You’ve just signed yourself up for an epic personal challenge that you hope will let you raise lots of money for your favourite charity. What’s the first thing you do? After an initial celebratory dance, you’ll probably log onto your laptop to set up a donations page.

Donation pages are the easiest and quickest way to fundraise online. You can ask friends and family to donate to your cause by sending them the link to your page. You might also have some generous strangers come across your page and make donations. They’re a great way to update your donors on your fundraising progress and thank them for all their support.

But which direct donation platform should you use for your challenge?

There are so many to choose from! It can be confusing to know which one is best for your needs. We love to help with all things fundraising, so we’ve looked through all of the donation platforms out there. Read on to find out which donation page you should be using and how to get the most benefit out of it.

Direct Donation Platforms: Reviews

Navigate through which direct donation platform is best for your cause, needs and budget.

We recommend JustGiving and Crowdrise as the best options if you’re looking for online fundraising platforms with plenty of features and no cost to you.

Are you taking advantage of GiftAid? GiftAid is a UK tax incentive that means you can claim an extra 25p from the government for every £1 you raise. So ask your supporters to tick the GiftAid option if they’re a UK taxpayer and you’ll raise even more for your cause.

Direct Donation Platforms: Top Tips

Once you’ve decided which platform to start using, it’s time to crack on and create your page. Most direct donation platforms are easy to use and will guide you through the set up process. They even have customer support available who can help you if you’re having any problems (check their websites using the links above to see who to get in touch with).

No matter which platform you choose, there are some best practice rules that apply to all fundraising pages. Follow these top tips and maximise your online donations.

1. Fill in your whole profile. Make sure that you complete every section of the online profile that you can. Don’t forget to add a profile photo and some information about your cause and why you’re fundraising. Remember that anyone could come across the page online and be spurred to donate simply by reading what you’ve written. If you’ve got a heartwarming story about why you’re raising money, share it! Pages that are complete will get lots more donations than pages which look half-finished.
2. Send a thank you message to your supporters. It’s just as important to thank your donors as it is to get them to donate in the first place. Lots of fundraising pages let you send an appreciation message via email after someone has made a donation. Take advantage of this feature and send a personalised note of thanks. It will mean a lot to people to know they’ve made a difference to your fundraising.
3. Update your page regularly. Be sure to post status updates, photos and videos which show how you are getting on with your fundraising in the lead up to your challenge. People will want to know that you’re putting in the effort for the cause. Also, it will make them more likely to donate. If you’re training for a marathon and getting up at 5am for morning runs, share a bleary-eyed selfie to try and get a couple of extra donations (sympathy donations work!).
4. Share your fundraising page on social media (and ask others to do the same). The more that you share your fundraising page in different places, the more people will find out about it and want to donate to your cause. On average, each Facebook share of a fundraising page leads to at least a £5 donation. Also, ask your friends and family to share the page with their connections, so you can reach people outside of your own circle and get even more donations.

Raise even more money for your charity challenge using GoRaise

Did you know that you can use GoRaise to raise even more money for your chosen cause? It’s quick, easy to do, and most importantly could add hundreds of pounds to your fundraising total. Simply add details about your challenge to our website. Then ask all of your friends and family to do their online shopping via GoRaise. For every purchase made, the retailer will make a donation to your cause – at no extra cost to you!

You could even include the link to your GoRaise page in the information section of your online fundraising page, so that even more people can start donating to you when they shop online. GoRaise also integrates with some crowdfunding platforms, such as Virgin Money Giving, JustGiving and GoFundMe, so the funds you raise via GoRaise can be transferred straight to your online fundraising page.

Happy fundraising! Let us know if you have any questions about online fundraising pages or using GoRaise to add to your total – you can get in touch with us here.