How to convert website traffic into donors

Getting donors to visit your charity’s site is one thing – converting them into donors is very much another.

A conversion refers to the moment a website user takes the action you’ve been directing them towards, whether that’s donating, buying tickets, or calling a helpline. The average user spends only 15 seconds on a website, so it is important to help them reach your desired destination quickly and in as few clicks as possible. Charities only have a limited amount of time to make their case.

There are three key factors necessary for maximising conversions, according to The Successful Charity Website Playbook, produced by software providers Access.

The first is ensuring that your website is mobile-friendly. In 2018, around a quarter of online donations were made via a mobile device. Websites not catering to that audience are missing out on a key fundraising demographic.

Many visitors to an organisation’s website will be doing so on-the-go, and being able to donate quickly via their phone, while their mind is on the charity’s cause, will ease the conversion from potential supporter to actual donor.

The second factor to consider is navigation – does your website make it easy for people to get from A to B? More than nine in ten consumers say easy navigation is the most useful part of a website, while 38% say they will stop engaging with a site if the content or layout is unattractive.

It is important that the purpose of each page matches the reason your audience is visiting – everything else is white noise and may turn them away.

Steps charities can take to ensure easier navigation include making their text legible for all visitors, improving the visibility of internal links, and putting the navigation bar (an organised list of links to principal areas of a website) where users would expect to see it.

Access also highlights the benefits of analysing existing data, to see where the user journey could be improved. For example, charities should take note of the topics that reappear in their enquiries inbox – what is it that your supporters can’t find? This can really help charities to understand gaps in their user journey and identify their blind spots.

The third factor in converting potential supporters into donors is minimising clicks. If a button says ‘Donate here’, it shouldn’t take users to four more pages before they get to payment function – by that time, they will have disengaged. People should be able to find what they’re looking for within three clicks, Access recommends.

A charity’s website is one of the most useful tools in its arsenal – making it easy to use makes it easier to attract and retain donors, communicate to key audiences, and raise awareness of a worthy cause. It is essential that charities get them right, but it can be difficult with limited time, money, and resource.

The Successful Charity Website Playbook gives organisations a map so they can make the most of their site – including converting those all-important clips into cash.