How to Boost Your Digital Fundraising

By Kalie VanDewater

As the world increasingly moves online, it’s more important than ever to make sure your nonprofit is keeping up with the times. So, when you approach your online fundraising, it’s critical that you do more than just put a “donate” button on your website.

To give nonprofits an idea of where they stand among their peers in terms of online fundraising, Bloomerang conducted a study to evaluate the donor experience at 500 nonprofit organizations across the United States, with at least eight organizations per state. The company gave mostly $25 donations through these nonprofits’ online giving platforms and analyzed various aspects of the donor journey for each.

Joshua Meyer, vice president of demand generation at Bloomerang, and Kate Kramer, president of the Harrisonburg Police Foundation, shared the findings from the study during a session at the second annual BridgeTECH event at the 2024 Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference.

Drawing from the findings, here are some of their tips for optimizing your donors’ online giving experience to raise more money.

1. Give the Option to Cover Transaction Fees

Transaction fees for donations add up. In fact, nonprofits paid $2 billion in transaction fees in 2022 alone. That being the case, it can be helpful to have your donors help cover the costs, Meyer explained.

“Why is this important? 50 to 60% of your donors will cover the fee if you ask them,” he said. “So those of you that … aren't doing it right now, it may be something to consider.”

According to the study, 59% of nonprofits already gave donors the option to cover transaction fees, and 28% set that option as the default.

“Personally, I don't fall into the category of thinking that it should be the default,” Kramer said. “I like the option to cover more than the default.”

2. Offer a Way to Give as a Tribute or Memorial Gift

Another way to enhance your donors’ online donation experience is to enable them to give to a specific fund as a memorial or tribute to someone they know.

“One of the things that I love doing when someone has a big birthday or a big celebration or when someone passes — I love being able to make that gift in honor,” Meyer said. “I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a nonprofit’s website, and there's no tribute or memorial.”

The research showed that while 62% of nonprofits allowed donors to give a tribute or memorial gift, only 29% had the option for donors to contribute to a specific fund. This can be an area of opportunity for nonprofits to improve.

3. Enable Multiple Payment Methods

Something else that can improve your donors’ experience with online giving is to offer them multiple ways to give. A live poll of session attendees showed that every organization represented in the room already accepted credit cards online. However, accepting other payment methods makes 59% of donors more likely to give. This meets evolving donor preferences and makes the checkout process easier and faster, especially for the younger crowd.

“I know that if there's an Apple Pay option, I am much more likely to complete that because I don't have to fill out my mailing address,” Meyer said. “I don't have to fill out my credit card number. I don't have to remember what the CVV code number is and the expiration date and you just click it through, especially when I'm making donations on my phone.”

Aside from credit cards, other common payment options include:

Venmo, PayPal and/or Zelle.
Apple or Google Pay (50% of nonprofits in the study accepted this).
Amazon Wallet.
Cryptocurrency.
ACH transfers.

4. Thank Your Donors

Of course, it’s important to thank your donors for their gift in order to retain them. There are many ways to do this, but some are more popular than others.

According to the study findings, 46% of organizations sent a personalized donation receipt. Meanwhile, 14% mailed a printed thank-you note within 15 days of the donation, and 25% did the same within 30 days. The study also found that 16% of organizations provided a program update (e.g., via newsletter) within 30 days.

However, one of the most effective ways to show gratitude to your donors was underutilized in comparison: Only 2% of nonprofits made a phone call to say thank you.

“There's a lot of research out there that phone calls within 24 hours will increase the second donation gift pretty significantly — it's in the 30% to 40% range,” Meyer said.

Not only that, but making that phone call can prompt donors to give sooner, Kramer said.

“They're likely to give, like two times before they would have given the second gift,” she explained. “You'd be getting a third, [plus] that increase of 30% or 40%.”

5. Audit Your Online Donation Experience

While the previously mentioned tips may have a great impact on your online fundraising success, they aren’t the only updates you can make to raise more money online for your organization. Meyer suggested conducting an audit to identify ways to improve your donors’ experience. Some aspects to consider include: