Non-profit

Industry snapshot: high frustration, below average engagement

It seems the world is always willing to give, as overall charitable donations and fundraising grew by 4.1% in 2020. But perhaps more notably, online donations grew by 12.1% while fundraising revenue grew by 23%. It’s clear more and more donors want to make their contributions online, which means non-profit organizations must ensure a seamless digital experience to drive more funding – or they could miss out.

DIGITAL FRUSTRATION

Non-profit’s biggest user frustrations

Frustration can kill a user’s experience and jeopardize the donation goals of your site. In fact, just 48% of organizations have a well-designed user journey facilitating clear and seamless interactions. With research showing a focus on digital contributions, if your website isn’t friction-free then donors may just abandon altogether.

With 8.2% of page views containing instances of user frustration, non-profit generally performs poorly against the 6.5% average of other industries. It has a relatively low occurrence of bird’s nest behavior, which refers to when a user rapidly shakes their mouse in confusion, unresponsive multiclicks, which typically occur on broken links or buttons, and repeated device rotation, the result of content not fitting the screen. However, it has a high incidence of rapid scrolling per user session, which in certain contexts signals user frustration.

3 ways to reduce frustration in non-profit

01

Streamline donation forms

A simple donation form can go a long way, whereas a long, confusing, error-prone form can completely sabotage serious donations just before submission. Keeping form layouts simple, requesting only essential information, and providing clear instructions will maximize form completions.

02

Simplify site navigation

With users typically already arriving at your site with a donation goal in mind, it’s key to reduce the effort it takes to go from ‘Point A’ to ‘Point B.’ Removing unnecessary navigation steps and minimizing layout distractions will ensure a frictionless journey.

03

Improve site performance

Donation user traffic may come in waves due to suddenly emerging causes or seasonal interest, which means slow site performance could bottleneck donations. It’s best to focus on investing in a high-performing site to keep users from abandoning impatiently.

The quality of the user experience really matters for non-profits, as goal completion correlates highly with the Digital Experience Score. However, high user frustration is experienced throughout the sector, with lots of rapid scrolling, low engagement, and a poor navigation score with lots of users refreshing pages.

Seb Thakar | Global Team Lead of Insights Services, Decibel

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DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT

Non-profit’s biggest user engagements

Digital experience heavily dictates the level of engagements your website drives.

With 75% consumers expecting a consistent experience wherever they engage, any flaw could keep them from moving through the user journey. If your digital fundraising or donation experience fails to drive engagements and interest, donations may fall. To drive more non-profit interest, let’s examine the industry engagement data.

With sessions having an average Engagement Score of 4.48/10, non-profit performs slightly worse than the 4.6 average of other industries. It has slightly more incidences of reading behavior, which refers to users following content with their mouse, and slightly fewer instances of select and copy behavior; but performs poorly on responsive multiclicks, which refers to users clicking through a responsive element like an image carousel.

3 ways to drive more engagement in non-profit

01

Create clear call-to-actions

Confusing users call to actions that are too subtle, low on the page, or even missing in key areas leads to missed opportunities. To drive more engagements and ultimately conversions, call-to-actions should be prominent on webpages and clearly labeled.

02

Provide informative content

While most users look to make donations, there will be plenty looking to better understand a donation or fundraising cause. Adding thoughtful and informative content for users will ultimately help increase engagement activity on your site.

03

Prioritize mobile funding experiences

Given the high usage of mobile devices, plenty of donors will look to make contributions from the convenience of their smartphone. Keeping your site well-adapted to mobile journeys will keep users engaged and focused on your funding goal.

USER JOURNEYS

Non-profit’s user journey trends

Fine-tuning the most ‘travelled’ user journeys matters most when it comes to turning user traffic into donations. In fact, 90% of professionals believe a journey-based approach boosts satisfaction and retention – meaning more frequent donors.

With an average Navigation Score of 9.1/10, non-profit performs poorly against the 9.4 average of other industries. Per page view, the on-page refresh rate is high at 35%, suggesting performance issues. However, in terms of the journey, the revisit rate of pages is just 22.6% against the 32.6% average of other industries – suggesting non-profit customers are generally finding what they need on each page, without having to look twice or cover old ground.

EXPERIENCE & CONVERSION

Non-profit’s correlation between digital experience and conversion

Every $1 invested in user experience brings $100 in return, meaning your website’s digital experiences can turn into a donation-generating machine. While user experiences make a profound impact on your bottom line, the non-profit industry is unlike typical for-profit organizations.

Generally, the goal conversion rate for non-profit is lower than in other industries, but its correlation to DXS® is higher, which could mean tolerance for mediocre experiences is lower in non-profit than elsewhere – rendering the quality of the overall experience vitally important.

3 non-profit digital experience trends and tips to look out for in 2021

01

Big opportunity for experience leaders

With high user frustration across the non-profit sector, there’s a big opportunity for experience-minded non-profits to make their mark.

02

Competition may increase

As demand shifts online, digital services offered by non-profits will be more widespread, so expect a rise in competition for eyeballs and loyalty.

03

Optimization will be crucial

With expectations for digital experiences always rising, investing in digital experience optimization has never been more crucial for non-profit companies looking to maximize fundraising and donations.