Is your online donation journey ready for a sudden spotlight?

A practical checklist for charities preparing for a surge in attention

A television appearance. A news story. A celebrity sharing your appeal. A social post that reaches far beyond your usual audience.

Suddenly, more people are looking at your charity, and some will be ready to give. Can they find the right page and complete their donation while that motivation is fresh?

You cannot always predict when the spotlight will arrive. But you can prepare the route from first interest to completed gift. Use this checklist to spot the gaps before your next busy moment.

1. Can people quickly find where to donate?

Someone arriving after seeing your charity in the news may land on your homepage, a story or your social profile. Check each route.

• Make your Donate button easy to spot on desktop and mobile.
• Add a clear donation link to relevant news stories and campaign pages.
• Check social profile links, pinned posts and QR codes lead to a current, relevant page.
• Have a short, memorable web address ready for broadcast or print coverage.

Try this: ask someone unfamiliar with your website to find the appeal on their phone. Where do they hesitate?

2. Does the page connect with what brought them there?

If someone has just heard about a particular appeal, the donation page should immediately help them recognise it.

• Carry the story, imagery and key message through to the donation journey.
• Explain what their support could help achieve, using accurate impact examples.
• Include any donation amount mentioned in the appeal among the suggested options.
• Keep a clear option to choose another amount.

Try this: Prepare a reusable campaign page in advance so your team can adapt it quickly when an opportunity arises.

3. Have you tested the whole journey on a phone?

Checking a desktop preview is a useful start. Completing the journey on a real phone tells you much more.

Try this: Start where a supporter would start, rather than opening the donation form directly. Use an agreed test process for any payment checks.

4. Can supporters pay in a familiar way?

Someone inspired to give may not have a payment card to hand. Make the available options clear.

• Offer appropriate choices, such as cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal.
• Check wallets appear and work on supported devices and browsers.
• Make one-off and monthly options easy to distinguish.
• Check that an unsuccessful payment gives the supporter a clear way to continue.

Try this: Keep the donation payment choice as broad as possible. If not possible, keep the donation payment process straightforward.

5. Are you asking only what you need?

A sudden influx of visitors is a good reason to review how much work you ask donors to do.

• Review every field: is it needed to process or manage this gift?
• Show extra questions only when they are relevant.
• Consider moving optional feedback or attribution questions to the thank-you page.
• Keep Gift Aid and communication preferences easy to understand.

Try this: If you already know someone has arrived through a specific appeal link, consider whether asking which appeal prompted them really does add useful information.

6. Will a first-time visitor feel confident giving?

New visitors may know little about your charity beyond the story they have just seen.

• Keep your charity’s branding recognisable throughout the journey.
• Explain clearly which appeal or work the donation supports.
• Make contact details and privacy information easy to find.
• Check readable text, colour contrast, form labels and keyboard navigation.

Try this: Ask a colleague who has not worked on the campaign to review the page with fresh eyes.

7. Can your website and donation platform handle the surge?

The route to the donation form needs to keep working when attention peaks.

• Ask your website and donation providers how they handle sudden increases in demand.
• Flag planned media appearances or major campaign moments in advance.
• Check page speed, including on a mobile connection, and reduce unnecessarily large images or video.
• Agree who monitors availability and who to contact if something fails.

Try this: Keep an approved direct donation link ready for your team to share if the main website develops a problem.

8. Are you tracking completed gifts alongside traffic?

More visitors can be encouraging. To understand the fundraising result, follow what happens next.

Try this: Agree what your conversion rate measures: website visit to gift, or donation journey start to gift. Keep that definition consistent. Record new regular giving instructions separately from money already received.

Compare web analytics with donation records, allowing for tracking gaps. Someone who hears about you on television may later search for your charity, so attribution will not tell the whole story.

9. Does the thank-you feel like part of the appeal?

For a new donor, this may be the beginning of their relationship with your charity.

• Check the confirmation page and email accurately explain the outcome.
• Reflect the appeal they supported and thank them warmly.
• Confirm that gift details and communication preferences reach the right systems.
• Plan a relevant follow-up showing what their support helped make possible.

An optional invitation to share the appeal or consider regular giving can follow a clear, prominent thank-you.

Start with one complete journey

Before your next campaign, put a short review in the diary with colleagues from fundraising, communications and digital. Follow a real supporter route from the first link through to confirmation, then check the records behind it.

Give each issue an owner and a deadline. Repeat the check after significant changes, and review what happened after any traffic surge so the next opportunity benefits from what you learned.

Want help getting your donation journey ready for its next busy moment? goDonate’s platform is built to naturally optimise and handle spikes. Talk to the goDonate team: hello@godonate.digital