Nonprofit Launch Plan Podcast for Startup, Small, and Growing Nonprofits

Matt Stockman: You know, making an emotional connection with your donors is key to fundraising success, and it's that emotional connection that should carry through the entirety of the gift giving process. But what happens when the donor gets to your website and then the magic disappears so often? The moment a donor is ready to make a gift, the experience ends up feeling different or broken or disconnected, which can cost you a donation, and more importantly, it can cost you the trust that you've worked so hard to build with that individual.

So today we're talking about the crucial user experience through the whole donor journey. Of landing on your website or clicking on a button and completing the process of making a gift to you and how to make sure each step is as powerful as the initial ask. Joining me to walk us through this is Cari Kates.

She is the Director of Digital Content at Pillar Media, a faith-based group of Christian media radio stations. We'll be discussing the importance of brand consistency. On your donation page, we'll be talking about the value of restating your mission throughout the process. And then the often overlooked power of a great confirmation email.

So let's get started. Welcome to the Nonprofit Launch Plan podcast for startups, small and growing nonprofits. This podcast is here to help you build your nonprofit from the ground up on a strong foundation. So every episode we give you frameworks and tools. And the personalized guidance that you need to be able to create lasting impact.

My name is Matt Stockman. I'm your host and a nonprofit growth coach at Nonprofit Launch Plan. We believe that every nonprofit has to be operating in six key areas in order to be successful. In those six areas are leadership. Fundraising, marketing programs and services, operations and finances. So on every episode of the podcast, we talk about a topic that is core to at least one of those six areas.

And before we dive into today's episode, you know fundraising is a core pain point for every nonprofit leader and organization. Clearly is the lifeblood to what you do without fuel in your engine. Your car can't go any place and without fuel in your bank account. Your nonprofit isn't a nonprofit and can't help make the world a better place.

Most of us get into nonprofit work because you've seen a problem in the world and you felt compelled to do something about it, but the part about asking other people to give you money. To help solve that problem, that's when the sweat starts to form on your forehead. So that's why I've created the Fearless Fundraising Framework.

It's a simple five step process that gives you clarity on your fundraising messaging, and a game plan on how you can share your mission. Envision and invite people to partner with you financially. You can get the Fearless Fundraising workbook and the five videos that go along with it absolutely free on my website right now@nonprofitlaunchplan.com.

Again, that's nonprofit launch plan.com. Now let's dive into this episode. We're talking today about the crucial user experience through the whole donor journey of. A donor landing on your website, clicking a button, and completing the process of making a gift, and how to make sure that each step in that process is as powerful and connective as it can be.

Here's my interview with Cari Kates, the Director of Digital Content from Pillar Media, Cari Kates, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for being here. If you don't know, Cari is the director of Digital Content for Pillar Media, which is a group of five. Uh, faith-based radio stations and a nonprofit organization.

Uh, and Keri manages all of the digital and visual properties, uh, for Pillar Media. Thank you for being part of the first ever video version of the nonprofit Launch Plan podcast. Uh, you're welcome. Thanks for the invitation. On the opportunity. Opportunity. Yeah. So let's jump right in. We, a lot of nonprofit organizations, uh, spend so much time and energy and rightfully so.

Uh, at the beginning part of the donation process. In other words, they tell a really great story. They work through the different steps that a potential donor goes through in order to make a decision about giving a gift. And people get really excited about how their gift is gonna be, make a difference, and they, they sort of are bought into the vision, and then they go to the website of that nonprofit in order to make the gift.

And a lot of times. Everything changes. It feels more transactional. It's like the magic kind of goes away and it it, it's not as good of an experience for a nonprofit donor, and there's some really easy wins. Talk a little bit about just how you can keep branding consistent throughout the entirety of the donation process.

Yeah, I, I think the first step is really just committing to think this all the way through. Mm-hmm. Um, thinking through the whole process and, um, really taking the time to think about, okay, how is this donor getting to us and what is their. Journey or path through the entire donation process. And, uh, a lot of people forget about that.

To me, one of the best ways you can get insight on this, especially, um, unless you have buckets of money to go hire people, uh, but I'm gonna assume you don't because you're listening to this podcast, right? So, um, one of my favorite things is to get a, a friend or loved one who cares about you and what you're working on, and just say like.

Go, Hey, can you ask your husband or your kid to make a donation? Mm-hmm. Or, or whatever. And get someone who, who doesn't have as much, much context, who's not gonna let stuff go, to go, Hey, when I clicked on this, it went here. And that doesn't make sense to me. Like, get other eyes on this process. That's, that's one of the best ways, uh, I think that you can even check the stuff out.

Uh, but that consistency in branding is really, really important. When a donor is experiencing your, uh, nonprofit and you built a relationship with, with them, and there's a, there's that trust that's really gotta carry through the online donation process. Mm-hmm. So for instance, if they click a donate button on your website, um, and then they end up on a, a third party page where the actual transaction of the donation takes place, which is very common.

