In Growing your nonprofit: does the headline grab their attention? we discussed that it’s imperative that the headline and subheading make a strong impression at the very top of your donation page, immediately capturing their attention and making them feel an urge to donate.
In this blog we now consider the intro copy of the donation page, the goal being to remind the donor of your general value proposition. This is a short block of text to stimulate a donor’s initial interest, explaining why they should give and the effects of a donation, without going into too much detail. For a better understanding of what a value proposition is, read Growing your nonprofit: value your uniqueness.
Here’s some tips to ensure that your intro copy is doing its job:
Always be clear and concise
Do not exceed six sentences - anything more is overkill
Show one main problem that a donation will help to solve
Mention three effects a donation will create so donors know the outcome of their contribution
Here’s an example from NextAfter.com
This organization’s donation page had very vague text under the heading and subheading. They changed the orange box with the beginning of a “story” to draw the reader in:
These few lines introduced a negative image that affected the reader: it outlined the problem, and offered a solution - that families in Illinois need to receive accurate and actionable information.
The potential donor, who had already clicked on to the donation page, was drawn into the story . . . so much so that A/B testing of the two versions resulted in the second version receiving a 150.2% increase in donor conversion rate!
In this example NextAfter used this formula for creating the intro copy
Paragraph 1
[Describe a tragic/important event that’s happened or still happening]
[State the main problem or the most obvious negative effect this event caused]
Paragraph 2
“At [name of organization], we believe in/that [your philosophy that’s specifically related to solving the problem in sentence 2].”
“To [support word] [result #1 your organization wants], to [result #2 your organization wants], we need to [solution/action that will cause results #1 and #2]
If you’re struggling with this, there’s a simpler formula that also works well:
“When you give to [name of organization], you ensure that [effect #1], [effect #2], and [effect #3]. Make a donation now. Your support matters.”
Whichever method you choose, bear in mind that the aim here is to draw your donors into a story they understand is important to read.
However, it’s also important for you to tell them a story they can actively play a role in, by emphasizing why they should become involved in your nonprofit’s mission…
In a Growing your nonprofit: The 3 R's of Good Body Text we discuss why it’s important to help them understand their role when we write the body text.
Each organization has its own dynamic needs and my goal is to help your organization move to the next level and turn your vision into donations. You can contact me at suzanne@suzannelieberman.com; let’s start a conversation.
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