Have you ever considered adding a Ways to Give page to your nonprofit website? You likely have a variety of activities or opportunities for your donors to support your nonprofit, but have you clearly listed all these options out? The purpose of the Ways to Give page is to create a portal into the different channels your donors can use to support your organization and to make it easy to understand how they can give. That might seem like a no-brainer, but not enough nonprofits actually have this “how-to” give page. Lacking this page makes it difficult for donors to understand how they can support your nonprofit.
What content to put on your Ways to Give page
Giving your visitors options on how they can help support your nonprofit will increase the chances they will find a way to get involved that motivates them, and in turn, follow through by taking action. Here are just a few items you can include on your page:
- Donate online – This option should be most prominent as it is the easiest way to convert your current website visitor.
- Donate by mail – Include an address and info on where to send checks.
- Donate by phone – Don’t forget to let them know your number and the hours they can reach you.
- Donate a monthly gift – This should link to your monthly donation form.
- Workplace or corporate giving – Does the visitor work for a corporation that also has programs to donate? Tell them how they can get their business involved.
- Make a tribute gift – Let donors know in honor or in memory donations are welcome.
- Planned giving – Give donors instructions on giving stock, real estate or other items to your nonprofit through a will or trust.
- Peer-to-peer fundraising – Link visitors to online tools to fundraise on your behalf.
- Purchase merchandise – Direct visitors to your nonprofit store if you have apparel or branded gifts.
- Corporate matching gifts – Matching gift programs are a popular option within corporations.
These are only a few of the ways your donors are likely already supporting your organization, but you can and should include any opportunity your nonprofit offers to give on this page.
While this page should be primarily used to list out ways to give, don’t forget to also include supporting content such as why a donor should give and where the money will go—any page that encourages a gift must reinforce these items.
Fitting into your overall website scheme
Your Ways to Give page should typically be embedded in the “Donate” or “Support Us” section of your website. This section of the site is there to convince the potential donor to give, and the Ways to Give page gives them all the tools they’ll need.
The Ways to Give page should link to your online donation form, but don’t force potential donors to pass through the Ways to Give page to get there. The form or Donate Now page should be linked to with a “Donate Now” button placed prominently on every page on your site, with donors able to get there in only one click. The Donate Now button gives quick access to the donor who is already convinced to give. The Ways to Give page will be linked from elsewhere in your navigation, less prominently, but included with other information that convinces potential donors on why they should give. Ways to Give allows potential donors to explore their options before choosing to give.
Examples of great Ways to Give pages