Pretty common, right? Standard. Yeah. Yeah. And it looks totally different. The color's are different. Your logo's not there. Uh, the font's different. The language style's different that's violating that trust. Like all of a sudden red flags are, are going up. Um, so there an easy way is just to make sure it matches.

Like, I don't know if some more simple way to put. Okay. I'm gonna show you an example, um, from the space I live in, and that is Christian radio. Um, this is actually from a radio station. Uh, it, it's not one that I'm a part of. Uh, it's an, um, a radio station that I have great respect for. And this is a, I'm, I'm just gonna give you a screen cap of an email that I received.

This is what it looked like. You'll see be the Hope W GTS 91.9, and then it goes into the ask. This is just the beginning of the, um, of the email. So that's the email I received when I click on the button, the call to action button, which is prominent, uh, and should be in the email. Uh, it takes me to this page.

You'll notice that be the hope, uh, sort of logo is prominent there. Yeah. Um, and then it's got the language over here on the left, but the colors are the same. The font looks the same. And that is the easiest way to, uh, kind of rein, like reinforce that trust. Or when you click to that button, you can still trust this process of making a donation because it's right here.

You know, it, it looks the same, and you can tell that we're the same people. There's so many moments where people have, you've, we hear stories all the time about people go to some website, they enter a credit card number, and then all of a sudden their bank account is drained and so on and so forth. Like people are just naturally suspicious about entering financial information into anything that doesn't seem like it's connected to the brand.

So the colors and the logo and all that kind, the language has got the more consistent it is. Yeah. Even if, even if that last part where they're actually making the gift of is, is a different platform. It's not y'all's platform. If it can look as much like your platform as possible, the more it can the better.

Right? Yeah. Remembering that it's a journey and it's a path that these donors are on, and so you wanna give them the most consistent journey possible. Yeah. Uh, and I will give a caveat. Most people are suspicious. Uh, if you are. Gen Z, you're like, take, here it is. I'll scan a qr, click a thing, it's fine. You know?

Yeah. But, but that lack of consistency in branding would be a giant red flag to, uh, anyone really. So it should look as much the same as possible. Talk a little bit about, uh, the donor journey being consistent from start to finish. That's a little bit different than the branding being consistent from start to finish.

What is the donor journey being consistent, beginning to end? What is, what's that mean to you? So there's many, many ways this really kind of plays out. But, um, so for us as a Christian radio station, um, we, we have giant microphones that broadcast music that people love and they go, I want this to be in my life still.

So I'm willing, I, I wanna make a donation to make sure that is still there for me when I need it. Yeah. So for us, it can play out, like when we say on the air, would you make a donation? Here's the number to call. And they call that number, the person answering the phone. As a Christian radio station, it needs to be a human because that's what we do, is we connect with people.

Um, but they should sound the same that we do on the radio. Um, they should, uh, just kind of really have that same essence. That's one way that it, that it should play out. Um, but for a, a platform where they're gonna go click a donate, donate button, I'll share a mistake that I made 'cause I did it. So I feel fine throwing myself under the bus.

Right. Um, we, this is an instance where we used email to ask for donations. Um, full transparency. Um, while Matt is very kind to say, I manage all the stuff, I manage a team who manages all this stuff. I have people on my team who are really. They're experts in this area. So I have someone on my team who is really, um, focused and specialized in email marketing, and she's great at it does a great job.

Well, she was on vacation, so, and we had a last minute need come up and I went, I'm gonna write the email and you'll see why we don't have me do this anymore. Um, now, so what happened essentially is that I wrote a. It's year end. And truth be told, we were under a very tight, like, we gotta get this done, you know?

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It was more about getting it done than anything else. Um, I did notice this mistake, but in the moment there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it. Um, but I, so essentially we had this email that went out, uh, I'm just gonna give you the meat of the email. So it's this email that says, hi, you know, all the things there's.

Your financial gift, no matter the size, but then we make a very clear ask. Would you prayerfully consider making a tax deductible donation of $100? Yep. And the call to action button is yes. I wanna share hope. So, Matt, where do you think that button should go? Or when I click the button, what should happen?

I think it should take me to a page where I can make a hundred dollars gift. It should, but it did not. Um, so I sent, uh, donors to, and honestly, I, I didn't have the link that got 'em right there. Mm-hmm. But I sent donors to this place right here where it says I wanna give. It's got monthly highlighted and then it's got all these other amounts and other, yeah.

Is actually the, the highlighted choice. This is an example of what not to do. Uh, and I'm trying to give myself a little grace going. We were under a tight deadline. I didn't have everything I needed. I had to get it done. The girl who normally does this was on vacation, but honestly, I, I will put myself on the stake or whatever you say by going, Hey, I'm the leader.

