By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
The non-profit organizations who raise the most money online use their websites to engage visitors. This is a vital step in raising money online. It’s not enough just to have a Donate Now button. You have to have a website that actually encourages people to do something on your website and get involved in some way.
Here’s an example from Heifer International’s website. Heifer does relief and development work overseas. If you visit their website, you’ll see a simple navigation bar. You can learn about their WORK. You can GET INVOLVED.
You can GIVE a gift. And you can LEARN more about the people who they help. If you click the GET INVOLVED link, it takes you to a page with the headline, “Get Involved – Help Heifer End Hunger.” And you can see all the ways that you can get involved with this organization.
You can become more engaged with the organization. You can Volunteer, for one thing. You can visit their learning centers. You can Support Partnerships, large and small, to help them achieve their mission of ending hunger around the world. You can even Take a Study Tour where you travel overseas and study the work that they’re doing and the people who they’re helping. You can help them Raise Funds. You can attend a special event, invite a speaker to come and speak to your group. And you can even refer this page (Email Page) or this organization to others that you know. There are lots of ways that you can get involved, and many nonprofits are using websites like this to engage their members and donors.
In the past, in the direct mail arena, the only option like this was Friend-Geta-Friend mailings, where we would encourage recipients of the direct mail piece to pass along a card or a buck slip or ask them to tell their friends about the organization. Whereas, online, you have many, many more creative ways and fun ways and engaging ways that you can spread the word and get your donors involved in your organization.
In North America, households that volunteer give 40% more money per year to charity than households that do not volunteer. So if you use your website to engage your donors, you’ll see your revenue increase over time.
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Online Fundraising Secrets
Learn the latest tactics for attracting website visitors and raising money online with compelling webpages, irresistible email appeals and engaging email newsletters.
