Donors on the go: Optimizing your site for mobile donations

It’s no secret that mobile devices are a regular component of everyday life. From communicating with friends to checking the weather, smart devices are now an extension of ourselves. For nonprofit organizations looking to meet potential donors where they are, mobile engagement and fundraising is an area not to be overlooked. 

Currently, the average mobile donation is $79. This number is likely to rise as the rate of mobile donations grows, specifically seeing a 37 percent increase in revenue from 2023-2024. And while the value of donations made via desktop is generally higher, nonprofit awareness and research is prominently done via smartphone, with 57 percent of nonprofit website traffic coming from mobile devices.

If your organization hasn’t taken steps to optimize mobile donations, you could miss out on a valuable fundraising opportunity. More specifically, you could be losing out on contextual giving opportunities. Contextual giving describes the act of someone donating within the same context that inspired them to give in the first place, whether that’s your website, an event or a conversation with a friend. This is important because during the moment you’re inspired to give, you’re also more likely to give more. 

What does it mean to optimize mobile donations?

Optimizing your site for mobile donations doesn’t just mean making sure that it works on a phone. Most websites will show up on a mobile screen, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to use or navigate. If the user has to constantly pinch to zoom or rotate your phone, they’re likely to just close the window and give up.

Here are some first steps you can take in the pursuit of creating an ideal mobile donation experience:

1. Understand different types of mobile giving

Before you start making any updates to your website, let’s first go over the different types of mobile giving. This will help you better understand how a supporter may find out about your organization or online campaign, and the path on your website that they’ll take if they decide to give.

When someone makes a mobile donation to your nonprofit, it will likely be through one of these two methods:

• Mobile donation page: This is a mobile-optimized page on your website that supporters can visit from any device they have—including computers, tablets and cellphones. To be mobile responsive, it should not only look great on any size screen but should integrate with the device’s own functions. For instance, if your website has a button to email a staff member, clicking it should automatically bring the user to their mobile email app.
• Text fundraising: This is a form of mobile giving that enables donors to give via a text message. This requires a designated shortened phone number (short code) and a campaign keyword. To promote gift giving, either use the text-to-give or text-to-donate method; both require texting a keyword to a short code, with the former charging the donor’s cell phone bill directly and the latter presenting a direct link to the mobile donation page.

No matter how someone makes a mobile donation, it’s likely that they’ll end up on your nonprofit’s website. This means that your most popular landing pages, not just your mobile-giving page, should be optimized for screens of any size. 

2. Update popular landing pages for mobile use

Optimizing your website for mobile donations doesn’t just mean focusing on your online giving page. Most donors conduct research before deciding to give, and this research is commonly done via a mobile device.

It should be as easy as possible for supporters to donate, even from their mobile devices. As soon as they find your nonprofit website, they’ll likely be heading to your most popular landing pages and exploring site content. This means you should focus on optimizing the mobile experience on those pages and content, including:

• “About Us” and mission statement pages
• Event calendar
• Testimonials from the community you serve
• Case studies and success stories
• Annual reports and analysis
• Infographics and data

Typically, your content management system (CMS) or website builder will have mobile responsiveness built in. However, there are a few simple modifications you can make to your site to support mobile-friendliness. For example:

• A sticky navigation menu so users can quickly explore other pages as they scroll.
• Large font and link buttons to help mobile users as they tap with their fingers instead of using a mouse to click.
• Portrait-mode screen orientation as almost all mobile sites use vertical navigation while desktop versions are more likely to use horizontal navigation.

3. Streamline the mobile-giving experience

Take a look at your online donation form. Ask yourself if it’s doing all it can to encourage donors to complete their gifts. An overly complicated and time-consuming donation form can be enough to turn away even the most passionate supporters. Mobile donors are usually contextual givers, so anything that makes this process longer takes them out of that moment of inspiration. You don’t want to lose any prospects at this stage, especially since you’ve already worked so hard to get them there in the first place. 

Here are a few ways you can better streamline your online donation form:

• Embed the donation form. Sending prospects to a third-party page could interrupt and elongate the giving process. If you must send donors to a third-party page, make sure that it is branded to your organization as page-hopping during a payment process could make donors feel suspicious or wary.
• Avoid asking unnecessary questions. If your form takes too long to fill out, it’s likely the user will lose interest or decide to donate when they have more time to answer all the questions, running the risk that they might abandon the donation altogether.
• Use an integrated payment processor. Not only does an integrated payment processor mean the donation experience happens entirely on your site, but it also keeps essential donor and financial data together. On the flip side, using a third-party payment app like Venmo or PayPal adds another step to the giving process.

The online donation form and its user experience is critical to your mobile fundraising efforts; the experience should be as painless and short as possible.

4. Optimize the visual layout of your mobile donation page

Mobile users are more than likely to view your website vertically, in a portrait orientation. When optimizing your nonprofit for mobile donations, step into your donors’ shoes and review the visual components of your donation page when navigated vertically.

Mobile screens are smaller than desktop ones, meaning you have less space to display content and information; consider what content you want to prioritize to streamline the experience.

For example, the top of your donation page is a great place to briefly reinforce your organization’s mission and campaign needs. Even just a couple of sentences or a heartwarming photo can be enough to pull at supporters’ heartstrings and remind them why they want to give to your organization in the first place. The embedded online donation and payment form would come next, followed by CTAs (calls to action) for increase fundraising and engagement efforts; this could look like:

• A matching-gift database with search functions so donors can check if they’re eligible to increase their original donation.
• A newsletter sign-up form for donors to stay in the loop as to the impact of their original donation and any future gifts.
• Social media buttons so donors can not only access your organization’s accounts but also share their donations on their own platforms with their friends and families.

For donors to stay engaged throughout their interactions with your site, keep layout and design top of mind when optimizing for the mobile experience. Mobile use is only going to continue growing, and even if you run the largest and most established nonprofit organization, going over the basics to ensure your website isn’t missing out on essential elements is critical. From a mobile-centric layout to integrated payment processing, these tips can help set your nonprofit organization up for long-lasting success.