Ultimately this is on me. This was not, not a great, uh, that was not a great experience, right? Because what happens is the donor's like, yes, I wanna give, they click a button and they start out confused. Yep. So I'm now making you think more and that is wrong. The less they through that path or that journey, the less the donor has to think the better and the more likely they are to give, give quickly, and give well to your organization.

Well, that's really good. Thank you. Um, you know, the donation process feels kind of like when you get to that page where you're entering your name and your address and your email address and your credit card number and all that kind of stuff. That's the most. Transactional and instinctively is the most disconnected from the emotional part of giving, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Talk about some ways that you can kind of beef that up a little bit so people still feel the impact of what they're doing in that moment. Yeah, I think the best way is, um, when someone takes the action to give and remember that this journey is still a part of the story that you're talking about when you talk about the why of supporting your organization.

And so when they land on that page to make a gift, it should reinforce that why, to me, the best use or the best way to do this is you want those donation forms to be very simple, very clean. Uh, easy to follow, take the thinking out of it. But you do wanna reinforce that. Why? So when they get there, rather than gimme your name, phone number, credit card number, all the things, right?

Um, reinforce the why. It can be a simple paragraph at the top that's like a quote from a recipient of your, like, who's someone who benefited from the work of your organization, right? Uh, and I try, I would try to make that as personal as possible. Images are always gonna be the best, but they should be real.

So. Um, we have, uh, in my department we have a, um, kind of, um, policy for back of, lack of a better way to say it, of if you're gonna use a quote from a donor or a listener in our case who said, Hey, the station's really meant a lot to me. Mm-hmm. We either use their real photo with their permission, of course.

Mm-hmm. They're real pho photo or no photo. We do not use stock photos because that violates that trust. Like I'm looking at this picture going, that's not a real person I can tell. Or, or I can tell that that's a stock photo. I've seen that photo on a billboard down the street. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you can tell it's obviously with AI now, people are really pushing back against anything that is perceived as augmented, you know?

Right. And so it's either the person's real photo and we try to use their first name, the city they're from, or whatever way you can make it a real person. But here's a great, very simple, um, example. Of a way to reinforce the why once they land on the give page. And I'm gonna share with, uh, this organization, it's not a radio station.

Um, up here on the page, they, they reinforce the, the why your one time investment helps bring food winterization items and the gospel to a desperate family in Lebanon. Yep. Your monthly investment helps sustain a family need by providing essential food and winterization items that goes on from there.

But look at this photo over here. Yeah. This is a real family served by this organization. These are real people and they make a very clear statement here by this picture. When you give, you're helping a family like this one go from despair to hope, and that is a real simple way that you can reinforce that.

Why? Yeah. That's really good. So a lot of missed opportunity for nonprofits. Um, is in what happens after the person clicks the submit button and the gift goes through. There's a real opportunity to make a final connection and even take it a step further there, uh, with the confirmation email or whatever.

Talk a little bit about how a nonprofit can maximize that. Yeah, I would say don't forget about it. Well, I mean, the way you maximize it is don't forget about it. We oftentimes go, okay, they went from my website to this third party platform. Uh, you may be like, if you have your, uh, donation tool embedded in your site, that is great actually.

'cause then they're never leaving your site. Mm-hmm. But if it's they click a button, they go to a third party, which is very, very common. Um, it should look like your organization. It should talk like your organization. It should reinforce the why of why they're making a gift, and then when they click the submit or the finish or the checkout or whatever button it is, they should land in a place.

That still feels like that same journey, um, it should not be an abrupt ending. It shouldn't leave them going. Did it go through? Did it not go through mm-hmm. What happened? Did they get my money? Was this a scam? You wanna be able to answer those questions, so, um, most websites give you an opportunity to either, well, let's say if you're on a third party party platform, a lot of times they'll give you an option of exit URL.

So make sure that exit URL goes to a page on your website that says, thank you for your gift. And maybe like, ideally what you would do is reinforce though the impact that they've made. You know, and maybe it's using a picture or a story going, here's what you're investing in and this is the difference that you're making.

Uh, you can do, uh, some will say just, you know, pop up confirmation text. So when someone clicks a button, it, it kind of auto pops up some text saying, you know, we got your gift. Thank you so much. But you wanna be really intentional with those things. It needs to sound like you look like you. Uh, that is still a part of that journey or path.

Yeah. Uh, and then I, you should always, always, always follow up with another touch point in another way, whether that's a direct mail piece or Great. Yeah. Um, an email is great. Uh, to me the way they give is the best way to follow up. So if they gave digitally, you can follow up with a digital version of that, which is like an email.

If they gave you by text following up. Um, in that same place, just make sure you're following text laws. Uh, I like having another touch point of, Hey, we got your gift. Thank you so much. And it should be, it should be pretty immediate. Um, yeah. I've given to organizations before where I got a lovely thank you letter of months later.

