As you may have heard, charitable giving is at an all-time high by individuals, companies and foundations; according to a report last year from Salsa Labs an estimated $335 billion went to charities in 2013, up 3% from 2012.

However, more and more stats are pointing to online giving as the wave of the future.  Even though it accounts for only 7-8% of all giving, it is growing at a steady rate each year.  This is great news for small and medium-sized nonprofits – Stats show that they are experiencing the largest growth from online giving!

Last week, Heather Mansfield, founder of Nonprofit Tech for Good gave an awesome webinar on best practices to improve your online fundraising results.  Here’s a recap of her advice! 

(BONUS: Heather will be the featured presenter at ConnectVA’s Social Media Conference for Nonprofits on 3/19/15. Register for $55-65 before 3/5)

1. Know the Stats

• In 2013 online giving grew 13.5% in the United States according to the BlackbaudIndex of Online Giving and 14% according to the Network for Good’s Online Giving Index. The average online gift in 2013 was $106 compared to $89 in 2012! 
• Think your donor audience won’t adopt this trend? Surprisingly, 59% of donors 66 and older give online.

2. Embed the Online Donation Process into Your Website

• To maximize online donations, the donation process should occur on one page and be embedded inside of your website with your nonprofit’s branding and be mobile-optimized.
• Responsive design doubles giving on mobile devices.
• Six times more $$$ is raised through custom-branded pages than through third-party giving pages.

3. Prominently Feature Your “Donate” Button

• Place a large, colorful Donate or Donate Now button on every page.  The button color should pop out from the site’s basic color scheme.
• Clicking the Donate button should always lead a donors directly to a donate form – never to a list of multiple ways to give.

4. Optimize Your “Thank You” Process

• Maximize your Thank You landing page
• Maximize your  Thank You emails and include
  • your nonprofit’s legal name and address
  • the donation amount
  • your nonprofit’s EIN* for tax purposes
  • your nonprofit’s branding
  • a pitch to follow on social networks
  • a thank you video.

5. Add Giving Impact Statements

• Quantifying donation impact can help increase donations.
• Be sure to create donation impact graphics for social networks. 

6. Launch a Sustainer Program

• Launch a Sustainer Program to allow supporters to make monthly donations automatically. (View example of the Humane Society of the United States)
• Monthly donors give an average monthly gift of $52 ($624 annually)and give 42% more over one-year than one-time donors.
• Thank monthly donors a minimum of three times annually for their continued support.
• Promote your sustainer program on your website, in your e-mail newsletter, on your blog, and in print materials.

7. Enable Tribute Giving

• Enable the ability to for donor’s to make tribute gifts in honor of family member or friend.
• Using a service like DonationPay enables you to easily have a donate page, a monthly giving page, a tribute giving page, and a gift membership page.
• Promote your tribute giving program on your website, in your e-mail newsletter, on your blog, and in print materials.

8. Launch a Social Fundraising Campaign

• Through social fundraising pages, individuals can fundraise for their favorite nonprofit by asking their friends and family to donate. In 2012, individual fundraisers raised an average of $568.
• Social fundraising works best for A-Thons and birthdays, weddings, and urgent issues.
• Services to help – Razoo
• Successful social fundraising campaigns depend upon:

1. Explaining clearly how the fundraising tools work

2. Consistently thanking and featuring top fundraisers throughout the year.

3. Hosting friendly competitions for those who raise the most.

4. Setting realistic fundraising goals that can be achieved, i.e. $2,500 or less.

5. Promoting your social fundraising campaign on your website, blog, e-newsletter, print materials, social networks, etc.

9. Launch a Crowdfunding Campaign

• Crowdfunding enables nonprofits to create online fundraising campaigns for projects and programs in need of funding i.e. School Desks for Orphans or New Website for Gray Wolf Press
• Indiegogo is an example of a crowdfunding platform
• Integrate your crowdfunding projects into your online fundraising promotions.

10. Prioritize Year-End Fundraising

• 30% of all online donations are made in December. 10% of all annual giving happens in the last three days of the year and donations are 80% larger in December.
• If your nonprofit has the capacity, launch a holiday gift program.
• Important: Online donors and social good shoppers start their research in September.

11. Build Fundraising Campaigns around Cause Awareness Days & Giving Days

• Tap into the power of cause awareness and giving days (data) like Giving Tuesday: 
•  Create a page on your website that prominently features the date and hashtag and details as least three actions that your donors/supporters can take.
• Begin promoting via email and on social media at least one month before.
• Be very active throughout the day on mobile and social networks. Promote powerful stats, inspirational quotes, and ask people to give.

12. Embrace Digital Wallets

• Google Wallet is the first to enable digital wallet donations and last November Google replaced Google Checkout with Google Wallet.
• Facebook and Twitter are also working on digital wallet services.