I didn’t become a fundraiser on purpose. Like so many of you, I woke up one day with “raise the money” added to the corner of my job description, as if it were a simple box to check. What followed was my impact-report-fake phase: long hours, chronic pain, and a lot of “I’ve got this!” energy covering a constant hustle.
Then something shifted. I trained as an executive coach, dove into behavioral design, and started applying what I was learning about brains, bodies, and behavior to fundraising. I went from 50-hour weeks to 25, and our revenue more than tripled. Most importantly, fundraising began to feel different. I stopped treating it like convincing and started treating it like what it really is:
Great fundraising isn’t an ask, it’s an offer.
It’s an invitation into a story donors already want to be part of.
In this blog, I’ll show you how to turn that belief into practice—on your donation page. We’ll look at the three levers that drive every gift, how small tweaks in flow and story create trust, and the quick wins you can implement this week to see results. By the end, you’ll have a roadmap to design giving experiences that feel human, seamless, and inspiring—so generosity becomes easier for both you and your donors
If you’ve been to my trainings, you’ve seen BJ Fogg’s Behavior Model: Motivation + Ability + Prompt. People act when all three converge in a moment.
Most teams try to solve every conversion problem by rewriting copy (Motivation). But many “low conversion” issues are actually Prompt (unclear CTA) or Ability (too many fields, clunky payment flow). In a world where we’re pinged 47,000 times a day, the smallest snag breaks the moment. Your donation page must meet donors at the exact second they’re ready, especially on mobile, and say: You belong here. Here’s the next step.
A donor reads your email about belonging and community… then lands on a page that asks them to “Continue as Guest.” Mixed messages create friction. Consistency across email → social → landing page creates critical trust that inspires giving.
During a recent webinar, Scott Cross from iDonate shared two data points I can’t stop thinking about:
Those wins are the compound interest of small, behavior-savvy choices.
Storytelling works because it moves us biochemically: we attend to the challenge (a little cortisol), then open into care and connection (oxytocin). Your giving moment lives right there, at the turn from concern to care.
How to reflect that arc on the page:
And keep the emotional promise continuous. Whatever your email is promising, the landing or donation page should feel the same, not like someone accidentally ended up on the wrong website.
Quick exercise: have you ever learned a new term and then suddenly seen it everywhere? That’s your brain building a fresh mental “bucket,” which then catches future signals. In campaigns, we can create this effect by teaching one unforgettable, sticky truth donors can’t unsee. When their world repeatedly reflects that truth back, the environment helps prompt giving, long after your email.
Add a single, vivid “can’t-unsee” fact, image, or micro-story to your page copy. Done right, it keeps reinforcing your cause between touches—and makes your CTA feel timely instead of pushy.
You’re busy. It’s end-of-year. Let’s get you leverage.
I often say: good fundraising is the work. You’re building movements, not just meeting budgets. That’s why your tools matter. With iDonate, the behavioral science we talk about becomes practical: mobile-ready design, clear CTAs, flexible payments, optimized gift arrays, pop-up forms, social proof, and the ability to keep your message consistent end-to-end.
When your offer is strong and the path is smooth, donors don’t have to fight through friction to express their values.
If you want to go deeper into all of the content we shared here, watch our webinar: Show Don’t Tell: Crafting Donation Pages that Inspire Action and Maximize Giving. Fill out this brief form to get access to the webinar.
We’ll dig into Motivation–Ability–Prompt, map the donor’s emotional journey, and share quick, proven fixes you can deploy before end-of-year—without a full website overhaul.
iDonate is one of the fundraising tools that makes those Ability and Prompt pieces ridiculously doable: clean, mobile-first flows, flexible payment options, optimized gift arrays, and clear CTAs that stay consistent with your campaign. When those foundations are right, your copy can actually work.
The story you’re telling is already powerful, let’s make sure your donation page tells it, too.