An impact statement is, generally, a short comment that explains to donors the impact their gifts will have on the mission or focus of a campaign—or simply where their dollars will be used.
This article details the various places in the Qgiv system where you can add impact statements and offers some best practices for incorporating them into your donation forms.
Contents:
Why Impact Statements Are Important
Impact statements are a way to convey to donors the significance of their gifts. By being transparent with where their dollars will be used, you can reinforce the trust they have within your organization. When used effectively, they can increase giving, the likelihood a donor will give again, and make donors feel more connected to your cause. And impact statements don’t have to be text-based. A well-placed image can also visually demonstrate impact with a quick glance.
Keep in mind that impact statements should generally be short and to the point. You want donors to get the message quickly and proceed with their donations without overwhelming them with a long form.
Where Impact Statements Can Be Added in Qgiv
Standard donation forms offer many places where you can incorporate impact statements. If you’re using peer-to-peer or auctions in your fundraising strategy, you can add impact statements in similar places.
Pro tip: There are many places where you can show the significance a gift will make, but be cautious not to mention it in every place. Donors may become annoyed with the redundant message if it's always the same throughout the donor journey.
Donation Amounts
One of the most common places to incorporate impact statements is alongside donation amounts.
When configuring your amounts, you can add a name and/or description of the amount to tell donors exactly how much their gift will accomplish.
If a donor is unsure how much to give, providing impact here can help make their decision easier and guide them toward making a bigger impact.
You can also add images to your donation amounts so that you can visually show impact as well.
Here’s what a donation amount with a description and an image looks like on the donation form:
Restrictions
Similarly, if you’ve enabled restrictions on your donation form, you can add a description to display your impact statement as well.
If you’ve enabled Multi-Restriction Giving in the Donation Settings, you can also add images to restrictions to show visual impact.
Recurring Gifts Tab
An impact statement on the recurring gifts tab of your donation form encourages donors to upgrade their one-time gift by telling them what an ongoing gift means for your organization. This is a great way to add a call to action and focus on the impact their gift will make over time.
To add an impact statement on the recurring gifts tab, head to Form Builder.
Click the gear icon for the Choose Gift Settings widget and scroll down to Display Recurring Impact Statement.
You can turn the impact statement on or off using the checkbox and customize the text of the statement in this area.
The impact statement will display just below the donation amounts on the recurring tab of your donation form.
Pro tip: The recurring impact statement comes with some default copy, as shown below, but you’ll see a greater impact if you make the copy specific to your organization.
Recurring Upgrade Prompts
Another way to encourage one-time donors to make their gifts recurring is to enable an upgrade nudge or modal. Both of these areas offer an opportunity to incorporate an impact statement.
You can enable the nudge and modal in the Recurring Upgrade Prompts section of the form’s Donation Settings.
Configure the wording for these areas in Form Builder. The nudge wording can be adjusted on the Choose Gift page. The modal wording is on the Payment Details page in the Submit Button settings.
Nudge wording
Modal wording
The nudge will display just below the donation amounts on the one-time tab of your donation form.
The modal will appear just before a donor completes a one-time gift.
Matching Gifts
When you enable matching gifts, you give donors the opportunity to amplify their gift through their employer.
In Form Builder, you can include the impact that a match will have.
Custom Content Widget
The Custom Content widget in Form Builder can display formatted text, including custom HTML code.
If you’d like to include a longer impact statement, add the Custom Content widget wherever you like on your form or landing page!
Text Widget
Another way to add an impact statement is by adding custom text to your donation form with the Text widget.
Whereas the Custom Content widget can support formatted text and custom code, the Text widget is better suited for shorter strings of unformatted text.
Pro tip: You can add a Custom Content or Text widget to your form’s Confirmation page to include some thank-you messaging. Showing gratitude is important for donor retention, and you can use this as another opportunity to remind your donors what their support means to you.
Thermometer Widget Title
Including a thermometer on your form is a great way to inspire donors to help you reach a specific goal. Customizing the text of the widget’s title can remind donors of the goal and why it’s important.
Receipts
Don’t forget to thank your donors after they give! Receipts are another opportunity to show your gratitude and remind donors of their gift’s impact. You can customize your receipts even further by using Conditional Content. With Conditional Content, you can tailor your receipt’s messaging to donors’ actions.
For example, you can add content that will only appear to donors who opted to cover processing fees with GiftAssist or donors who gave to a particular restriction.
To learn more about using Conditional Content, check out this article.
We hope this article has been helpful! If you’d like to learn more about creating visual impact on your donation forms, check out this blog!
If you've had success incorporating impact statements in other areas of your fundraising, we'd love to hear about it! Share your tips in the User Community.