Donation page design tips

Written by Mish Maudsley on 12th February 2013

(Last updated 18th March 2022)

An online donation page is one of the most crucial parts of any charity website. That said, it is surprising how often the donation page can end up feeling a bit like an afterthought. Here are some quick tips on how to improve the effectiveness of a charity donation page, plus a review of some great examples out there in the wild...

Design Tips

  • A clear route in: The donation button or “call to action” should be in one place and clearly visible throughout the site.
  • User-friendly form: A really inviting user friendly donation form is vital. If the form is ugly or badly presented it will turn people off.
  • Provide options: Show various donation options in one simple view.
  • Offer insight: Showing what their money can achieve will reassure the user and help them decide how much to give.
  • Avoid distraction: Try and avoid linking off to any other pages.
  • Keep in touch: Offer a quick self contained Newsletter sign up form.
  • Text donation: Consider adding a ”donation by text” option on the main site, not just the mobile site.
  • Test it out for yourself: Put on the “donor” hat and test it out for yourself. Or use a 3rd party testing service such as Usertesting or Silverback. You can also employ Google Optimizer as part of you Google Analytics.
  • Know your audience: If over 5% of your users are on mobile, make sure you donation page is mobile friendly.

And here are some examples of those websites that are getting it right...






If you know of any other great examples of donation page design, please let us know. Leave a comment below or drop us an email.

This article was posted in Design by Mish Maudsley