Your post-donation landing page is a small piece of the donation process. It is often overlooked because organizations focus their energy on getting the donations in the first place. Below are four elements that nonprofit organizations should be building into their page.
Say Thank You
This may seem obvious, but some organizations forget this important step. Recently we made contributions to ten different organizations. Three of the post-donation landing pages lacked any “Thank you,” “We’re grateful,” or “We appreciate.” One page was just a receipt. The other two pages had minimal content, but they focused on how to get involved in other organizational activities. While including other call-to-actions is important (see below), you should always start with thanks and explain why their contribution is important.
Reiterate the Importance of Their Donation
This step helps validate your donor’s choice to give and can improve donor retention. You can accomplish this by sharing a testimonial for someone who has benefited from your organization’s services or statistics on the value their donation will have on your services. The content on here doesn’t need to be new. You can often reuse language you have created for other documents/needs.
Open the door to Other Engagement Activities
This step has to be done appropriately and should focus on your own organizational goals. It is not appropriate to build another fundraising ask into this page. It is useful to invite donors to follow you on social media, learn more about volunteer activities, or attend an upcoming event. If an organizational goal is to build a better understanding of why your donors choose to donate, you can include a survey on your landing page. It’s best to embed and not ask them to click on a third party platform like Survey Monkey or Google Forms.
Customize Your “Share This Contribution on Social Networks” Text
Having a “Click here to share your donation on FB/Twitter” is common. Most donation platforms include this option automatically on the landing page (as it will lead to more donations on their platform). If you have the ability to customize the automatic message, take the time to create something unique to your organization. Most online giving platforms have generic language that feels robotic. This is understandable, as they’re trying to make it universal enough to appeal to all organizations/missions. Take the time to write something that is in your organization’s voice and is more fun/positive than the generic content provided.
Justin (he, him) is a Principal and Co-Founder of Social Change Consulting. He has over fifteen years of nonprofit experience, with expertise in online fundraising, digital communications, and data management. Justin helps organizations connect their communication strategy to their income development needs. When he’s not on the clock, Justin is exploring Berlin, running, listening to too many podcasts, and drinking too much coffee.