In addition to my freelancing, I work full-time for a major non-profit.  Often times, I'm presented with (or sometimes, I conjure up) ideas about how to use the web and social media outlets to increase donations.  Recently, a colleague/friend challenged me with the idea of developing what she called a "Donation Shopping Cart" that allowed donors to choose from various options, tally an amount, and submit the donation through our donation servers.

I've become somewhat obsessive about how to improve tools and approaches on this front, so while this isn't necessarily a design post, you'll probably see more of this flavor of posts here in the coming days.

This was a fantastic idea.  She showed me some local versions of this that other organizations had tried, and most were poorly executed from a technical and/or an aesthetic perspective.

So I set to work and designed a simple, intutive interface that she placed on their local website (http://www.keepthebellringing.org).  It allows users to hover over (or tap, for tablets) an item and adjust the quantity.  It has some beautiful photos and allows the user to get a feel for how effective their donaton can really be.

We've seen major increases the average gift size as a result and I think it's directly attributable to the tangibility that the shopping cart presents for users.  When donors can see that their $50 donation will purchase a winter coat for a child, and that for $10 more they can "purchase" a toy, it has a powerful effect.

Think about it:  as a parent, if your high-schooler came to you and said, "I need $20" and had no report on what this was going to be used for, you'd likely be hesitant.  But if they said, "I need $20 because today is the last day that I can pay the deposit for my yearbook," suddenly (as one colleague put it), it becomes a higher-priority.  The same is true for donors - when they can see exactly what their money is going to be used for, they're more likely to part with their money, and to part with more of it, on average.

This is particularly helpful for non-profits focused on social service, many of whom are struggling to keep up with demand for their help.

As an added bonus, I was able to create a Facebook Page Tab vaiant of the Shopping Cart which you can see here.  I'll be working over the next couple of months to make similar tools available to a wider audience!