The giving form is where most donations are lost and where least attention is usually paid. Every additional field reduces completion measurably, and forms asking for a title, a full address, a phone number, and how somebody heard about you are asking a person who already decided to give for information you could have requested afterward. Name, email, and payment details is enough.
Offer recurring prominently rather than as an afterthought, since a monthly donor is worth several times a single gift and the decision is made at the same moment. Presenting monthly as the default option, with a single gift available alongside, measurably shifts the mix without pressuring anybody.
Suggest amounts rather than presenting an empty field, because most people have no reference point and an empty box produces either nothing or the smallest round number. Three or four suggestions with a custom option covers it, and setting them thoughtfully affects the average considerably.
Keep the donor on your own site rather than sending them elsewhere where the platform allows it. An embedded form maintains the context and the trust that your page established, and a redirect to an unfamiliar branded page introduces doubt at exactly the wrong moment. Where a redirect is unavoidable, ensuring it carries your name and appearance matters.
Send the receipt immediately and include what donors need for tax purposes: your organisation name, the tax identification number, the amount, the date, and a statement about whether anything was received in return. That last element is a requirement rather than a formality, and receipts missing it create a problem for the donor.
Understand the fee structure before choosing, since processors differ meaningfully for nonprofits. Several offer discounted rates for registered organisations, some allow donors to cover the fee as an option at checkout, and platform fees on top of card processing vary widely. On a small donation the fixed component matters more than the percentage.
Ask how the donor found you and record it, since attribution in fundraising is even harder to reconstruct than in commerce. Which appeal, which event, or which person introduced them. Six months of that record tells you where support actually comes from, which is frequently not where the effort went.
Test the whole path yourself, including on a phone, and complete an actual donation rather than assuming. Check that the receipt arrives, that the amount is right, and that the recurring option behaves as expected. Broken giving forms fail silently because the people affected simply leave.
Then follow up properly, since the first message after a donation determines whether somebody gives again. A prompt, specific thank you describing what the money does outperforms any acquisition effort, and it is the part most organisations automate badly.
Enable the option for donors to cover the processing fee, which many platforms support and a meaningful proportion choose. That converts a cost into a decision the donor makes willingly and it is worth more than negotiating a slightly lower rate.
Check the mobile giving experience specifically, since a substantial share of donations happen on a phone and a form that works on a desktop can be genuinely difficult on a narrow screen.
Offer a small number of ways to give rather than every option, since choice at the point of donation produces hesitation. A card payment and one digital wallet covers most donors.