Yeah. And I went, what? Oh, I forgot I even made this gift. Yeah. Yeah. Abso absolutely. I think another opportunity on that, on that confirmation email or whatever happens next after a person completes the gift. Is, uh, if, if you're able to sort of give them some more detailed information about what is gonna happen next with your gift.

Yeah. Your $45 monthly is going to help to process these food packs, and we're planning to give these food packs out in the next 90 days or whatever. Just some, some sort of a. Uh, we've received your money, here's what we're gonna do with it. I think in the spirit of transparency, which people really appreciate from time to time, uh, that's a really great way to maximize it.

Yeah, that's fantastic. And, uh, even if you, if you keep them on your website or, um, take them back to your website in the confirmation, um, another thing you can do is just share more of the offerings of, you know, hey, if you're. Uh, like if you have a podcast, um, hey, if you'd like to listen to our podcast and, you know, you can hear stories of hope here or whatever it is, or if, or if you have like, um, um, maybe educational resources you provide, you can point them to those and, and keep them on your properties even more and get 'em even more interested in what your organization does.

So let's, uh, recap real quick. We're talking just in general about the final steps of the donation process. You've gotten a donor, a potential donor excited about making a gift. You've told the story of your organization, well, you've explained to them how their gift is gonna make an impact. They go to your website.

And we're just gonna kind of follow these last few steps in order to close the loop and make the totality of it as good of an experience for a donor as possible. So we're gonna keep branding consistent throughout the whole donation process, even if. The donor leaves your pla your website and goes to a third party platform to make the gift.

Uh, we're gonna make the donor, uh, we're gonna make sure that the donor journey is consistent from start to finish. If they're trying to give $25 and they click that button, $25 gift should be prominent. Uh, and wherever they land, basically, like that whole journey should be the same. Uh, you're gonna try to restate the why.

As clearly as you can on the donation page and all through the whole donation process. So they, even though it's a transaction that's taking place, it feels like they're never that far from the whole reason they click the button to begin with. And then don't forget about the confirmation messaging that happens after the gift.

Once they've click, clicked, submit and the gift goes through, you have a really great opportunity to make a greater handshake with a, with a donor and, and introduce 'em to other things that you're doing. Tell them where, in more detail, where their gift is gonna be used and what the next steps are, and invite them to engage with your organization in some, uh, deeper way at that point.

Anything else you feel like we've missed? I, I think that's great, Matt. Um, the way I sum it up is think it all the way through. Yeah. Think the process all the way through. Get people to help you if you need to and take the thinking out of it for the donor. So, simplify as much as you can. Uh, the, for me, the more thinking you make me do, the less you're gonna get outta me.

'cause I gotta move fast. I gotta keep it going. So, yeah, thank you so much for, uh, spending the time with us and really, really super great insights. Very grateful. Yeah. Again, my thanks to Kerry Kates, the Director of Digital Content from Pillar Media. Lots and lots of great takeaways in our time together.

Now, before we wrap up the episode, if you or somebody you know is still in the dreaming phase of launching a nonprofit, I've got a special freebie for you. It's a PDF resource that's called From Dream to Action, your nonprofit pre-launch checklist. 10 essential steps for moving from nonprofit idea to impact.

It's 10 things to think about as you start to crystallize your dream for a nonprofit. This tool is gonna walk you through 10 easy first steps to move your dream for a nonprofit toward a launch plan that gets your dream actually off the ground and going. This checklist is gonna walk you through your why, considering your first teammates.

In other words, your board honing in on exactly who your beneficiary is. Choosing your nonprofit name, your IRS application, state applications, and more. And there's an easy to do action step for each one of the 10 things to consider that will bring your dream for a nonprofit into a whole, not clear focus when you've completed it.

So if you want the free PDF from Dream to Action, your nonprofit pre-launch checklist, 10 essential steps. For moving from nonprofit idea to impact, you can do a couple of things. Email me at matt@nonprofitlaunchplan.com. Again, my email is matt@nonprofitlaunchplan.com, or look for the popup on my website, nonprofit launch plan.com.

And also, don't forget about the other resource for free, the fearless. Fundraising mini course. It's a workbook and five short videos that go along with it that take the fear out of asking other people to partner with you financially. You go through the mini course, you come out with a game plan, and you come out with a fundraising messaging script that brings you a tremendous amount of clarity.

It's free for you on the website@nonprofitlaunchplan.com. Again, that's all for this episode of the Nonprofit Launch Plan podcast for startups, small and growing nonprofits. Thank you so much for being here. Do not forget to subscribe so you don't miss out on the next episode. And if in any way or another you found this helpful, if you would take the time to share it with a nonprofit leader who might benefit, I would be greatly appreciative.

Until next time. Keep making a difference and thanks for watching.