Recent earthquake tragedies in both Haiti and Chile and the generous outpouring of support have put a spotlight on the challenges of collecting charitable donations effectively. A recent study by the Design and Usability Center at Bentley University, in partnership with UserZoom, shows that the degree of usability on organizations' websites varies greatly in relation to their incoming online donations.  In the online study conducted, 200 people were each directed to one of four major online donation sites and asked to find information about the organization and then to make an online donation using dummy data.  The results showed that finding even basic information was challenging on most sites.

All four sites performed well on the actual donation task, but survey participants had significant trouble finding background information on the organization to which they were donating. This experience was reflected by the fact that only 34% to 68% of the respondents felt that the websites were easy to use, depending on which site they used. For example, on one site only 35% of participants were able to learn how their donation would be spent in Haiti. Participants noted that when perusing the donation organization's website, they felt lost and uncertain - feelings that do not encourage potential donors to give. Complaints about the sites echoed generally common complaints about many e-Commerce sites: that they were too busy, that the navigation was cumbersome, and that the information they wanted was vague or hard to find.

The study found that organizations can increase the effectiveness of their online donation activity by following a few simple guidelines:

• Don't clutter the home page with too many messages. This makes it hard for users to know where to look.
• Don't bury key information. Unnecessary navigation will cause people to give up on the task.
• Don't add unnecessary steps to the online donation process such as offering a monthly donation option up front. This might make donors feel uncomfortable with a one-time donation.
• Do place key information for new donors on the home page, including the purpose of your organization, the focus of any special-purpose campaigns, and a clearly visible "Donate" button.
• Do make sure the donation process is clean and straightforward.
• Do provide clear information that gives your organization credibility such as the percentage of money that goes towards services, endorsements from established organizations such as Charity Navigator and the history of the organization.
• Do test your site to ensure that it is easy to use.

USERZOOM is an international software company specializing in Online User Experience and Usability research. We know that measuring online user experience has become a top priority for today's Managers and Marketeers. That's why we offer an on-demand web-based software solution which empowers User Experience and Marketing Professionals to cost-effectively manage and conduct online research projects.

THE DESIGN AND USABILITY CENTER (DUC) at Bentley University is a global user experience and usability research, evaluation, and design consulting group. We offer our clients user experience solutions based on a unique combination of in-depth industry expertise and scientific rigor.