7 Giving Options You Should Add to Your Donation Page
When you think of optimizing your nonprofit’s donation page, you may envision adding an eye-catching image or writing new copy about your organization’s mission. These are good places to start, but there’s more you can do to appeal to prospective donors while they decide whether or not to give.
In this article, we’ll discuss one of the most impactful tactics for improving your donation page:
adding more giving options. By accepting additional
payment methods and giving donors opportunities to increase their gifts’ impact, you’ll engage more donors and boost your fundraising success.
As you explore these new giving options, think about your target audience and determine which donation avenues would most appeal to your supporters. Let’s dive in!
1. Recurring Gifts
If your donation page doesn’t already include a recurring or monthly giving option, adding one should be your top priority. A recurring giving program allows donors to give repeat gifts at a regular cadence, typically once a month. Monthly gifts are highly convenient for donors. Plus, recurring donors are more committed and give 42% more per year than one-time donors.
For example, instead of giving a one-time gift of $100, a donor might decide to give a $15 monthly donation. They can easily fit this amount into their monthly budget, and they don’t have to worry about filling out your donation form each time. By the end of the year, your nonprofit receives a total of $180 from this donor
and
gets the opportunity to form a lasting relationship with them.
2. Cryptocurrency
For many nonprofits, cryptocurrency may seem like a confusing concept that doesn’t relate to your organization at all. In reality, however, adding crypto donations as an option provides major fundraising opportunities and appeals to the estimated 13.7% of Americans who own cryptocurrency.
Donating crypto allows high-capacity donors to access additional tax benefits and potentially give larger amounts to your nonprofit than they originally paid for the crypto.
To tap into crypto as a fundraising opportunity, let interested donors know on your donation page how to send crypto to your nonprofit. This can be as simple as providing them with a link or QR code they can scan to find your organization’s crypto wallet. From here, they send you cryptocurrency and you can convert it to cash immediately to retain its value.
3. Stocks
Accepting stock donations is similar to accepting crypto—by giving donors clear instructions and immediately liquidating stock gifts, you can engage more high-income donors and receive larger donations.
In order to accept stock donations, your nonprofit first needs to open a brokerage account that allows you to receive stock gifts.
Infinite Giving’s guide to nonprofit brokerage accounts explains that some providers will open this account for you, simplifying the process so you can accept stock donations in four easy steps:
- Set up your donation page. If your provider opens your brokerage account for you, you can go ahead and add stock giving as an option on your donation page.
- The donor fills in information about their stock gift. On your donation form, ask for the name of the donor’s brokerage firm, the name of the stock, and how many shares they’d like to transfer to your organization.
- The donor contacts their broker to initiate the stock transfer. Next, the donor must make a formal request to transfer the stocks. Some stock donation platforms make this process easy by automatically creating an email the donor can forward to their broker.
- Your nonprofit receives and liquidates the stock gift. Once the transfer is complete, you’ll receive the stock in your nonprofit’s brokerage account. To preserve the stock’s value, you should liquidate it to cash right away.
Since donating stock can feel complicated, it’s also important to add information about the process to your website’s Ways to Give page. Here, you can explain to donors how donating stock works, what the tax benefits are, and who they can contact with questions.
4. Legacy Giving Options
According to NXUnite, legacy giving provides donors with the opportunity to create a personal, lasting impact on your cause without affecting their day-to-day cash flow. Essentially, these options allow donors to set aside funds to give to your nonprofit after they pass away.
There are many kinds of legacy or
planned giving, but we’ll focus on two options you can add to your donation page:
- Bequeathments involve a donor including your nonprofit in their will to leave your organization part of their estate.
- Micro-endowments are personally-gifted endowment funds. Donors can contribute to them throughout their lifetimes, but the endowment continues to grow and fund your nonprofit beyond their lives.
Giving a legacy gift can be an involved and personal process, so many nonprofits simply add information about the option to their donation page and ask interested donors to contact them directly.
5. Donor-Advised Fund Grants
Other donors committed to creating a legacy of giving may have their own donor-advised funds (DAFs). DAFs are charitable giving accounts that individuals open to help them give to multiple nonprofits throughout their lives. They’re considered “donor-advised” because the donor isn’t directly in charge of the account. Rather, their DAF provider controls, invests, and grants the funds based on the donor’s preferences.
Since DAF holders don’t grant funds themselves, it can be a bit tricky for them to give from the fund to your nonprofit. You can make the process much easier by adding a
DAF widget to your donation page that walks them through the exact steps of requesting a DAF grant from their provider.
6. Matching Gifts
Matching gifts are a form of corporate philanthropy in which companies commit to financially matching their employees’ contributions to nonprofits, often at a 1:1 ratio. This means that just by filling out a quick form to request a matching gift from their employer, your donors can double their donations and impact at no extra cost to them.
To add this option to your donation page, add a section at the bottom of the form letting donors know that they may be eligible for matching gifts from their employer. Leverage matching gift software to embed a search tool donors can use to quickly find out if they’re eligible and what they need to do to request a match.
7. Tribute Gifts
Finally, consider adding a checkbox to the bottom of your donation form asking if the gift is being made in honor of someone. This engages supporters who may be making donations on someone else’s behalf, as birthday gifts, or in tribute to someone personally affected by your cause.
If a donor indicates that they’re giving a tribute gift, ask for the name of the person and if the donor would like you to notify them. You can even give donors the option to notify the honoree themselves by
sending a charity eCard branded to your nonprofit. When you add this option, you’ll make it easy and fun for donors to let the person know about the tribute gift, boosting engagement and getting your organization in front of more people.
No matter which giving options you decide to add to your donation page, remember to keep form fields simple by only asking necessary questions to avoid overwhelming donors. Once you’ve had your new options available for a few months, take time to
analyze new giving patterns to determine which giving options your donors like best. This information will help you tailor fundraising appeals, optimize your donation page even further, and ultimately raise more for your mission.
About the Author
Karen Houghton
Karen Houghton is the CEO of
Infinite Giving, a relationship and technology driven Nonprofit Investment Advisor. Karen leverages her deep nonprofit expertise to bring a modern and curated investment experience to nonprofit organizations all over the US. She advocates for organizational sustainability through better financial management, strategic access to curated investment practices for reduced management fees, and increased asset giving.
SPEAK TO AN EXPERT
CONNECT WITH US
Join our newsletter for up-to-date Information