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In today’s world, donations aren’t limited to people you can reach in-person. Having an online presence allows you to share your cause across the globe, so anyone can contribute. Plus, giving your visitors a way to donate online can help increase the amount of donations you receive.
Whether you want to start a community fundraiser, accept online donations for a nonprofit, or launch crowdfunding for your business, here’s how to get the most out of online donations.
Watch a demo of new and improved donations features and a Q&A with a Squarespace Product Manager.
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.
Consider your audience. Who do you want to ask for donations? Can you speak to what they value and the goals you share?
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?
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.
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.
Share in more than one place. Adding links to your donation page across your online profiles will help your audience find it.
Thank your donors with a customized email. Squarespace automatically sends a confirmation email after donations, which you can customize with a meaningful message.
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.
Creating a donation page for your website
Having a dedicated page for donations is helpful because you can link potential donors to the exact page where they can donate. When designing your donations page, you can keep it relatively simple.
Make the donation section the focus. Make this the easiest thing to find on the web page either by placing it first or making it stand out visually.
Include suggested amounts. Adding suggested amounts can give people an idea of how much they should donate. You can also include an option to choose their donation amount.
Accept multiple payment options. Offering more than one way to pay allows people to donate in the easiest way for them, making them more likely to complete the transaction.
Reiterate the value of a donation. Besides your donation block or section, reshare the details of your mission or goals and what donations will support.
You can also share past crowdfunding or fundraising you’ve done on this page to build trust with any new potential donors. Consider adding images or quotes around your past fundraising efforts to let visitors know how much you’ve raised in the past and how that money was spent.
How to accept donations on Squarespace
If you build a donations page on a Squarespace website, you can track your fundraising and donors from your Squarespace account. It takes just a few steps to start collecting donations.
Connect a payment solution. It’s helpful to choose a payment tool that allows you to take more than one method of payment, like Squarespace Payments or Stripe.
Add a donation block. You can customize donation blocks to match your site design with updated colors and design options.
Customize suggested donation amounts. Set a small, medium, and larger suggestion in addition to a custom option. You can also suggest making a recurring donation.
Share your page with potential donors. Reach out to your personal network and your website audience. Add the link to your Bio Site or raise money directly from the link in bio page.
Learn more about managing donations on Squarespace
Making your donation page easy to find
Visitors can’t donate unless they can find your donation block. Making your donation block easy to find is critical for ensuring donations, so consider the following points when setting up your website.
Add the page to your main navigation. Include a link in your header navigation and consider including it in your footer too.
Use a simple page title and URL slug. This ensures that your donation page is easy to discover in search.
Add a linked button in your header. If the main goal of your site is to collect donations, you can add a button to your header that takes people to your donation page.
Include it on your homepage. Consider dedicating a section of your homepage to your fundraising, to draw interest before visitors click to your donation page.