How to capitalise on the rise of individual giving

The past year has seen huge shifts in the way people give. In-person donations have almost vanished, emails have largely replaced letters, tin buckets have been exchanged for cashless and contactless alternatives. The brave new world is digital. And donations have gone digital.

 

The shift to digital has not put off donors. In fact, the charity sector has seen an explosion in direct digital donations, particularly in the realm of individual giving. Donors have moved with the times, shifting donations online, and charities have taken steps to accommodate that shift.

 

Good online donation technology became an even more critical tool for charities. It’s supposed to make everything easier, streamlining fundraising efforts with secure, safe, and seamless donations.

 

But too often donation forms are aesthetically unappealing, difficult to navigate, and lacking cyber security. That creates problems for donors and charities – including poor conversion rates.

 

 

The problem with online donation forms

 

There are lots of potential problems with online donation forms, all of which can hamper a charity’s fundraising efforts.

 

They can be expensive when it comes to card processing fees, for example, which makes it difficult for small charities to justify the expense, aware that the forms cut into resources. Online donation forms can give donors a poor user experience with long and difficult to navigate user journeys and visually unappealing designs, all of which have the potential to turn off donors. As well as reducing the likelihood of completing that donation, it also risks a poor brand experience.

 

Cyber security is another major concern. Many online donation forms are not optimised for the latest security standards, which means charities are opening themselves – and, importantly, their donors – up to substantial threats. Donation forms seldom have sufficient security options, and the absence of adequate security can undermine trust.

 

And, importantly, many online donation forms do not retain adequate donor data, which weakens a charity’s ability to analyse performance and convert one-off donors into repeat donors. Charities often depend on data to secure long-term funding, utilising information to approach potential funders. The inability to access such data undercuts the charity’s long-term mission.

 

 

How to approach the problem

 

Over the years, JustGiving has optimised the online donation form that individuals use to donate to charities on the platform, based on millions of donations. They have now gone one step further, unlocking that potential for individual giving. They have democratised fundraising technology with Giving Checkout, allowing all charities to access the best donor experience for their own direct giving

 

Giving Checkout offers autonomy to charities, enabling them to implement the donation tool across their own channels, while also reassuring their donors that their donation process is powered by JustGiving – a name they know and trust for secure and easy online giving.

 

Giving Checkout is free for all direct donations, including regular gifts. There are 0% fees for charities. JustGiving will cover the payment processing fee for charities from a donor’s voluntary contribution when they give one, or absorb the cost when they don’t. Charities using Giving Checkout receive 100% of the donation 100% of the time, no matter what.

 

Giving Checkout also gives charities 100% of the donor data, including the name, email, address, and opt-in status for every person who donates. This is particularly important in an age of smart data insights, where charities need to build trust and engagement with either new supporters, or supporters giving through a new channel.

 

Abi Betteridge, Individual Giving Manager at the RAF Museum, said: “Due to the ongoing closure of the Museum and the impact on in person visitor donations, we have been actively directing our supporters to online giving through JustGiving. A large proportion of our supporters would not usually donate online, but Giving Checkout is really simple for them to use and they can donate in just a few clicks!

 

“Not only is the platform easy for our supporters to use, but the 0% fee is something which really resonates with them and has driven up the donation value.”

 

Jen Coleman, Chief Executive Officer at Black Country Foodbank, agrees with the sentiment above, suggesting: “Giving Checkout has been such an important part of our fundraising strategy especially over the last few months and we don’t know what we would have done without it. Donors have been able to support us quickly and easily, enabling us to plan and budget through some incredibly turbulent times.”