{"id":6500,"date":"2023-03-03T21:38:17","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T05:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/nonprofit-blog\/?p=6500"},"modified":"2025-07-16T00:47:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T07:47:15","slug":"donation-tiers-to-boost-online-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/nonprofit-blog\/donation-tiers-to-boost-online-donations","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Donation Tiers or Giving Levels to Boost Online Donations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine Anna. She’s a thirty-something woman who works in an art gallery. She\u2019s always loved animals and spends a lot of time with her three dogs in the nearby park. During one of their walks, Anna saw an abandoned cat. She immediately acted, rushing the cat to the nearest animal shelter. The shelter had its hands full and didn’t have the resources to care for the cat, so Anna had to take the cat to a different one.<\/p>\n

That same evening, Anna couldn\u2019t stop thinking about what she saw at the shelter. Without sufficient resources, the shelter struggled to meet the needs of all the animals that needed care. Anna immediately went to their website to make a donation. She had initially planned to give $20 and then give again in the future. However, when she started filling in her information on the donation form<\/span><\/a>, she ended up giving $70.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

That was the suggested donation amount (also known as donation tier or giving level) \u2013 something many nonprofits miss on their online donation forms, which can really make a difference.<\/p>\n

In this article, we’ll discuss what giving levels are, why they work, and more.<\/p>\n

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What Are Donation Tiers and Why Do They Work?<\/h2>\n

Donation tiers (or giving levels) offer donors choices in the form of pre-determined amounts (e.g. $25, $50, $500). Rather than leaving a blank space for the donor to enter an amount, donation tiers provide benchmarks. They are essentially suggested levels of giving that allow donors to choose how much they should give.<\/p>\n

Next to each suggested amount, there is usually a description of what that amount will accomplish. These benchmarks can influence a donor\u2019s decision about how much to give.<\/p>\n

With Donorbox<\/a>, you can easily add suggested giving amounts along with a description of each amount to the donation form. You also have the option to set different amounts for one-time and recurring donations. This is a great fundraising strategy if you want to convert more one-time donors into recurring donors<\/a> by suggesting smaller recurring donation amounts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here’s a live example<\/a> that effectively shows how donation tiers work:<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Get Started with Donorbox<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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How to Set Donation Tiers? (Tips and Insights)<\/h2>\n
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1. Gather data<\/h3>\n

To set giving levels that are right for your organization, take into account your average gift size. What is the amount most of your donors give? If a large portion of your supporters gives gifts less than $20, don\u2019t have the lowest suggestion be $70.<\/p>\n

This works the other way around, too. If most of your donors make gifts of over $200, don\u2019t lead them into contributing less than they normally would by setting the highest donation level at $150.<\/p>\n

Knowing the average amount that your donors give can help you determine your lowest and your highest donation amount. You should have about four to six donation tiers in total. So do your research on your available donor and donation data accordingly.<\/p>\n

Donation tiers must be researched, realistic, and relevant to an organization and its goals in order to be effective. Donorbox lets you segment your donor<\/a> (shown below) and donation data stored in its database, and gather insights into donors’ giving abilities. This analysis will further help you add giving levels to your donation form.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"donor<\/p>\n

Donorbox Donor Management \u2013Learn More!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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2. Push, just a little<\/h3>\n

While it\u2019s important to avoid discouraging donors by suggesting an amount that\u2019s too high, you want to push the donation levels, as well as the suggested pre-selected donation amount, a little bit higher than your average gift size.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of the top 100 nonprofits used an approach that included 4-5 suggested donations paired with the option to enter a custom amount. Around half of these organizations highlighted a default suggested value (usually the 2nd or 3rd option).<\/p>\n

Lowest values<\/strong>: Most commonly $25-50<\/p>\n

Highest values:<\/strong> Most commonly $1000, but ranged from $250 to $5000<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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3. Include an \u201cOther Amount\u201d option<\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t forget to include an \u201cOther Amount\u201d<\/em> option.<\/p>\n

Giving your donors the opportunity to decide on their amount helps to avoid overwhelming with options. It also gives them the freedom to select an amount that isn’t suggested in the form, and that might work better for them \u2013 for whatever reason.<\/p>\n

On Donorbox, by default, custom donations are enabled (see an example<\/a> below). You also have the option to disable this on your form. But it is advisable to keep it as it is, so donors can give however they want.<\/p>\n

\"custom<\/p>\n

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4. Tie donation tiers to specific outcomes<\/h3>\n

