What’s the Big Idea?

The organization also should review its current donation-processing system and look into ways to make it more sophisticated and user-friendly. Currently, donors begin making their transactions on Childcare Worldwide’s site, but then move to a new system through VeriSign. While I commend the additional provision of security, the “secure site” loses the branding of childcareworldwide.org (with the exception of the logo) and only asks for the donor’s credit card information — without the option of repeating the gift amount. Some donors might abandon their giving at this point in the process if they feel disoriented or lost. If donors make it through this second step, they then are taken to a third page where they enter their credit card security code (better for step two) and get the reassurance of seeing their amount and gift allocation. A great starting place for groups that want a more robust, all-in-one program for online donations is a recent report by Idealware at www.idealware.org/donations/index.php.