Not-for-profit marketing
Donation pages
that convert.
A good donation page is short, honest and quick on a phone. Only deductible gift recipients can say gifts are tax deductible, and the ATO encourages charities to be open about their DGR status. Since the $2 minimum was removed, gifts of any amount to a DGR can be deductible. Ask for less, offer monthly beside one-off, and make the thank-you page do some work.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.What the
ATO requires.
For a gift to be deductible it must go to a DGR, be truly voluntary, and give the donor no material benefit. Raffle tickets don't count, and neither does the cost of attending a fundraising dinner. Tax law has removed the $2 minimum, backdated to gifts from 1 July 2024.
A DGR doesn't have to issue receipts. If it does, the receipt must show the organisation's name, its ABN and that the payment is a gift. For disaster appeals, the ATO asks charities to state their DGR status in all fundraising materials, and it encourages every charity to be open about its status and point donors to ABN Lookup.
Suggested
amounts.
A field study of 683,910 visits to donation pages on a German giving platform found default amounts didn't change total giving. Donors bunched at the default, and the highest default put a few people off giving at all.
So pick amounts that make sense for your donors, tie each to what it does, and don't expect a higher default to lift the total on its own.
The
form.
No credible study on donation form length was found, so these are common practice rather than research:
- Ask only what you need to process the gift and send a receipt. Ask the rest after.
- Put monthly beside one-off, not on a separate page.
- Accept card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal. Many gifts come from a phone.
- Keep the page free of menus and links that lead away mid-gift.
- Show your ABN and link your ACNC register entry near the form.
Donate page grader
Would your donate page
pass a careful donor?
Tick what's true of your donate page today. The first two are ATO rules. The rest are what makes giving easy.
Score
0 / 8
Fix first
After
the gift.
The thank-you page and email are the start of the next gift. Say what the gift does, when the receipt arrives, and how they can help again. For DGRs, include small gifts in end-of-year statements: since the $2 threshold went, one accountant's blog warns many receipting systems still have a $2 floor.
Make monthly
the easy choice.
Monthly gifts are smaller but last longer, and they make planning possible. Offer monthly beside one-off with a sentence on what a regular gift makes possible, and let donors change or stop it themselves without having to ring. The National Fundraising Principles also expect you to say whether a gift is one-off or ongoing, and how to stop it.
After a one-off gift, the thank-you page is a good moment to suggest monthly. Ask once, gently, and don't block the receipt behind it.
What I see most often
What I see
most often.
- 1
Tax deductible, but not a DGR
'All gifts are tax deductible' on a site with no DGR status shown anywhere.
- 2
Monthly hidden away
Regular giving on a separate page few people find.
- 3
Forms that ask too much
Date of birth, title and how they heard about you, all required before the gift.
- 4
A thank-you page that ends there
Thanks, and nothing about what happens next.
The honest bit. A better page won't fix an appeal people don't care about. But a poor one can lose donors who already decided to give.
Questions
people ask.
What must a donation receipt include in Australia?
If a DGR issues one, it must show the organisation's name, ABN and that the payment is a gift. DGRs don't have to issue receipts.
Can I say donations are tax deductible?
Only if you're a deductible gift recipient. The ATO encourages charities to be open about their DGR status and point donors to ABN Lookup.
Is there a minimum donation for a tax deduction?
Not any more. Tax law removed the $2 minimum for gifts to DGRs, backdated to 1 July 2024.
Should donation forms have suggested amounts?
They shape what people give, but a large field study found defaults didn't change total giving. Tie each amount to what it does.
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