Website donation is the preferred way of online giving
Ease of giving and donating via the website are the preferred choices of social donors according to 2021 Giving Experience study done by OneCause
Exactly during this time last year, I was quite keen to explore the world of online fundraising for nonprofits. The basics of marketing in the digital world for a nonprofit or profit organisation remains the same. Every year report after report marketers hold the same challenge:
“How to acquire new users/customer and the smarter ones also list the challenge of retaining the existing ones.”
I have been keen to understand “Why do people give.” Plus, the way people give in Asian societies or in India is quite different from the way people give in the US or UK.
Parking the debate on how people give let’s focus on the why. People give primarily for two reasons:
“One people want to do good or feel good by donating money for a cause and the second being people genuinely caring for a cause.”
Ease of giving
There is one more reason why people give which is:
“Ease - It was easy to do.”
According to the recently released OneCause - 2021 Giving Experience Report, 64% gave because it was easy to do, 63% gave because they cared about the mission of the organization and 60% gave because the money would make difference.
There isn’t much difference in the top three reasons. However, the factor of ease standing at the top shows donors giving experience a preference. In the marketing language, digital fundraising can excel when nonprofit organizations will make the life of donor easy while giving. Not just giving, also how they would take this forward.
The above data also tells that 53% gave because the organization made it clear how the donated money will be used. But where do you give the details on the donation page or campaign page?
My suggestion would be on the campaign page. When you run ads for individual giving, put your CTA to the campaign page and link it to the donation page.
Better do an A/B testing - one with a CTA to the donation page and another one with a CTA to the campaign page. You will have data to back your gut feeling.
However, if you want the regular donors to be converted to monthly donors then the key to retention depends on how you build your communication with the donors.
Additionally, 64% of the first-time donors listed ease of giving as one of the top motivators. The report also stressed the fact that donors are more than 2x as likely to hear about a social giving opportunity through a friend, family, member, or colleague than from a nonprofit directly.
A clear indicator of why sustained transparent communication is required with donors. “With time you can convert a percentage of your regular donors as your brand advocates who will do the word of mouth for your cause.”
Website donation preferred way of giving
When ease of giving is listed as one of the top reasons then the following question comes what was the preferred medium in 2021. A year when Social Donors responded positively to virtual fundraising, with 95% of those who donated to a fundraising event or run, walk, ride stating they would consider attending a virtual event in the future.
In 2021 the preferred donation channel was website donation(48%) followed by cash or check in person(36%). Mobile and social media donation stood at 23%.
Is it the time when nonprofit organization especially based out in the Asian subcontinent look at “mobile-first experience” with equal importance? While building a website or campaign pages for desktop and mobile treat them differently. Both devices serve a purpose with different screen size.
Ease driving virtual fundraising
Most of us are eager to go out on the streets and once again be normal. But then what is normal in a year where new variants of the viruses are creeping in.
Nonprofits have had a high time in adjusting especially when in-person fundraising was the norm for years. Yet the pandemic has made virtual events an ongoing norm.
Once again donors have rated ease as one of the prime factors for virtual fundraising. Simple yet very crucial factors for an online fundraising event have stood out:
83% found it very easy to make a donation at an event followed by 67% for registering an event and logging into the event. This also means that 33% failed to register for an event or log into an event.
37% couldn’t access the event details from the mobile which for me is a concern.
In this social media age where most of us are keen to show the world our good deed. This is a great thing for an individual and the relevant nonprofit organization to get more views and donors.
Especially when the report has informed that first time donors are likely to listen to their families and friends. But the above data shows that 40% of the virtual event attendees were not able to share or promote their fundraiser.
Clearly, nonprofit organizations giving more importance to experience will excel in online giving. And as you can see experience doesn’t mean deploying an AI tool or chatbot it is as simple as can I log into the fundraising event via mobile or does the campaign or event page has the option to share the details with my friends and family.
The data provide in the report is from the month April of 2021 - “We conducted an online survey with Edge Research of 1,026 self-reported Social Donors who had donated to a fundraising event; participated in or sponsored someone in a run, walk, ride; or donated to an occasion, challenge, or giving day/month within the last 12 months,” says OneCause.