Essential menu items for your fundraising website

You'll never get a second chance to make a first impression. Besides your website's layout, your website menu is also very important for a good first impression. If your menu is not clear or if it lacks information, there's a chance that your donors will leave your page. 

First, a disclaimer before we start: your menu items don't need to have the same titles as written in this article. It's your website, be creative. As long as you provide all the necessary information and have a clear menu structure.

Basic menu items

Basic menu items are items that you need regardless of what type of fundraising platform you're using. 

• About us: Tell about your organisation, what you do and how you do it.
• Goal: Describe your goal. To what cause do your supporters contribute? What happens with the money raised? This doesn't have to be a separate item on your menu. You could put this information in the menu item About us and on your homepage of course.
• Contact: Make sure that everyone can reach you easily if they have questions. To make sure that you aren't answering phone calls and emails all day you can make the next menu item.
• Frequently asked questions (FAQ): Immerse yourself into your target audience and think about the questions they might have. Collect these questions and answer them. If you frequently notice an unanswered question during your campaign, add it to your FAQ page. You can answer questions about your project/organisation but also about online fundraising or donating.

Crowdfunding

• Back to basics: The crowdfunding platform is the easiest platform for online fundraising. The only goal is that your target audience makes a donation. If you have the basic menu items you'll have enough information to let your donors donate.

Peer to peer fundraising

In the case of peer to peer fundraising, you want your target audience to make a fundraiser for your organisation. People can do this individually or as a team.

• Start a fundraiser: Show your potential supporters how to start a fundraiser as an individual or as a team. 
• Tips: Help your supporters by giving them a few tips about how they can raise as many donations as possible.
• Toolbox: Make a "toolbox" for your supporters with tips about how they can promote their fundraiser. You can offer downloads like standard social media messages and emails for different moments.

Event fundraising

A lot of events cancelled because of the Covid-19 virus. A lot of events are moved to another date but there are other ways to raise money during this time. In the case of Event fundraising, you want someone to participate in an event and let them sponsor themselves for there participation.

•  Event information: This item is kind of self-explanatory. Tell about what your event is and what the goal of your event is. Also, put the general information about the event like regulations, location and starting time on the page.
• Sign up: People can participate on their own or as a team. Explains what the opportunities are if they want to participate. Add a sign up button as well.
• Sponsor tips: Show your participants the best way to get sponsors.
• Toolbox: Make a "toolbox" for participants with tips to help them gain more donations. You can also offer downloads.

We hope this article makes it a little easier for you to make a clear menu for your website.