The charity guide: a website that earns its keep
Charity websites carry more weight per page than any commercial site, on budgets a commercial marketing director would refuse. That is exactly why small improvements have outsized impact, and why this guide is built as an audit you can run on your own site today rather than a lecture about best practice. Every check below has moved real money for real causes.
The Clickingmad Test
Every extra click between a willing donor and the thank-you page is a donation you already had, and gave back.
- Count the steps
Open your donation page and count every click, field and screen between “I want to give” and “thank you”. Write the number down. Reducing it is probably the most valuable thing your next website project will do. - Kill the forced account
Nobody wants a relationship with your database at the moment of generosity. Make accounts optional, and ask afterwards, not before. - Keep your branding through payment
A payment page that suddenly looks like somebody else is where trust wobbles and donations die. The journey should look and feel like your charity from first click to thank-you. - Ask only what the payment needs
Every extra field costs donors. Segmentation questions and marketing preferences can wait for the thank you email. - Say what the money does, right there
The moment of giving is when your impact statement matters most. One line beside the amount, in plain words, lifts both completion and gift size. - Make Gift Aid effortless
One clear tick with a one-line explanation. It is a quarter more income for the same generosity, and a confusing Gift Aid section is money refused. - Test with real supporters, including screen reader users
Your community includes the people the digital world most often leaves behind, and accessibility failures quietly cost donations. Watch five real supporters give, and fix what slows them. - Measure completion, not traffic
A charity site with modest traffic and a strong donation completion rate is outperforming most of the sector. Track completion, average gift and volunteer signups, and report those to trustees.
When you commission work
Put the audit results in the brief, name your payment and CRM systems, gather the stories with permissions sorted before the build starts, and involve a trustee early, because a board that has seen the thinking approves the spend. And know that every UK charity and hospice can ask us for a free website review at any time, a habit we got into during our 25 in 25 year and kept. Charities are charged at reduced rates, with payment plans where they help.