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At 10x, we’ve had the good fortune of working with some of the most incredible nonprofits in the world. Over the years, we’ve learned that user experience on a nonprofit website is about more than aesthetics; it’s also about removing friction for donations. Given our breadth of experience, sometimes we’re surprised by the number of organizations that seem to be leaving some donations on the table due to outdated donation processes. After all, if Amazon can get people to buy a book with one click, why should donating to a hospital or an important organization that wants to save the rainforest require filling out a complicated form that might rival your tax returns? Studies show that nearly a third of users will abandon a form that they consider too long, and an additional 10% will abandon a form that has unnecessary questions. The lesson here: you want to keep your online donation process as seamless as possible and remove potential obstacles from a donor’s path.
Learning from E Commerce Giants
The playbook for frictionless transactions has already been written by ecommerce leaders:
- One-Click Solutions: Amazon’s 1-Click ordering wasn’t just convenient—it was revolutionary. Modern donation systems could learn from Amazon by trying to offer similar capabilities through saved payment methods.
- Mobile-First Design: With 28% of donations now coming from mobile devices, your donation flow should be mobile-friendly. This means large touch targets, minimal typing, and no horizontal scrolling.essential to optimize for mobile today. User experience has to be seamless across all devices.
The Case for Outside Technical Expertise
So how can nonprofits try to keep up with the ecommerce giants? Nonprofits that are maximizing budgets can greatly benefit from bringing in experienced freelance tech professionals to evaluate their current processes and implement changes.
The right, qualified freelancers can:
- Conduct thorough UX and backend audits
- Implement modern payment APIs
- Set up comprehensive analytics
- Perform data analysis to determine winning target demographics
- Build mobile-responsive interfaces
- Take donations when and where your donors are
- Provide best practices from the ecommerce industry
- Bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to nonprofits, such as:
- Social Proof: displaying recent donations and impact metrics on a nonprofits site (like product reviews)
- Instant Confirmation: sending immediate receipts and impact statements. 70% of nonprofits currently use a fundraising service that sends automatic donation receipts via email
Very often, the right freelance technical talent will be deeply driven by the mission of the organization as well, combining programming/design prowess with a genuine desire to connect with the organization and donors. This is a win-win: nonprofit organizations receive expert help from incredibly talented programmers and designers, while freelance talent gets to make a meaningful impact in the world. We see it all the time – the freelancers at 10x are deeply driven by mission-led organizations.
Moving Forward
The gap between ecommerce purchasing and nonprofit donation experiences needs to close. Donors already have experience with seamless digital transactions—they make them daily, so investing in outside technical expertise to help close this gap is a smart move for nonprofits seeking to grow a younger audience and retain users.