We have compiled some of the most important data points for your higher education to consider, along with specific steps your higher education institution can take to grow the impact of your fundraising efforts.
These stats range from donation page design, giving trends, donor behavior, and much more.
If you find one of the stats especially interesting, feel free to share it with your colleagues and friends.
Enjoy!
Higher education institutions are twice as likely to use non-essential fields compared to other nonprofits
How many fields do you have on your donation form? Now, which fields are absolutely necessary to include?
High-converting donation forms should only include essential information. Non-essential information such as title, spouse’s first/middle/last name, etc. can actually lead your donor to leave your donation page, costing you donations.
You must optimize your donation forms to reduce form friction. Do this by separating your must-have donor information from your nice-to-have donor information.
All in all, be sensitive to the fact that potential donors do not want to spend so much time entering in tons of information and giving away so much personal information. Limit your form fields to only the fields that you absolutely need.
64% of higher education institutions have distracting links on their pages
Does your donation page have multiple calls to action (i.e. “Apply now,” “Request more information,” etc.)? Or, is your navigation present on your donation page?
Having multiple links will distract the donor from the main focus of the donation page: to make a donation.
After finally getting a potential donor to land on your donation page, the last thing you want them to do is to go down a rabbit hole of clicking link after link. What’s the solution? Design your donation page in a way that encourages the potential donor to only make a donation.
You can do this by creating a stand-alone donation page that excludes your main website’s navigation links in the header and footer, only has one call-to-action on the page (i.e. “Donate now”), and basically eliminates any reason for the potential donor to leave your donation page.
54% of higher education institutions use less than 1 sentence of copy on their donation page
On top of that, only 22% of donation forms that were studied had a strong reason to give. Higher education institutions must include a compelling reason as to why someone should donate to their institution.
You cannot assume that someone will immediately donate to your institution just because they landed on your donation page. You must explain what their gift will do and how it will benefit your university and enrich the lives of your student body. Basically, motivate the visitor to give!
Speaking about compelling reasons, here’s a compelling reason why you should do this!
NextAfter conducted an experiment where they incorporated a value proposition message on the main donation page to see if it will actually increase donor conversion. The results of the study showed that the additional value proposition increased the donor conversion rate on the page by 150%!
9 out of 10 higher education institutions accept recurring gifts
Offer ways for your donors to give on a recurring basis. Why is this important?
A one-time gift of $150 dollars pales in comparison to a consistent monthly gift of $25 dollars over the course of a year or even two years!
Not only does recurring donations supercharge your donations, but it also gives your donors a simple and automated way to support your university!
So, make sure you offer your donors the option to make a recurring gift! There are several ways to do this. One way is to include the option to convert their one-time gift into a recurring gift right on the donation form, and another way is to present your donor with a recurring upsell.
P.S. Did you know Anedot provides these two recurring gift features for free? Learn more about our features here!
62% of higher education institutions do not have suggested gift amounts
Providing suggested gift amounts on your donation form can eliminate the choice barriers that may exist in the donor’s mind. This prevents the donor from being overwhelmed with how much they should donate to your organization.
By giving your donors pre-selected gift options and making the gift designation as simple as a click, you may be able to see an increase in conversions!
Suggested gift amounts can also provide opportunities for your donors to upgrade their initial gift.
For example, an alumni visits your donation landing page with the intention of gifting $100 dollars. When they see the donation form, they see the following suggested gift amounts: $25, $50, $100, $150, $200, and $300. Seeing that donating just $50 dollars more can make their gift end up in the upper half of the suggested gift spectrum, they may choose to upgrade their gift from $100 to $150.
1 out of 4 higher education institutions have a security message on their donation form
When it comes to donation page design, first impressions really do matter. If your donation form looks outdated, or if giving instructions are not clear, visitors may end up immediately leaving your donation page upon arrival.
Similarly, if your donation page does not communicate security in any way, some visitors may leave your donation page because they may not feel safe providing their personal information. People want to know that their information will be protected before putting their credit card information in a donation form.
One of the most simple ways to communicate security is by including a padlock icon or some sort of graphic that illustrates security.
74% of donors appreciate a personal “thank you” for their gift
Once someone successfully gives to your institution, do you utilize a thank you page? Or, do you send them an email or letter thanking them for their gift?
A well-designed thank you page or email can go a long way. It can even turn one-time donors into recurring donors that will support your university for years to come. So, make sure your thank you pages or letters are designed in such a way where donors are appreciated, but also where donors can take other desired actions.
Here are some ideas:
- Ask donors to share their act of generosity on their social media channels with a simple click
- Expand on the impact of their generous gift with a video from your advancement team, university president, or a student
- Offer donors other ways to get involved with your institution (i.e. contributing to a scholarship fund)
- Encourage donors to stay connected via social media or a newsletter opt-in
- Share inspirational video and/or text testimonials from real students who benefit from their gift
- Invite donors to your next campus or online event
- Ask the donor if their employer would match their gift
- Present the donor with the opportunity to convert their one-time gift into a recurring gift
56% of donors would be repeat givers if they received personalized messages
Personalization needs to be part of your university’s outreach strategy. Why? Personalization can create recurring donors and establish better relationships with your donors.
For example, instead of sending a mass fundraising email to all your alumnus at once, personalize your email communication. You can do this by segmenting your alumni email list by the type of demographic cohort (Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, etc.).
Each generation has different values, preferred ways of the style of communication, and different income levels. You would not want to ask a Gen Z alumni, who recently graduated, for $100 dollars. But, you may want to ask a Baby Boomer alumni for a generous amount because they most likely will have more disposable income.
Online giving to higher education institutions increased by 10% in 2020
Even though higher education online donations dropped by more than $6 million from March to May due to the pandemic, there was a huge bounceback due to a Giving Tuesday Now event. Online donations for higher education institutions have increased and it continues to increase year after year.
Because of the pandemic, we now live in a more digital world. Schools have shifted to virtual learning, businesses have shifted to remote working, and the majority of people have shifted to digital payments.
That being said, it is important for higher education institutions to offer online giving options because digital payments are not going anywhere. If anything, digital payments will continue to grow in popularity, as evidenced by the increase of online giving year after year.
If your higher education institution is looking for an online giving solution or thinking about switching to another online giving platform, we are here to help!
Anedot makes it easy for supporters to donate online and for your institution to take development to the next level. We also offer smart online fundraising tools like upsells, which will help you increase your monthly donations, or Action Pages, which will help you get more fundraising prospects with our beautiful landing pages that can be built without ever touching code!
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