How to Collect Donations on Your Website

What can I collect donations for?

Naturally, most people associate donations and fundraising with nonprofits raising money for their own cause and operations. But there are a few additional ways you can use a donation tool on your website.

• A cause: Donations for a charitable cause are the most common type of donation. This can be for your own cause or in partnership with a nonprofit or local business.

• Upcoming projects: Your audience can invest in your ideas, like products or new content you want to produce.

• An event you're hosting: Your community can help make an event happen by donating, or donate to cover attendance costs for those who need assistance.

• Holiday giving: Holidays such as Christmas or Thanksgiving can be a good opportunity to collect donations, particularly if you're collecting for a local community organization or charity.

How to ask for donations

It might feel unfamiliar to solicit donations, especially if it's for your own organization or project. But remember that donations and crowdfunding are ultimately about community and contributing to a shared goal. That mindset and speaking authentically will go a long way toward successfully asking for donations.

When putting together your donation strategy, think about how you can incorporate these best practices.

1. Consider your audience. Who do you want to ask for donations? Can you speak to what they value and the goals you share?

2. Share where contributions go. For example, are these donations for charity? If so, what charity are you working with? If it's for your business or nonprofit, what are your plans for the funds?

3. Be transparent about your goals. Honesty will encourage visitors to trust you with donations, and sharing any deadlines for funding can create a sense of urgency to contribute.

4. Consider an incentive. You might offer a small giveaway to encourage donations, like publishing names of donors, a free sticker or piece of content, or a chance to share input with you.

5. Share in more than one place. Adding links to your donation page across your online profiles will help your audience find it.

6. Thank your donors with a customized email. Squarespace automatically sends a confirmation email after donations, which you can customize with a meaningful message.

7. Make donors part of the story. Make regular updates on the impact of their donation by sharing progress on social media or in a newsletter, so they feel like a part of your journey.

Example copy for requesting donations

When asking for donations, whether via email, social media, or some other medium, think of it as a one-on-one conversation. Keep your copy approachable, authentic, and detailed to build trust and affinity for your cause.

Here's an example of copy that can be used for requesting donations via email.

My name is [name], the [your title] of [business or brand]. This summer, we're working to [project or goal] and we want to give our community a chance to be part of this new adventure, which will help [outcome of your project/goal].

We need your help to reach our funding goal of [amount] by [date] so we can get started. A donation of any amount makes a huge difference-every dollar counts. Your donations will go to [cause or specific expenses].

[link to your donation page]

We can't do it without you! Feel free to follow along on our blog, so you can watch us put your dollars to work.

If you were to ask for donations on social media, you would naturally keep the ask shorter. Share a post highlighting what you want to accomplish and why, how much you're raising, your deadlines, and the link to donate. As you get more donations, share progress updates with a link to donate as well.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.