When nonprofit organizations talk about pursuing a one-click donation process, it can feel like they’re discussing a quest for the Holy Grail or the Fountain of Youth. “I know it’s out there somewhere.” There’s a shroud of mystery around whether or not a nonprofit can easily adopt a one-click donation flow. “We know we want it, but we’re not quite ready for it.” For most, it remains a dream.
Surprise! It’s real and organizations are running out of excuses to refrain from exploring it. The one-click donation process is a beautiful thing and the benefits of at least testing it out are clear.
A one-click donation process allows donors to store credit card information so that all future contributions can be made with a single click of a link or text (SMS). The ultimate goal is to remove friction like never before, especially for mobile giving.
According to Blackbaud’s 2015 Charitable Giving Report, online donations grew 9.2% last year. As you may have guessed, mobile giving also increased with 14% of online donors utilizing their smartphones and tablets. It’s high time to meet people where they are so they can easily engage with and commit to your cause.
You’re likely already familiar with the one-click concept outside the realm of nonprofits. A lot of people recognize it from Amazon’s “1-Click Ordering” and may have actually considered it a dangerous development when impulse purchases suddenly became incredibly easy to complete. Hello, new music purchases for me. Apple Pay followed and Pinterest even joined the game last year with buy-able pins.
It’s been incredible to watch one-click donations become a game changer for political campaigns this past year. ActBlue Express’ seamless donation process is credited as the force that is driving integral small donor dollars to Democrats.
So what about widespread nonprofit organization adoption? We’ve seen the International Relief vertical use SMS text-to-give well for emergency response and we’ve heard many a P2P event dream of a one-click experience on the ground when event day rolls around. The good news is that we’re starting to see nonprofits integrate the concept into their general donation flow and begin the process of educating their dedicated constituents.
American Heart Association (AHA) is a great example of an organization that has done a nice job of seamlessly introducing this process into their form. While they have teamed up with @pay and call it “2-Click Giving,” the concept is the same.
Notice on this snippet from the AHA form below that the option to enroll is an easy check-box between the standard email opt-in and billing address update boxes.
The “Learn More” link leads to a quick landing page summary that educates, excites and sells dedicated constituents on the concept. The page highlights how easy it is to enroll and showcases images of donating easily through email buttons or links and the opportunity to give via text. This page also reiterates that this is a secure process.
While ActBlue has been live since the 2008 campaigns and has the benefit of essentially owning that space, you’ll notice nonprofits exploring one-click donations are using a variety of tools to lock down the process, which means donors supporting a variety of causes may need to enroll more than once to accomplish one-click donations across organizations. For example, while AHA is using @Pay, the National Association of Veterans Serving Organization uses FastAction.
Check out the @Pay site to get a sense of pricing that goes along with partnering with a one-click donation tool. You’ll find a $50 per month plan, a $150 per month plan and custom solutions. @Pay is a Blackbaud preferred technology partner that integrates with Luminate Online and more, so be sure to check out specific options for Blackbaud organizations if you use their infrastructure.
As we see more and more donations come in through mobile, optimizing that user experience is crucial. There’s no need to turn easy donation adoption into a dramatic “should we/should we not” conundrum. All of the magic around one-click donations is indeed real! It is not just for Amazon and it is here for you now. Consider including a one-click giving trial in your budget plan.