Online giving has grown 17% since 2016 and the average online gift has continued to increase.

Is your online donation form working for you as hard as it should? Is it converting donors? Is it well-designed? Would you say it is intuitive? How about mobile responsiveness?

Make it a priority to increase your online donations by designing, optimizing, and strategizing your donation forms to meet the needs of potential donors. How do you do that?

We’ve compiled a list of donation form trends that are converting for our clients and pulled some additional ideas from across the industry to adapt to your strategy:

Keep Your Donation Form Simple

A cluttered donation form can be distracting. The longer a form takes to fill out – the lower your conversion rate will be. Keep online forms as simple and as clean as possible. You want donors to be able to fill out a form quickly – so limit your form to only the fields you truly need.

Quick tips:

• Hide top navigation
• Simplify footer design
• Use concise, but empathetic copy
• Remove excess fields
• Remove all distractions

Optimize Donation Forms for Mobile

In 2018, 24% of online transactions were made using a mobile device. Yet, so many donation forms are still unresponsive. This means that the form doesn’t dynamically resize and reorganize content to fit the screen size. No matter what device a donor is using, aim for the same seamless experience across all device types.

Use a Compelling Image

We’re seeing more and more of a large static image used as a background. It’s a powerful way to reinforce your mission and a reason to give.

Offer Payment Options

The majority of online donations are made with debit or credit cards. With recent alternative payment methods emerging, consider adding payment options like PayPal, Apple, Bitcoin, and ACH to make it more convenient to donate. Check with your provider to see what’s available for integration with your forms.

Add a Monthly Recurring Option on Your Donation Form

Recurring donors can be up to 3x more valuable than a one-time donor per year. Consider adding a monthly option to your current donation form or have a separate monthly form altogether – either way, don’t be afraid to make the ask.

Client example: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

One-Step vs. Multi-Step Donation Forms

You’ve probably heard or have been told to “reduce the number of clicks to make a donation!” While we tend to lean more towards one-page donation forms, if designed strategically – multi-step forms can actually reduce friction for the donor. Multi-step forms allow your organization to increase the number of fields without negatively impacting user experience. The sight of a multi-step form is less intimidating, despite the fact they may require more from users.

charity:water does a great job of breaking up the form into multiple steps, while still creating a seamless donor experience.

These are just a few trends we’re seeing across the sector. If you decide to implement any of these recommendations, don’t be afraid to test, analyze, and adapt the effectiveness of your donation form. Not sure where to start? We offer strategy, design, and donation form optimization for our clients. Drop us an email and let us know how we can help.