Do website pop-ups actually help nonprofits raise money?

Yes, pop-ups can significantly increase donations and other desired actions when executed well. They work by displaying a prominent call to action that visitors might otherwise miss on your page.

What is A/B testing for nonprofit website pop-ups?

A/B testing displays multiple different pop-up messages to portions of your audience, then measures which messaging most effectively inspires donations, signups, or other desired actions.

How do I prevent pop-ups from annoying website visitors?

Make sure the close button is easily identifiable, keep the message relevant to your audience, and test different approaches. Annoying pop-ups drive visitors away, while well-designed ones become effective calls to action.

How do website pop-ups raise money?

Website pop-ups raise money by displaying a ‘donate button’ that gets a little bit more in your face. When a visitor comes to your website, a pop-up window will cover some portion of the window offering a suggested action. Your web designer can make these pop-ups occur when the visitor gets to the site, after they’ve been there a while, or when they’re about to leave – depending on your preferences. The visitor will be given the option to take the suggested action or close the window.

The suggested action can be a donation request, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be. It might be an invitation to sign up for your newsletter. Maybe it asks them to volunteer. Perhaps it suggests signing up for a membership. Whatever it says, your goal with the pop-up is to start a long-term relationship between your ministry and the person visiting your website.

How to A/B Test Fundraising Pop-Ups

A good way to manage a pop-up campaign is by using “AB testing”. AB testing uses multiple different messages (typically two as suggested by its name), and showing them to portions of your audience. This enables you to get data on which of the messages is more effective in inspiring the action that you desire. A longer explanation of how AB testing works can be found here.

When you decide to use a pop-up on your website, it is very important to make sure that it will be relevant to your audience. Your popup will fall into one of three categories:

Successful call to action
Your visitor will take the action you desire.
White noise – your visitor will click the ‘close’ button and continue to your webpage.
Annoyance – your visitor will be annoyed with your message and close your website before going any further. This one is especially the case when your pop-up doesn’t have an easily identifiable way to close it without taking an action.

Best Practices for Nonprofit Website Pop-Ups

Pop-ups can be used well and greatly increase the number of people who take a desired action on your website. This is why AB testing can be so powerful… it will help you to have the best possible messaging in your pop-ups to inspire the desired response.

Looking for more articles about online fundraising? Try these:

Check out The Fundraiser’s Playbook for a full list of fundraising articles.

Would you like to learn more about raising money for Church and Ministry? Check out Letters From The Almoner, now available on Amazon.com.
Image courtesy of fdecomite, via Creative Commons License, some rights reserved.

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