How to Add Guaranteed Revenue to Your Online Donation Page
Digital transformation is changing the game for nonprofit organizations.
According to the 2019 Blackbaud Luminate Online Benchmark Report, total online transaction revenue increased by 3.11% overall, and by 6.79% for hospitals and hospital foundations.
And that was before a global pandemic – which has caused online giving to skyrocket in ways we’ve never seen before. Unprecedented numbers of donors have given via online donation pages, sending their support to food banks and healthcare organizations serving on the front lines.
With this sharp rise in web traffic and a growing expectation for innovative eCommerce experiences, online donation pages need to keep up or risk getting left behind.
There’s a laundry list of optimizations we recommend making to increase online revenue (more on that later). But in the meantime, here’s one simple fix you can make right now that will add guaranteed revenue to your online donation pages.
Add a Donor-Covered Fee
If it sounds simple, that’s because it is!
Did you know adding a donor-covered fee could be one of the most important revenue-related upgrades you make to your donation page? It’s also one of the easiest solutions you can implement right now.
The donor-covered fee gives donors the ability to slightly increase their gift amount to include the credit card processing fees for the transaction.
It’s as simple as adding a check box to the bottom of your donation form to authorize the additional donation. Our research shows the default setting should be to include the donor-covered fee:
- 40% of donors will include the fee if you leave it unchecked
- 70% of donors will leave the box checked if it’s part of your default settings
Assuming your fee is between 2.6-2.8%, we recommend setting the donor-covered fee between 3-4%. To avoid any unwanted surprises, we also suggest reiterating the total amount of the donation in the submit button.
Track Your Results
This optimization can make a huge impact on your bottom line – so make so you are tracking everything.
Does a checked vs. an unchecked box bring in different amounts of revenue? Do your donors respond to different forms of messaging or fee amounts?
Just like with any new strategy you implement, don’t be afraid to do some testing to find the perfect balance.
Most importantly, don’t let this added boost get lost in your total donation amount. To be able to truly understand how big of an impact the donor-covered fee is making, we recommend tracking this revenue as a separate amount.
User experience is becoming more and more critical for nonprofit donation pages, and, although simple, this is a great way to dip your toes in the water.
Ready to dive headfirst into digital transformation? Join Charles Lehosit and Suzanne Anderson for their bbcon session “Five in 30: The Five Best Ways to Optimize Online Donation Pages” to find out more ways to make the most of your online donation page. Register today!
