors prefer to give online using their debit or credit card over in-person donations.
Your church may already have a giving page on its website, but if it’s not user-friendly or engaging, donors will be less likely to give. Your donation page forms the basis of your church’s online fundraising strategy, so it’s important that you provide supporters with the best donation experience possible. Optimizing your church donation page may seem daunting, but the right strategies and tools can make it simple.
To create a beautiful donation page that inspires people to give, use these three tips:
Brand your donation page.
Add flexible giving options.
Make it mobile-friendly.
By maximizing online fundraising, your church can better serve its community and continue to provide essential programs. Let’s get started.
Brand your donation page.
Your church is unique from other organizations, so why not reflect this in your donation page? According to Morweb, a web design best practice is to customize your donation page so it stands out from the crowd. There are a variety of benefits to adding your church’s branding to its giving page, including:
Builds brand visibility. A donation page with your unique color scheme, brand font(s), and theme helps new supporters become familiar with your organization. Be sure to include your church’s mission on your giving page so new site visitors can learn more about your church’s services and therefore feel motivated to give.
Gives your donation page a professional look. A customized giving page looks more put together than a generic one that could belong to any organization. Branding will boost your church’s credibility and increase donors’ confidence in giving to your organization. An easy way to show that your giving page belongs to your church is by prominently displaying your logo at the top.
Creates stronger relationships with members. By adding images on your donation page that illustrate your church’s impact or describing how donations will support your organization, donors will feel more connected to your organization, thereby motivating them to get more involved.
If you’re not sure how to add custom elements to your donation page, you can work with a content management system (CMS). The right CMS, or website builder, can help your organization easily upload and arrange content according to your preferences—with no coding required. Choose a CMS that works within your church’s budget and has a variety of church-specific features so you can develop a strong digital presence.
Add flexible giving options.
Your donors will have different preferences for how they want to give online. In order to cater to your audience and make the donation experience as convenient as possible, you should offer a variety of giving options. Donors can then pick the option that works best for them. This makes the donation experience more user-friendly and therefore expands the number of people that can give to your church.
Your church’s payment processor should accept multiple payment methods, including:
All of the major credit card types
ACH Deposit
PayPal or Stripe
Along with offering flexible payment options, your church can also add an automatic monthly giving option. Monthly giving can help your church establish a reliable donation pipeline year round, which will help fund your operations and any miscellaneous expenses that occur. Even a monthly donation as small as $5 can add up over time and make an impact.
Monthly giving also benefits donors. Instead of having to fill out your donation page each time they want to give, donors will only have to fill it out once with their billing information and monthly giving amount. Then, this amount will automatically be transferred to your church’s bank account each month. This saves donors time, especially if they already give regularly to your church. Plus, monthly giving can help community members feel more connected to your church so you can retain their support long-term.
Make it mobile-friendly.
Mobile donations make up a huge portion of online giving, so it’s important that mobile users can easily access your page. In fact, according to fundraising statistics from 360MatchPro, mobile-friendly donation pages yield 34% more donations. A mobile-friendly donation page allows community members to give from wherever they are instead of having to find the nearest computer, therefore streamlining the entire giving process.
When optimizing your donation page for mobile devices, ensure that your giving page has the following features:
Ability to format to any screen size. Whether your donors are navigating to your donation page on a wide computer screen or a mobile device that fits in their hand, they should be able to easily read and fill out your donation page. Ideally, mobile users shouldn’t have to do any pinching or scrolling to access your giving page.
Clickable buttons and prompts. Ensure that mobile users can complete your donation page by successfully tapping a suggested donation amount or writing in their specific donation amount, typing in their billing information, and filling out other prompts without issues.
Limited pop-ups. Pop-ups can easily frustrate mobile users when they take over their entire mobile screen, especially if there is not a clear way to exit out of it. Avoid including pop-ups on your donation page, but if they’re necessary, ensure they’re mobile-friendly and easy to close.
You can test your church’s mobile web performance by using Google Lighthouse, which will audit your donation page and determine how it can be made more user-friendly. This free tool can also be used across all webpages to improve your website’s accessibility, speed, and overall performance.
The Gist
As you optimize your church’s donation page, keep in mind your audience and what motivates them to give. Then, you can refine your giving page so it’s as user-friendly as possible and helps donors feel more connected to your organization. Work with a CMS to streamline the design process and create a unique giving page that accurately represents your church. Good luck!
Want to learn how HelloFund can help with your mobile and recurring donations?