Article: How to keep users at the heart of your fundraising

The ever-changing fundraising environment makes it challenging for charities to connect with donors. But, thinking from the vantage point of supporters makes it easier for digital leaders to design and implement fundraising journeys.

 

Here, we discuss how user-centred approaches keep your donors happy.

 

 

What is a user-centred approach to fundraising?

 

There are many strategies to solving problems in the digital world. The UX journey, or user experience journey, focuses on how customers, clients, and donors perceive and interact with the product. In this case, the donation is the ‘product’.

 

Adobe offers useful definitions and questions to ponder: “UX refers to everything that affects a user’s interaction with a digital product.”

 

For a good product, UX is evaluated against the below criteria:

• Does the product give good value?
• Does the product work well?
• Is it user friendly?
• Is it a pleasure to use?

In the context of giving, a user-centred approach to fundraising looks at how donors interact with the process. Fundamentally, how donors experience giving is one of the most important aspects of fundraising.

 

 

User-centred approaches in the fundraising cycle

 

Charity fundraising can be thought of as a cycle of five steps. The steps are donor identification, qualification, cultivation, the ask, and stewardship.

 

The first step is to identify your donor base. CAF’s advice is to reflect inward. Consider who has given in the past, motivations, what organisations are interested in the charity purpose, and what relationships already exist.

 

To make your fundraising approach as donor centric as possible, think about what they want in the process. Once you’ve identified them, connect with donors on their level. As an example, to attract Gen Z, be on social media – the key is to make your posts and messages mobile friendly. Gen Z members have a voracious appetite for livestreaming and video.

 

Getting onto Twitch and TikTok are a must, and to get ahead of the curve, be aware of upcoming social media platforms.

 

 

Reduce the hassle factor

 

From the perspective of the charity, collecting data is a priority. Online forms and feedback surveys are invaluable to making sure your CRM system is up to date.

 

On the flip side, that may not be what donors want. Finding a balance isn’t easy.

 

Time poor audiences don’t have the patience to deal with additional questions and feedback. That frustration is compounded by mobile phone use, because potential donors navigate away from the fundraising page even quicker than those using more conventional devices.

 

In 2017, we highlighted Reason Digital’s study of charity website conversion rates. They found that charities missed out on £1.5 billion worth of donations because of high ‘bounce rates.’ In simple terms, it means that potential donors were diverted from giving because sites were hard to navigate.

 

Matt Haworth CEO of Reason Digital puts it bluntly: “What our findings suggest is that charity websites are not retaining user interest, which ultimately translates into missing out on large amounts of donations. This can happen for a number of reasons, whether that’s an unresponsive or poorly optimised website, or a misleading link to the website.”

 

To avoid high bounce rates, do an accessibility audit. As part of the process, make sure images, fonts, and videos work on smaller screens. When it comes to collecting data, ensure that it’s appropriate to do so, and, limit the number of questions to essential ones only.

 

 

Making payments easy

 

Capturing fundraising donations online is growing. Over the pandemic, the volume of online donation payments grew by 115%, according to digital agency WPNC.

 

Breaking down the type of payment even further, the analysis shows that digital wallets are becoming more popular with donors. They found that 46% of all donations at one large charity came from ApplePay, the digital wallet service.

 

Taking note of what donors are using and likely want to see, payments need to be easy.

 

The best payment systems accept any type of card payment, and can take donations whether online or in retail shops. For charities on-the-go, many of the payment systems offer tap-and-go devices. Our top tip here is to make your check-out system is quick and painless. Do away with additional input screens and allow for mobile payments and card readers.

 

 

Continuously evaluate how you’re doing

 

Understanding the donor experience also means checking in with them. Greater Giving puts it perfectly: “Each time you start to work with a donor, think about how that interaction would make you feel as a donor, and proceed as such.”

 

As with any relationship, make time for feedback and improvement. To maximise the user-centred approach to fundraising, set aside time from the campaign to find out what your audiences are really looking for. Away from the pressures of giving, audiences may be more willing to speak frankly.