3 Proven Techniques to Boost Performance

I’m one of those young Gen Xers who checks Facebook and scans email while drinking coffee in the morning, and I’m not ready to close up shop just yet. There’s still a lot of work to be done.

As an industry, let’s get out on the edge for once — start taking advantage of the shifts in donor behavior and leverage the technology that’s available to us. Here are a few ideas to help you along the path of beefing up your online fundraising efforts.

Go mobile, now
It’s estimated that mobile usage will surpass desktop usage within the year. That’s right — this year! And based on the latest generational giving research, we know that 98 percent and 86 percent, respectively, of Generations X and Y use mobile phones as their primary phones. Are you ready?

If you use a website analytics tool like Google Analytics, jump in there to see how much of your Web traffic comes from mobile users. Here’s a quick video to show you how.

Next, narrow your analysis down to the donation form on your website to see how many people visit that specific page from a mobile device. Make sure to set the date range back a year or two so you can look at the trend over time. You’ll likely find that mobile traffic to one of the most important pages on your website has grown significantly.

Boost online fundraising performance with donation forms that work well on iPhones, Androids and BlackBerries.

Encourage monthly giving
Getting a one-time gift is great, especially if it’s a big one. But receiving a monthly recurring gift, even if it’s for a smaller amount, is so much better!

Plus, baby boomers, the group that represents 43 percent of total giving, are starting to take to recurring giving, with 21 percent of them opting to be sustainers.