We’re glad to welcome Josh Burns, Founder & CEO of Spark Collective, to the Virtuous blog. Josh is a seasoned nonprofit marketer with 15 years of experience helping organizations grow their impact through strategic digital marketing. As a husband, dad of three, Chicagoan with Kentucky roots, and founder of Spark Collective, Josh brings a grounded, real-world perspective to nonprofit growth. He’s passionate about using digital not just to track likes and clicks, but to actually move the needle on mission and impact.
Why Conversion Rates Are Crucial for Your Nonprofit’s Fundraising Success
Analyzing your digital fundraising performance is key to growing your impact and your donation page conversion rate is a critical metric to watch. (If you’re interested in more ways to analyze your fundraising data, be sure to check out our Spark Digital Journey series.)
What Are Conversion Rates?
Conversion rates measure the percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action like making a donation, signing up for a newsletter, or registering for an event.
Specifically for fundraising, your conversion rate is calculated by taking the number of donations made on your donation page and dividing it by the number of people who visited the page.
This number is then multiplied by 100 to get a percentage. A higher conversion rate indicates that your donation page is effectively turning visitors into donors.
Quick Reference: How to Calculate Your Conversion Rate
- Divide the total number of donations by total page views.
- Multiply the result by 100.
Example: 100 donations / 2,000 page views × 100 = 5% conversion rate.
Why Conversion Rates Matter
Simply put, low conversion rates mean fewer online donations. Fewer donations mean less funding, and less impact for your organization. But why else does this number matter?
Your conversion rate tells you two vital things:
- How many visitors see your donation page.
- How many of those visitors actually donate.
Together, these numbers pinpoint exactly where your digital fundraising funnel may be leaking potential donations.
Understanding the Donor Journey
Every potential donor moves through a journey from initial awareness about your organization to making the final decision to donate. Understanding each stage in this journey can significantly impact your ability to convert more website visitors into donors.
When visitors reach your donation page, they should already have a clear understanding of your mission, impact, and why their support matters.
Yet, many nonprofits lose donors at this final, critical stage due to preventable issues on the donation page itself.
By closely monitoring your conversion rate, you gain clear insights into donor behavior and how effectively you are guiding them through the donation process.
Using Conversion Data to Improve Your Fundraising
When your conversion rate is low, here’s what that could indicate and what you can do about it:
Issue #1: Not Enough Traffic
The average click-through rate (CTR) in nonprofit social media marketing is about 1-3%; for email, it’s typically 3-4%.
If your clickthrough rates aren’t reaching these benchmarks, you’re probably not driving enough traffic to your donation page. Consider focusing more resources on the channels that drive visitors directly to your donation form.
Action step: Evaluate your social media and email marketing performance. Optimize your messaging, frequency, and calls to action.
Issue #2: You’re Not Engaging Your Audience Effectively
If you have sufficient traffic but conversion remains low, you may have an engagement or nurturing problem. Your audience might not be ready or motivated enough to donate when they reach your page.
Action step: Assess your nurturing strategy. Are you building meaningful relationships with your audience? Consider sharing compelling stories and personal experiences to move potential donors closer to giving.
Donation Page Conversion Rate Optimization
Even if you’re driving plenty of quality traffic, your donation page might still be the problem. The nonprofit industry average conversion rate on donation pages is about 17%. If you’re below this number, it’s likely your donation page could use some fine-tuning.
Here are three common issues we often see and how you can solve them:
- Unclear Value Proposition:
- Problem: Donors don’t immediately understand the impact their gift will have.
- Fix: Clearly show the tangible difference a donation can make. For example, “Your $50 provides meals for five families for a week.”
- Complicated Donation Forms
- Problem: Lengthy forms discourage completion.
- Fix: Simplify your form. Use intuitive, user-friendly donation software that streamlines the giving process.
- Slow or Cluttered Donation Pages
- Problem: Large images or slow page loads can frustrate visitors, causing them to leave before donating.
- Fix: Optimize your page by compressing or removing large images, upgrading your hosting, or choosing a better online donation tool.
The Power of Continuous Testing
Optimizing your donation page shouldn’t be a one-time effort. Regularly testing and analyzing the results of minor adjustments can lead to significant improvements over time. Experiment with different headlines, messaging, imagery, and layout structures. Track results closely, and continue refining your approach based on what resonates most effectively with your audience.
Ultimately, your donation page should quickly answer two questions:
- Why should I give to your organization?
- How can I easily give to your organization?
Take Action Today
Now that you know why conversion rates matter and how to improve them, it’s time to put these insights into practice. Start by reviewing your donation page, identifying opportunities for improvement, and implementing changes. Small adjustments can make a significant difference in your fundraising results.
Thank you for the incredible work you do each day to drive positive change.
Your efforts truly make a difference!
