9 Things You Can Do to Increase Online Giving
With the holiday season approaching, now is the best time to optimize your website to increase online giving or begin planning a church capital campaign for the spring to raise more money.
In this post, we’ll share actionable tips that will help you increase online giving and fundraising efforts so you can advance your mission.
1. Highlight online giving
If you want to increase your online giving, one of the first things you should do is make it obvious that your website visitors can contribute online. After all, if you don’t highlight it, nobody will know that they can, in fact, help you raise money. Here are a few ways to highlight online giving to your potential donors.
Announcements
The easiest way to increase and highlight your online giving is to simply announce it. You can do this during a church service, volunteer gathering or to each person individually as you speak with them during the week.
Mention during offering
Another way to highlight online giving is to simply mention it during offering and tell people all the ways they can make their contribution, including on your website.
Bulletin
Your church bulletin should also have a dedicated space that highlights online giving along with a link to the giving page. Here, you can also explain why you’re raising money and list other ways to get involved.
Information in lobby
Post information about online giving in your church lobby. That way, any member of your congregation can easily see how they can contribute.
Newsletters, emails, social media
Use your email newsletter and social media profiles to share the link to your giving page as well as explain why you’re raising the money. You can also send individual emails to your church members and share your cause with them.
Video story
Record a video about your church and share it with your congregation. In the video, explain why you’re raising the money and where they can go to contribute.
2. Prominent place on website
Your website should include the information about online giving. Make the call to action prominent enough so that it grabs attention. Make your giving page easy to find so your website visitors don’t miss the fact that you have an online giving option. Batavia First Presbyterian Church in Batavia, NY has Give as one of their 5 main navigation menu items.
3. Brand it
It goes without saying that your giving page should reflect your brand. Even if you’re using a third-party giving platform, make sure it’s branded so that people know who they are giving to.
4. Make it simple and require as few clicks as possible
Keep in mind that people don’t like or want to give away too much information. Your giving page should therefore only ask for information that’s absolutely necessary to complete the transaction.
Another way to make the contribution process easy is to suggest giving amounts as people often aren’t sure what’s appropriate or how much they are expected to give.
5. Offer recurring giving
Make it easy for people to contribute on a regular basis with recurring giving. Some people may already do this through their bank but others will want an option for this. Consider how CharityWater makes it easy to choose a recurring monthly donation in the screenshot below.
6. Optimize Your Giving Page
Another way to increase online giving is by optimizing your giving page. Use photos to showcase your cause and talk about the impact that their contribution will have.
Use short sentences and avoid using paragraphs as visuals and short lines have more of an impact on website visitors and make it easier to digest the content.
Your giving page should also list different ways people can give. Persbyterian Church in Westfield does a great job of highlighting different ways people can give.
7. Provide Mobile Friendly Giving Options
Be sure to provide mobile-friendly giving options as many people use their smartphones and tablets more than they use desktop computers. This can include a mobile app, having a responsive website or sending a text message to a specific number with their donation amount. Life.Church makes it easy to donate via phone through their mobile app.
8. Be Transparent
Some of your church members might be wary of giving as they don’t know what their contribution will be used for. Relieve their doubt by publishing visual annual report with numbers and stories that show them how the contributions are used. Virginia Baptist Disaster Response shows what each contribution can be used for on their giving page.
Add accreditations or financial certificates on your giving page to encourage people to complete the transaction and let them know who to contact if they have additional questions before making the contribution.
9. Say Thanks!
Finally, don’t forget to say thanks to your church members and show your gratitude. An easy way to do this is to have a thank you confirmation page that tells them their contribution was successful and thanks them for it.
You can take it a step further and send them a personal thank you email as well as a thank you text to people who opted to give by text.
Another way to say thanks is to celebrate with the members of your church and share stories that show how appreciated their contribution is as well as what an impact it made.
You can send quarterly statements to all of your donors and include a story of impact from the past few months and re-thank them for their donation(s).
Don’t forget that you can also write a personal note to people who give online as a personal note shows how much you truly care and makes them feel appreciated.
What’s Next?
Need help optimizing your online giving experience? Or perhaps you’re planning to start a church capital campaign to raise money? We can help. Get in touch with us today and let’s increase your online giving.
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