How to Create a Winning Donation Form

How to Create a Winning Donation Form

Facts are facts. If your organization relies on donations to stay afloat, you can’t afford a weak donation form. You’re simply going to lose too much money.

At Jotform we’re not in the business of making lousy forms, so we thought we’d offer a few pieces of advice for creating the perfect donation form for your non-profit, school, or cause.

State up front how their donation money will be used

Transparency is key. Provide a few sentences somewhere on your form explaining why it’s important to receive donations, and what you’ll be putting the money toward specifically. This gives donors a reassurance instead of feeling their money is going into a mystical abyss.

Remove barriers on the form

As fun as forms are to fill out, no one wants to spend all day doing them (besides Jotform employees). Think long and hard about the information you need to collect from someone versus the information you want to collect. Because for every minute more you ask from your donor to fill out the donation form, you risk them leaving your site altogether.

Pick the right payment processor

Syncing up your online form with a trusted payment provider turns your form into a killer cash-collecting contrivance. Using a form instead of a standard PayPal “donate” button allows for more customization, plus it means you can collect money along with other helpful information about the donor for your own records.

Research appropriate asking amounts

The best donation forms usually offer set amounts to select from — $5, $10, $25, etc. That’s a good idea to include, but consider giving them a fill-in-the-blank option to select their own amount as well. The last thing you’d want to do is turn someone away who is willing to pay more or less than your suggested amounts.

Make the donation form match your brand

Potential donors already trust your brand, but they might not trust a strange form. Take a few extra minutes to make your form an extension of your brand by matching color schemes and fonts — and don’t forget to include your logo!

Customize your “thank you” page

The “thank you” page is a great way to express your appreciation and to go into detail about how the money is going to be used. Customizing the page is an easy process, and it will make people feel even better about giving you money.

This should get you on your way toward building an effective donation form. The best part is none of the tips mentioned above take very much time!

Jotform also offers a great selection of Donation Form Templates. Check them out.

You can also find out more about creating effective donation forms on The Anatomy of an Effective Donation Form guide.

What are must-haves for your donation form? Did we miss any tips above? Let us know in the comments!

AUTHOR
Chad is a former VP of Marketing and Communications at Jotform. He’s also a frequent contributor to various tech and business publications, and an absolute wizard with a Vitamix. He holds a master’s degree in communication and resides with his wife and cats in Oakland, California.

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