Is your donor form getting in the way of donations?
Your donor form needs to exude confidence and credibility. This is where the rubber really hits the ground. It’s simply disastrous for you if your form makes a donor hesitate. Here are some tips on how to design a form that won’t scare donors away.

Look at the picture at the top of the story. Would you withdraw money from that ATM? Neither would I. Withdrawing money from an ATM is uncomfortable enough as it is, where you stand with notes in your hand and your back to the world.
People's subconscious mind takes a few seconds to form an opinion: Is this something I trust? A form that resembles a broken ATM – whether it's in terms of distracting elements, unclear language or technical errors – will act as a speed bump in the donor journey.
Good design is reminiscent of good craftsmanship – a potential donor can easily see which solutions have been well thought out and have put the user experience first, even if they are not necessarily able to put their finger on what it is that gives that impression.
About removing friction

It wasn't long ago that donor forms used to look like the image above. Little thought was put into making forms as frictionless as they really needed to be to help (rather than hinder) a conversion.
Today we are a little more used to it, and it is therefore easy to list the problems with the form above:
- Goes straight into transaction mode by using “payment method” in the first title
- Completely transactional, no emotional connection.
- You get two identical choices - "Credit Card" or "Credit Card".
- There are too many fields – Don't include fields you don't have a clear reason for
- And of course: No modern payment solutions
There is a saying in design that goes:
Don't make me think!
The examples above are called friction – something that either forces the dealer to stop and wonder what it means, or stop and find their credit card.
Never make the dealer stop unless absolutely necessary.
It's been a long time since I've seen someone require a credit card number as the first choice on a donation form in Norway, but I see many mistakes that are repeated by many out there. We're pretty trained to spot completely obvious "UX errors" like the one in the picture above, but these days the devil is in the tiny details.
Detail 1: Remove unnecessary choices

Here I will use ourselves as an example. We have created a form solution that we call Fundy . Do you see the difference in the images above? On the left side, you are forced to make a choice at the top of the form: One-time gift or monthly. In many cases, this can be a good element – for example, if it is presented to donors who have given one-time gifts many times.
There is another point here too: Often, such a combination form is set to be a fixed donor by default. This results in some donors who have not understood this, canceling when it appears that it is monthly in the Vipps checkout. You should therefore be very careful and very clear about the choices you set as default!
On the right we see another variation, where the focus is on single gifts, but allows the option to choose to give the same amount monthly with a simple toggle. The advantage of this is that the donor is not forced to decide on the type of gift as the first thing they do. This creates less friction for those who are only going to give a single gift.
Important: Setting the gift type option after the amount is selected lowers the threshold for converting the gift to monthly. BUT it can also be an obstacle if the amounts listed are too high. Here you do not have the option to change the amount by gift type, as you do when setting the option at the top of the form.
Form is not just just!
Depending on factors such as the stage of the donor journey, which landing page the form is on, etc., the different variants may be more or less correct. The point is not to ask for more clicks than you absolutely have to.

Detail 2: Limit (end with) drop-down menus

Dropdown menus are popular in many contexts because they allow the user to easily choose between predefined options. However, I often see them misused, and inserted wherever the user has a choice.
A general rule: Never use drop-down menus when there are fewer than three options . Three options is actually a bit borderline, because it's almost never a good idea to hide options behind such a menu. Use radio buttons or similar instead.
One example where drop-down menus might be okay is when you give the donor a choice of which cause they want to donate to. That said, you should always have an idea of which cause(s) the donor should donate to, and giving them too many choices introduces friction.
Detail 3: The form should look like you mean it

The drop-down menu in the image places both the options and the drop-down arrow too close to the edge of the box. It looks like an accident, and it's not something you should associate with a donation form.
This is just a detail, but it’s details we’re talking about here. All elements that don’t belong in the form should be weeded out, because as I said: The form is a necessary speed bump that needs to be made as small and unobtrusive as possible before the highlight of the donor journey: the thank you page.
Other design tips:
- Give the form a background color that differs from the landing page – but not too bold!
- Be careful of air around elements and group elements that belong together
- Don't use the same interaction on different items: Switching from lump sum to monthly should look different than switching between amounts.
- Make it very clear which choice is “active” in the form – it’s important for the donor that they feel completely safe when they click “Give a gift”.
- Don't be afraid to use up some space, or reduce the number of choices. Test with hot dog fingers on mobile – will everyone be able to hit all the buttons?
There are probably hundreds of micro-tips like this we could give for forms: Don't use centered text, don't repeat text, have consistent sizes for buttons and elements... But these are things that your designer should be able to see.
Form nerd
If you're working with a complicated or convoluted form that's putting a damper on willing donors, we'd love to talk to you. We've been nerding out about forms for 15 years, and have just as much experience setting up new, conversion-friendly forms for organizations in need.
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Contact me about your form!
