Examples of Really Great Donation Pages

Every December, my husband Maki and I sit down and make decisions about our charitable giving. Once we’ve decided on the organizations and amounts, we go online and get everything done. What I’ve noticed is that most organizations have less than optimal donate pages or sections of their website. Here’s what I want from a Donate page:

• Why I should give
• What my money supports
• An easy way to make a donation, preferably without having to create a login
• If using a third party payment gateway or network, make it really clear to me what I’m going to see on my credit card statement
• A statement that you won’t rent or sell my information to other charities

Instead, what I usually find is a simple e-commerce form that simply asks me for my credit card information! What a waste of an opportunity to make the case for giving!

So I scoured the Web and looked for effective donation pages. Here are some I love:

Johns Hopkins Giving – This is a microsite devoted entirely to giving. I like the navigation: Why Give, Where to Give, How to Give, Calendar. I also like the branding area, which has great stories about Hopkins students and professors and doesn’t rotate too quickly.

Humane Society – I like how the donation process starts on the home page through a simple form, then continues to a larger form. I think it’s effective to call donors heroes who stand up for animal rights.

Meals on Wheels America – Without support from programs like Meals on Wheels, millions of seniors are forced to prematurely trade their homes for nursing facilities.

Wounded Warrior Project – When you give to the WWP, you’re supporting an organization whose broad appeal reaches across demographic, geographic, and political boundaries. For us, it’s not about the war; it’s about the warrior.

How about you? What are your favorite donation pages? Got any examples of donation page disasters?