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Slow Websites = Fast Way to Lose Donations
Rev. Rachel McDonald
When I worship with a congregation, I want to give an offering. I rarely have cash on me, so this means I’m often looking for an online giving page on my phone during the service. But sometimes, I’m still sitting in the pew waiting for the donate page to load and the worship service has moved on. I put my phone away and promise I’ll look it up when I get home - but I can forget to do that.
I’m not the only one deterred by slow website. Google has found the probability of bounce increases 32% as page load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds. This means that rather than waiting two seconds, people will click away from a website if it’s not responsive enough.
Thankfully, there are simple ways to make sure websites, and donation pages in particular, are easy to use. The tool PageSpeed Insights allows you to put in any URL and receive data about how functional the website is. Using this tool, you can get recommendations to resize images, add alt text, remove third party, avoid large layout shifts, and more.
If the technical pieces are overwhelming, simply take time to try to use the donate page yourself. Take a look yourself and see if your donation page adheres to the following guidelines. A donation page should:
Explain why to give
Be easy to read
Contain compelling visuals
Give one-time and recurring options
Have an accurate gift acknowledgement
And of course, the website should load quickly! An easy-to-use website can ensure that people’s generosity can find a home. To read more and see examples of thoughtful giving pages see this guide from Double the Donation.
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