Low Cost Donation Strategies

Your Donation webpage may be missing out on donors. A recent Stanford study involving PayPal users shed light on low cost ways to increase money raised for your organization.

“Charitable giving is a really important source of fundraising for organizations, but in the real world, people are impulsive, they procrastinate, they don’t fulfill their goals, they’re not perfectly informed, and those are all things that get in the way. Our work shows that there are low-cost ways to potentially reduce friction and raise more money for good causes.” 

- Susan Athey, Professor of Economics, Stanford University

Your default Donor Ask Amount matters. Professor Athey’s research team played around with different donation default amounts.

Sample A:   $10, $25, $50, $100  choices  – received more donors

Sample B:   $25, $50, $100, $200 choices – received more money

“A low button ($10) might pull people in and also pull people down to it, making it popular.

A high button ($200) makes it easier for people who may want to donate more and pulls people up to it,” according to Athey.

Overall, sample A received more individual donations but less money. This engages more people and can offer a first step to connecting with your organization.

Sample B. received fewer donations but brings in more money. 

Low Cost Ways to Increase Donations.

An impactful one-liner on your donate page can provide 400% greater contribution rate compared to providing no information on the donor page.

Your $28 donation feeds a family of four for one-week.

We built 120 affordable homes and repaired 58 homes with critical issues for families in our community.

Providing a narrative description can be 160% more effective than providing no donor page information. Below are several narratives.

You are transforming lives in our community, helping your fellow neighbors overcome barriers to personal and economic independence.

Farmers markets don't happen on their own. We need your help to ensure that fresh, local food is always on the menu. Your gift today helps support local businesses, expand access to healthy food, and grow awareness of the importance of eating local.

Or a combination of data and narrative.

Give the gift of lasting change. Nadepe, 7 lives in a dry rural region of Kenya where almost 9 in 10 people live in poverty. Through your sponsorship, Nadepe's life is changing. Now she can go to school.

You can provide three months of critical support for families in need. Make a 3 – month commitment to help more Denver families.

I've been on multiple nonprofit websites. I am surprised at how many are missing an impactful one-liner or narrative description that boosts their fundraising revenue.

What is the cost to update your DONATE page?

To growing your donation revenue,

Wes Legg

Coach & Guide