DONATE buttons top and bottom? Yes!
File under: Email donate buttons
Top? Bottom? Both?
Your DONATE NOW button is a classic "call to action." It can also be the start of an emotional journey ... if the donor finds it.
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A copywriter recently asked what I thought of his latest e-appeal. He wrote: "If you have time, read the email and then go to the donate page, button at bottom. Any feedback would be awesome!"
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My initial response ... within 30 seconds
Well, Dear Friend, that's your first impalement: "button at bottom."
You've just lowered your chances of a gift. Many who open your e-mail won't scroll to the bottom. PS: yes, that's science.
The simple fix: a donate button at BOTH the top AND the bottom, according to Steven Screen, co-founder of The Better Fundraising Co. As you'll hear from Steven Screen on this quick video, that button at the top is a reader convenience. It acknowledges those who don't scroll all the way (the majority?). PPS: yes, attention to these seemingly tiny details will make a real difference to your results.
The wise and winning Julie Cooper screams this about donate buttons: "Upper right, big and bright!"
A bit more advice, from Advice Central (there's no such thing):
Better FR's strong (and well-tested) recommendation: "Ask for a ... gift [in your email's third short paragraph; something along the lines of] 'Will you please make an urgent gift of $33 to provide emergency housing assistance?' NOTE [as Better Fundraising cautions]: Most donors are not going to read past here, so you’ve already done everything you need to do to get a gift from a lot of people."
Here's an example of same, written by Morningside Ministries' star VP of Development Steve Herlich and sent on March 2020, as the pandemic-driven lockdown first hit the the ministry's elderly residents:
Dear Tom,
I don't normally send you emails like this, but these are urgent times.
The coronavirus is already taking a toll on the elderly through social isolation.
Will you please make an urgent gift of $32 to keep seniors connected during the quarantine?
The email continued for another 250 or so words, telling the story of Edith, a 79-year-old in assisted living. It explained in detail the sorely-needed technology upgrades this $22,000 campaign would buy. Then it reduced that total goal to just $32 per resident, an affordable amount that was echoed by the giving string on the landing page: "$32, $64, $96, $320, Other."
The same bold button appeared at the top AND bottom of Morningside's email.
Steve Erlich's appeal was a winner ... and fast. Within a couple of days, generous souls had fully funded this urgent campaign to offset the lockdown ordeal at Morningside's "senior living communities."
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Meet SMIT
This BOTH-top-and-bottom button advice obeys a well-worn comms tactic called the SMIT.
SMIT stands for the Single Most Important Thing I hope to speak with you about. It's a way to take many ideas and reduce them to one MAIN idea. It's a revered tactic in direct mail, usually credited to Australia's Jonathon Grapsas. Here's a thorough look at SMIT, written by Kathy Widenhouse, the mind behind Word Wise Tips.
My understanding of SMIT? Know what you really want from your target audience. And make that WANT crystal clear, early and repeatedly ... over and over, until reader patience doth us part.
I've written a successful acquisition appeal that shamelessly asked for the same response (a gift to a community hospital) 23 times in two pages. The words changed. The request was the same. That's a SMIT.
What's a SMIT in an email appeal? DONATE buttons, for one: top and bottom; maybe even in the middle.
Digital is primarily a clicker's medium. It's about ACTION. IMMEDIATE action. Give me something to DO!
Winning the 3-second test
I had one more thing to say to my copywriting friend about his appeal:
NEVER start an email with a paragraph that's 7 lines deep (as his did).
Start with a short sentence. Then a paragraph break.
Then another short sentence. Then a paragraph break.
You're luring readers in. Their brains are cold at the start. Warm those brains up ... slowly.
Yr constant pal and true believer and huge best wishes; fabulous luck with the back surgery that promises to change your life....
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Dear Reader: This is an excerpt from Tom Ahern’s e-newsletter. Did you miss crucial back issues of this how-to e-news? Immediately available! Just GO here. (And scroll down just a bit to sign up for Tom’s revenue-boosting tips and insights. In your inbox regularly. It’s free.)