It’s hard enough getting a potential donor to land on your “Contribution” page and read about all the reasons why he or she should donate to your campaign. So it’s counter-productive to include in the body copy of that page a bunch of links that take the prospect away from what should be your primary purpose on this page…
To get a contribution.
For example, there might be a great newspaper article on your campaign that you reference on your “Donate” page; however, if you link to that newspaper article, the potential donor you’ve worked so hard to get to your Donation page is liable to click on the link to the newspaper article and, while there, find something on THAT website that suddenly interests him…and never comes back to your site to make the contribution.
Today’s “hot tip” from Future Fundraising Now explores this issue in a little more detail.
Until next time. Onward and rightward…
Dr. Chuck Muth, PsD
Professor of Psephology (homeschooled)
“How to Get More Votes, More Donors & More Volunteers”
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Off-target links lead donors away from giving
Future Fundraising Now
One of the most common errors in nonprofit e-appeals is this: indiscriminate links. Lots of them. Each one a tempting little rabbit-trail that can lead would-be donors away from action, never to return and complete their gift.
The Emma Blog has some good pointers for helping your e-appeals keep donors on task: Clicks are only half the battle
“Be choosy about your links. When a recipient clicks a link in your email, they're essentially leaving your email's message behind — and they may not return to read more. So make sure you're delivering them elsewhere for good reason. Rather than directing to pages of your site, consider creating custom landing pages that speak uniquely to your email audience. Remember, they know more about you than someone who finds you through a search engine. That means you can deliver them to a deeper place in your sales funnel.”
Just because you have a template that has all the standard navigation links doesn't mean you should use it.
If someone is actually reading your email (remember, most of your emails don't even get opened), they've taken a step toward action. Every distraction you put in their field of vision increases the chance that they'll continue that action all the way to completion.
You also should not have navigation links on your giving pages for the same reason.
The secret to smart fundraising, online or off, is focus.