How Optimization, Accessibility, and Automation Drive Digital Fundraising Success

Digital fundraising doesn’t have to be a major overhaul to be effective. Sometimes, the most powerful shifts come from small but strategic changes, in simple refinements that make it easier for someone to give, stay engaged, or feel truly seen.

In the Doing Good Digital webinar series with Blackbaud, we focused on three critical areas where organizations can drive meaningful results:

• Optimization
• Accessibility
• Automation

Whether you’re streamlining your donation forms, improving email experiences, or building smarter donor journeys, every interaction is an opportunity to deepen connection and maximize impact.

Optimize What Matters: The Key to Higher-Converting Donation Forms

Your donation form is often the final hurdle between a motivated donor and a completed gift. Every second—and every field—counts.

Optimization starts with the user experience:

• Consider breaking your form into steps. Multi-step forms reduce cognitive overload and increase conversions, especially on mobile devices.
• Reduce required fields. Ask only for what is necessary to complete the gift. Fewer fields = lower abandonment rates.
• Brand the experience. A branded, visually cohesive form builds trust and reinforces recognition.

Optimize content to drive behavior using these approaches:

• Try urgency and scarcity messaging, like “only X donors needed” or countdown timers for matching gifts.
• Tell a visual story—show the faces behind your mission and tie each gift level to a tangible impact.
• Add social proof and trust indicators, including thermometer-style progress bars and third-party badges.

And don’t forget to test and measure. A/B testing tools allow you to see what actually drives conversions, not just what you think will work.

Make It Accessible: Inclusive Design Isn’t Just the Right Thing—It’s the Smart Thing

Did you know nearly 1 in 4 adults in the United States lives with a disability? Designing accessible donation experiences is not just ethical—it’s essential.

Make your donation forms more accessible:

• Maintain high color contrast between text and background.
• Use clear instructions and visible field labels (not just placeholders).
• Review required fields for necessity—and make sure screen readers can detect them with proper attributes like aria-required=”true.” ARIA indicates “Accessible Rich Internet Applications” which means user input is required on an element before a form can be successfully submitted.

Make your email campaigns more accessible:

• Use descriptive link text instead of “click here.”
• Ensure buttons are touch-friendly and built with live text—not images.
• Organize content with proper HTML heading structure (H1, H2, etc.).
• Always include alt text for images, and avoid all-image emails without live fallback text.

You can validate your work with tools like the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool for websites and Litmus Accessibility Checker for emails. These tools help identify issues before they impact your audience’s experience.

Automate With Purpose: Build Donor Journeys with Long-Term Value

Donors don’t want to be a name in a spreadsheet. They want to feel known, valued, and connected to your mission. That’s where automation comes in.

Thoughtful automation allows fundraisers to deliver consistent, personalized experiences at scale. And when done right, automation can strengthen relationships—not weaken them.

Begin automating natural touchpoints on the donor journey:

• Start with acquisition. Pairing lead magnets like activity books or downloadable resources with a new donor welcome series is a great first step.
• Nurture new donors. Schedule an automated welcome series that includes impact messaging, monthly giving prompts, or gamified content to earn badges or digital gifts.
• Segment intentionally. Trigger journeys based on gift amount, donor interest, or engagement signals (for example, clicking a planned giving link or downloading a specific resource).

Examples of high-performing automated journeys include:

• One-time to monthly upgrade
• Midlevel donor cultivation
• Reactivation of lapsed donors
• Recurring gift churn prevention
• Personalized touches for major donor prospects

Personalizing the donor’s experience doesn’t have to take much effort. Even one or two automated series—built around key moments—can transform the donor journey.

The Bottom Line: Start Small, Think Big

Fundraising teams are busy. Budgets are limited. But meaningful digital transformation doesn’t require massive resources. It just takes intention.

If you’re looking for a place to start, most organizations can prioritize the three areas that are usually ripe for improvement:

• Donation forms: Audit your donation form, making sure you’re using best practices and looking for friction or confusion.
• Email templates: Review your email templates for accessibility gaps.
• Donor touchpoints: Automate just one touchpoint that will make your donor feel recognized.

Fine-tuning how you optimize, automate, and make fundraising accessible can really make a difference, not just for your team, but also for the people who want to donate. Little improvements here and there will make giving easier, more inclusive, and more personal for everyone who supports your mission.