Nonprofit websites serve a host of functions, but one of their most crucial is to convert visitors into donors. No matter how compelling, comprehensive or emotionally charged your website may be, it’s missing the point unless it’s optimized to deliver a high conversion rate. You have multiple nonprofit marketing techniques that can help optimize your site, with a handful of the most effective noted below.
Present a Strong Value Proposition
While it may sound lofty in name, a value proposition is simply a statement that tells your target audience why they should donate to your cause. The statement needs to be extremely clear, highlighting what impact their donation will have.
Since 55 percent of visitors will spend 15 seconds or less on your website, your value proposition needs to catch them, fast. That means you want to put it front and center, and well above the fold.
Build on Goal-Focused Content
Nonprofit websites usually have several web pages that contain target content vital for getting visitors to convert. Make sure those pages form the foundation of your entire site. Every piece of content you subsequently add to your site needs to somehow support those essential pages.
Pages that don’t appear to support the goal can often be reworked until they do. For instance:
- Add a call for support on your “Partners” page, inviting others to partner with you
- Encourage visitors to join your mailing list at the end of each blog post
- Transform your calendar page into a chance for visitors to register for your newsletter
Create Content around Buyer Personas
Buyer personas refer to representations of your ideal donors, and most nonprofits have several different types. From the first-time donor to the ongoing contributor, make sure every piece of content you create is crafted with these personas in mind. The content needs to speak directly to your different personas, providing information that’s appealing, informative and valuable to those individuals.
Free Download: Buyer Persona Toolkit
Make Donating Easy
The easier it is for visitors to donate, the more likely they will be to proceed. Put an eye-catching donation button on every page. Streamline the entire donation process, asking only for their name and credit card number at the donation point. You can always collect additional information later.
Sixty-five percent of nonprofit websites require three or more clicks to make a donation. Can you make it even faster and easier for people to give?
See Also: 5 Ways to Make Your Nonprofit Website Donor-Friendly
Make Donating Impactful
Letting people know about the positive impact their donations make encourages more of the same. Not surprisingly, 63 percent of donors want to know how donations will be used, and you can fill them in with a compelling visual list or graphic.
This can work particularly well for ongoing donations, showing visitors that $15 per month buys a year’s worth of leashes for your shelter animals, while $25 per month covers the annual food bill.
Use High-Converting Forms and Submit Buttons
Different forms have different website conversion rates:
Skip the contact forms in favor of gathering information through other forms that boast a higher website conversion rate. Also pay attention to the Submit button on the form, which you can adjust with specific language to better describe the user’s action, such as “Help Now.”
Read More: 7 A/B Tests to Try on Your Nonprofit's Donation Page
Craft Powerful CTAs
A call-to-action (CTA) tells visitors exactly what you want them to do next, and they can serve as extremely powerful nonprofit marketing tools. After all, 90 percent of folks who read your headline will also read your CTA.
Keep CTAs short and relevant to adjacent content for best results. For instance, don’t place a CTA asking for donations under an article discussing the benefits of volunteering. Play around with the wording and location of the CTA to see how and where yours are most effective on the page.
Track Results
Dig deeper than metrics like total page views to ensure your content is working as a whole to drive conversions. Some pages will be obvious money makers, while others function to lead visitors to the money-making pages.
Review pages and content to determine if they result in conversions, fine-tuning as needed to better reach your goals. Regular analysis will tell you which pages are doing their jobs and which may need some adjusting to improve performance.
Optimizing your site can help boost your website conversion rate, but it’s not a one-time deal. Like most nonprofit marketing, optimizing your site is an ongoing project that requires consist attention to deliver consistently phenomenal results.
