How Much Copy Should Be on Our Donation Page?

Plus: 4 Donation Page Copywriting Tips

–Online Fundraising Testing Series Part 1

NextAfter performs fundraising testing experiments to help nonprofits improve their online fundraising. In support of using data to make better fundraising decisions, ProActive Content will be reporting on some of NextAfter’s experiments for the next four weeks.

Here’s the first question:

Does the Amount of Copy on Donation Pages Affect Rates of Giving?

Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

More often than not, whether you’re talking about web pages, email, direct mail, or even video, the prevailing sentiment expressed by inexperienced or misguided marketers and fundraisers boils down to something like this:

“It’s too long.”

But, is it? Another popular one:

“No one’s going to read all that…” (or, “watch all that,” if a video).

But, are they?

NextAfter ran an experiment testing two donation pages against each other.

One page had just one sentence of copy, followed by the donation form. The other page had several paragraphs of copywriting. The purpose of this copy was to answer the question, “Why should I give to your organization?”

The results?

The donation page with much more copy garnered 150% more donations. A statistical aberration, this is not. That’s two and a half times more donations, all from adding a couple of paragraphs of motivational fundraising copywriting.

Does this mean more copy is always better? Well, no – it has to be good copywriting. But that’s another subject. (Though – if you think you might benefit from having a fundraising copywriter take a look at your donation pages, reach out to ProActive Content for a free Donation Page Evaluation).

‘Assumption’ Is the Great Sin of Marketing and Fundraising

Why does more copy generate more donations on your donation page?

Lurking behind statements like “it’s too long” and “no one’s going to read that” lies a more sinister and just as faulty assumption: That anyone arriving at your donation page has already decided to give.

It’s easy to fall into this line of thinking. Someone’s on your site, or reading your email, or watching your video on social media, and they’re intrigued by your message. They want to help. So, they click on the donate button. You know they want to help, because why else would they click the button?

But that’s when the questions enter their mind:

-Do I want to actually give money?

Image by Christian Dorn from Pixabay

-Do I want to give money – online? They’ll have all my information now, and I’ll get bombarded with emails and letters.

-Is this the only way I can help? Maybe there’s another way.

-Probably enough other people are already helping, right?

-I’ll come back later after thinking about this some more.

This is real.

In the marketing world, these are called “objections,” and it’s your job as a fundraiser to overcome them. How do you do that?

With copywriting!

Just having one sentence up there with a big intimidating form does almost nothing to overcome these very real objections. You need to give your potential donor a reason to push through these objections and decide to actually send you money.

Your donation page copy needs to reassure them that what they’re doing is a great decision. Show them who or what their money will be helping make happen. Show them the change they can effect. Make it clear that if they don’t give, something good won’t happen. Not enough other people are giving. We need you to give too. Today. While you’re thinking about it.

See 7 ways to reduce donation page abandonment

Simply visiting your donation page is not a decision to give. It could just be curiosity. Maybe it’s their first time ever actually visiting a donation page. Maybe they’re actually looking to be convinced to give. The email, the video, the web page wasn’t quite enough, and they want something more to make them choose to give.

You must use this page to reinforce the decision to consider giving. Help them push through that big long form that everyone hates filling out.

How Do We Write Good Donation Page Copy?

According to NextAfter, your primary goal in your donation page copy is to answer the question, “Why should I give to your charity?”

Here are a few tips for answering this in a way donors will respond to:

1) Narrow the impact

Image by GraphicMama-team from Pixabay

Center it around specific people, not broad mission statements. The more specific the better.

2) Demonstrate the need

Don’t say things like “We’ve helped thousands of people….” Say things like, “Without your help, people like Chewbacca will continue to struggle…” The donor’s help is needed to solve the problem.

If the problem already appears solved, you’re failing to overcome the popular objection, listed earlier, that enough other people are already helping. They don’t need me.

3) Ask clearly for a gift

Make a definitive statement asking people to give. Tell them clearly how to do this – “Fill out the form below.” Do not assume people just know what to do. More than that, being told how to give also makes it easier to do so and acts as a secondary motivation: “It doesn’t seem so hard, now that I think about it.”

4) Make a promise

Present a future reality that shows the impact their gift will have. “As a result of your gift, here’s what will happen in Chewbacca’s life so he’ll stop growling so much.” By painting a picture of a better future, you’re showing the donor what they can accomplish.

5) Don’t worry about length

You can always shorten it later. But get the content down first. Find your messaging. The truth is, people do read longer copy. All the time. If it matters to them. And when deciding to give money – it matters to them!

Need Help Improving Your Donation Page?

Reach out to ProActive Content for a free Donation Page Evaluation.

We’ll spend 30 minutes examining your donation page and preparing recommendations. Then we’ll talk on the phone for 30 minutes going over them.

That’s 60 minutes of time devoted to increasing your online donations.

Request Your Donation Page Evaluation today

Want More Online Fundraising Experimental Data?

See the discussion of three other NextAfter experiments:

Part 2 – Are Your Emails Overdesigned?

Part 3 – Where Should Your Email Signup Form Be Located?

Part 4 – How Much Copy Should Your Facebook Ads Use?

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