Have you thought about your DFCR?

    My what? Your DFCR — Donor Form Conversion Rate — on your website donation page.

    Earlier this week I went to the Convio Summit and hung out with some of the most amazing fundraising geeks ever — and I mean this in the best possible way! (If you don’t know it, Convio is a software company that provides integrated data, advocacy, and e-marketing services to some of the largest non-profit direct marketing operations in the world.)

    While Convio may not be the solution for every organization, we can still learn loads from all the testing and experimentation going on among Convio’s clients. I went to a session run by Nick Allen on website donation pages. His on-line marketing firm, Donor Digital, ran significant tests on the website donation pages of a group of seven large organizations, including CARE, the World Wildlife Fund, and the American Diabetes Association.

    While the results didn’t reveal a magic bullet, I thought I’d bring back some of the tidbits that most stood out in the presentation to see if they help you to think about your website giving.

    The first thing to note is that there is ample opportunity for any organization to improve their web donation page. The average donor form conversion rate is 15%. That means that out of 100 visitors to your donation page, only about 15 end up making a gift.

    But when the average time spent on a webpage is seven seconds, how do you make improvements that matter? The test run by Convio looked at gift string layout (how the amount options were put on the page), the length of the form, the column layout (one or two columns), the field group order (the way contact, payment, and ask string info was ordered on the page), and the presence of “trust” seals like Charity Navigator, the BBB, and even Verisign.

    The results? Despite testing on thousands of visitors, there were no conclusive results on column layout, ask string order, or field order. However the test did show significant lift when the form was shorter (25% better response) and when trust seals appeared closer to the top of the donation form before the user had to scroll down (27% better response). Check out the white paper from Donor Digital by signing up here.

    Take a look at your website donation form and see what your donors have to do to make a gift. You might consider shortening the form or putting trust seals on the top of the page, but even more, think about the donor journey. Are you making it as easy as possible for visitors to give you a gift?

    And, have you done any testing to see what works? Even the smallest operation can do some kind of testing to see what works best on the donation form, as long as you have a way to track web page visits. Just calculate your conversion rate with the page you have now, make a change, and then compare results over the same period. Website giving is pretty consistent in every month besides December when it goes way up (not a good time to test!). Make big changes, one at a time. Significantly shorten your form by making it two-columned. Put in a photo. Move your ask string to the top. See what happens!

    Also, you can conduct your own little focus group by asking a small group of donors to get on your website and give you feedback. It’s not statistically significant, but it could give you lots of good ideas. There’s a site called usertesting.com that will help you to test your website usability on a demographic group of your choosing for as little as $75!

    The bottom line? There are opportunities everywhere in your operation to improve results. Even the smallest shops can learn from testing by groups like Convio – but also through their own disciplined observation. So, release the inner fundraising geek in you. See what you can do to your DFCR!

    1 Comments

    • Greg Wright, November 1st, 2010 on 6:03 pm

      Fascinating stuff, Leslie! I can see some great possibilities with these ideas.

      Greg Wright
      Treasurer
      Boulder Outreach for Homeless Overflow

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