Does your nonprofit tell visitors at your website all the ways they can donate?
During the webinar I hosted yesterday on nonprofit marketing, PR and publicity with nonprofit marketing expert Sandy Rees, one of the participants asked if she should include a “Donate” button on every page of her agency’s website.
Uh, of course, we answered. (No-brainer.)
I wish I had seen the “Ways to Give” page at the Wikimedia Foundation’s website, which I just stumbled across this afternoon. That’s the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, the world’s mammoth online encyclopedia.
It lists these nine ways to give:
- Credit card or Paypal
- Via regular mail
- Monthly recurring giving
- Stock donation
- Direct deposit
- Combined Federal Campaign
- Corporate Matching Gift
- Moneybookers
- Payroll deductions
Especially helpful are the detailed instructions. Brilliant! Nonprofits could link to a list like this from the end of articles they write, from blog posts or from press releases.
What other ways can your donors give? And how do you let them know?
So happy to have found you through Twitter! First of all, I LOVE YOUR TRADENAME! How awesome. I was just talking about finding someone to help me with several facets of my life and you sound like just the person I needed to find!
I am a career caterer who was stricken with a case of near fatal Bacterial Meningitis about two years ago. After a 3 week coma, I woke but without my hearing and several toes amputated. I had to stop catering, started writing (an old passion) and have started a non-profit (thanks for your great tips!). Please read my founders story on http://www.therebutforthegrace.org.
I was one of those souls that was financially ruined by illness and decided to start a non-profit to help others in my position. I am getting back into catering and wish to write a catering how-to book along with two novels I have been working on and of course the non-profit. Please follow me @jotsandtittles where I tweet about all of it!
I studied PR and advertising in college and realize that I need some promotional help! I have got to get my name and story out there so that I can make a difference! How many deaf caterers do you know??? http://visioncateringusa.com Follow @visioncatering
Won’t you contact me at my email address above and let me know what you charge, how you work with clients, etc.
Tastefully yours,
Jerri George
Great tips! I’ve also written a ton about online giving – here are a few of my recent articles on the same topic:
http://churchtechtoday.com/?s=donations
Blessings,
Lauren
Lauren, this is an interesting concept. Thanks for sharing, and I’ll be sure to pass this along to Sandy Rees, the nonprofit marketing expert who was on last week’s webinar with me.
Don’t forget that many non-profits welcome in-kind donations (i.e., donations of material goods that can directly or indirectly benefit those served by the non-profit), and well as monetary donations. For example, Children’s Literacy of Georgia welcomes donations of books, and many medical outreach organizations welcome donations of medical equipment, both of which directly benefit their respective targets. Other non-profits accept donations of used cars to transport those they serve to and from medical appointments, grocery stores, etc.
Also, many non-profits accept monetary donations via text messages to a particular number. The messaging system is set up in such a way that the text message automatically charges the donation to the donor’s credit card.
Excellent reminder, Michelle. Love the text message tip!