One of my biggest frustrations is getting a passionate email appeal, clearly stating a need, but not telling me what to do to fix it. Do you want me to give money? Send a letter to the editor?
But it’s worse to get an email asking for a donation without a link to a donation form.
A key to successful fundraising on the web is to make everything ridiculously easy.
If you want me to make a donation online:
- Tell me passionately why I would want to get involved.
- Give me a link in an email. Clearly have a link in the email.
- Make the landing page equally clear. Remind me of the reason why I’d find this cause compelling.
- Make the donation form either on that page or no more than one link away.
- Make the form something that can be filled in with the “autofill” option on my Google toolbar.
- Then, and only then, I might give. 🙂
I’ve heard we have 8 seconds to get a website visitor to act. If we don’t “get” them in the first 8 seconds, they’re off to some other web site.
Just because someone has to say it: expecting someone to print out an email and post it through snail mail is preposterous. If you’re asking people to reply that way, please simply send them a piece of direct snail mail. Then they’ll at least get a return envelope!
If you don’t have a form on your web, it’s easy to safely jury-rig one together. If you’re a subscriber of my Extreme Fundraising Ezine, you’ve received my complimentary five part e-class “$100,000 Guide to Email Solicitation” and learned how we once created such a form relatively inexpensively. If your not yet a subscriber, you can sign yourself up at: https://fundraisingcoach.com/subscribe.
You may also buy either the PDF or printed version at the Fundraising Coach Store.
But whatever you do, please ask yourself if you’re making it ridiculously easy for your donors to give!
