Many organizations rely upon grants and donations to survive. We recommend that you (at least once a year) perform a sort of “cheshbon hanefesh” by putting yourself in your donors’ shoes. In so doing, you will discover all sorts of areas that you can improve upon when it comes to online fundraising.
Here’s a quick 5-minute exercise: we want you to go to your website and pretend that you are a donor. Yes, that’s right! We want you to walk through the key experiences you provide to your online donors.
Why?
If the experience is great, you are in the clear. However, if you find the experience is too technical—let alone awful—then you have your work cut out for you. These 5-minutes are a worthy investment. After all, if you improve the areas that you need to on your website—you are taking two steps in the right direction towards enhancing your online donations.
Now, ask yourself – as a donor:
1. How hard is it to find the Donate button on my home page?
2. In my emails?
3. How long does it take to complete the form?
4. Once I finish the form and hit submit to complete the donation, what happens?
5. How long does it take for me to get a receipt?
6. How long does it take for me to get a thank-you note?
7. When do I hear back about the impact of my gift?
Now switch back to thinking like a fundraiser and work on improving one aspect a week. That way when it comes to people giving last minute donations before 2013, your website will be ready.