Donation levels will work best if you tie them to specific outcomes.<\/p>\n

To each donation tier, add a sentence about what this donation will \u201cbuy\/provide\/supply.\u201d Five families with shelter? One week of school for one child? School supplies for 10 children for a month? Doing this makes these gifts more tangibly meaningful to the supporter. It can also encourage them to donate more when they see the impact<\/a> their dollars will have.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These, however, need to be honest representations of a donation\u2019s value to your organization\u2019s overall mission and long-term impact goals.<\/p>\n

Looking for some inspiration? Check how Mercy Partners<\/a> does this well on their\u00a0Donorbox-powered form:<\/p>\n

\"Mercy<\/p>\n

Create Giving Levels on Donorbox<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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5. Have your donation tiers \u201cmake sense<\/em>\u201d<\/h3>\n

The average giving amount shouldn\u2019t be the only thing informing your decision. For example, if your nonprofit\u2019s fundraising strategy targets first-time or lower-level donors, you might want to list dollar amounts from $20 to $100, working to elicit lower-level gifts.<\/p>\n

If, on the other hand, you\u2019re addressing higher-level donors, you might want to list amounts from $100 to $10,000, implying an expected donation of much larger sums.<\/p>\n

The donation tiers and the pre-selected amount will also depend on the fundraising campaign in question. For example, you might want to set up lower donation levels for a walk-a-thon<\/a> than for a gala fundraiser<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pro tip:<\/strong> You can also brainstorm donation tier names for your nonprofit \u2013 don\u2019t be afraid to get creative! Just as importantly, don\u2019t go crazy or spend too much time on this!\u00a0 Donation tier names can add to the experience, but they are not the most crucial factor in your fundraising success.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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6. Suggest recurring donations<\/h3>\n

Donor retention rate is one of the most important\u00a0metrics<\/a> for a nonprofit.\u00a0Recurring donors are incredibly valuable to nonprofits. Not only do most donations trickle in from existing donors, but acquiring new donors is always more costly than cultivating existing ones.<\/p>\n

While there are numerous best practices for boosting donor retention rates, one of the easiest is to offer recurring donations as an option on your donation page. When you offer recurring donations on your giving form, you not only make it easier for donors to give again and again (boosting your retention rate) but, on average, donations increase.<\/p>\n

Very few donors will log back on to donate every month, which is why automating the process makes all the difference.<\/p>\n

With Donorbox Recurring Donations<\/a>, you can add daily, weekly, biweekly, 1st and 15th, monthly, quarterly, and yearly intervals to your donation form. You can set your default and recommended intervals, which helps boost your chances of converting more donors. It’s also very easy for your donors to use \u2013 their donations will be automatically deducted at the chosen interval. But, they also get their own donor accounts where they can manage their recurring plans (pause, resume, upgrade, or cancel) and download donation receipts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See how Bethel’s Heavenly Hands<\/a> has indicated “Monthly” as their preferred interval on their Donorbox form:<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

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7. Use the right fundraising software<\/h3>\n

You might have read through the article and seen plenty of examples so far, ending up getting excited about trying to use donation tiers in your own donation forms!<\/p>\n

Only then\u2026<\/p>\n

You found out you can\u2019t adjust or edit your current donation forms. Frustrating!<\/p>\n

Choose an online donation platform<\/a> that lets you customize your forms, add in donation tiers, prompt for recurring giving, and more.<\/p>\n

Donorbox is a powerful and efficient fundraising platform that will help you fully customize your donation forms with recurring donations, giving levels, and more.<\/p>\n

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  • Add multiple recurring donation intervals and let recurring donors have access to their accounts.<\/li>\n
  • Add custom giving amounts and add impact details for each, thus creating effective giving levels on your donation forms.<\/li>\n
  • Donation forms meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) at level AA, and they are optimized to function well on all devices.<\/li>\n
  • Add multiple options like donation designations, tribute donations, company donation matching widget, and more to boost donations.<\/li>\n
  • Collect donor information and have Donorbox store data securely in its database.<\/li>\n
  • Accept digital wallet payments with PayPal, Venmo, Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc. via Donorbox UltraSwift\u2122 Pay<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  • Create unlimited fundraising pages and forms as well as use advanced fundraising tools like Crowdfunding, Peer-to-Peer, Events, Memberships, and more.<\/li>\n
  • Let one-time donors save their precious information and log in to their accounts later to use QuickDonate \u2122<\/a> to repeat their donation to your campaigns.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Ready to get started? Watch this video to learn the four simple steps and read this step-by-step guide<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n