Donations at Checkout on Shopify: Best Practices

In this article, we’ll cover the following:

• The importance of highlighting your charity partnership and donation or round up opportunities at checkout  at the beginning of the Shopify shopping journey.
• Maintaining visibility of your charity throughout the customer’s Shopify shopping experience.
• Ensuring consistent messaging about your charity partnership during the Shopify checkout process.

Strategies to boost donations to drive higher conversion

If you’ve correctly aligned your customer personas with a charity (see Step 1 and Step 2 of Ecommerce Master Class), you’ve set the stage for a significant increase in conversion rates by partnering with a charity that resonates with your audience.

However, effectively communicating this partnership throughout the entire Shopify shopping experience is key to maximizing conversions.

When your Shopify store business supports a charity that aligns with your customers' values, they are more likely to:

1. Convert at higher rates.
2. Purchase more frequently and in larger quantities.
3. Stay loyal to your brand longer.

1. Enforce visibility from the outset

The first impression matters. Your charity partnership should be visible as soon as a visitor lands on your Shopify-enabled site.

Take, for example, a typical ecommerce Shopify-enabled site’s navigation bar. 

Many brands list categories like “New Arrivals,” “Outerwear,” or “Shoes,” but neglect to highlight their charitable partnerships upfront—even when they’re working with multiple charities. 

Imagine a brand with millions of monthly visitors and significant online revenue that is missing the chance to showcase its charity alignment right from the homepage.

A simple clickable element like “We support [Charity Name/Logo]” on your main navigation can instantly capture attention, engage visitors, and inspire them to explore how your brand contributes to meaningful charities.

Pro Tip: Add an option for users to hover over the charity logo to see more information about the charity, such as a brief mission statement. 

However, avoid making the logo directly clickable to the charity’s webShopify-enabled site—you don’t want to risk visitors navigating away before making a purchase.

2. Maintain charity visibility throughout the Shopify shopping experience

To truly optimize conversions, it’s essential to keep your charity partnership front and center throughout the Shopify shopping journey.

Reinforce your charity alignment

Keep a consistent banner or message that highlights your charity relationship as shoppers browse. Display the charity logo prominently in the header or navigation bar to remind customers of your commitment to the charity.

Match charities to customer personas

For best results, align the charities you highlight with the specific customer segments you’re targeting. For example, if your store sells both men’s and women’s running shoes, dynamically adjust the featured charity to better resonate with each audience.

Women’s shoes could highlight a charity like Free to Run, which focuses on empowering girls and young women through sports. Conversely, men’s products might be paired with a charity like Band of Runners, which aligns with male athletes.

By thoughtfully pairing charities with customer personas, you enhance engagement and boost conversion rates—all while supporting the charities you care about.

3. Have consistent messaging during Shopify checkout

The Shopify checkout process is the final, crucial step where you can reinforce your commitment to your chosen charity. 

Considering the average cart abandonment rate is nearly 70%, ensuring your charity message is visible throughout Shopify checkout can help reduce drop-offs.

Highlight your charity at every step

Keep the charity logo and message visible throughout the Shopify checkout process to maintain the emotional connection that drove customers to this point. 

Emphasize that their purchase supports the charity, encouraging them to complete the transaction.

Promote donations or round-ups at checkout on Shopify

Make it easy for customers to donate to your chosen charity at checkout on Shopify. Clearly display options for them to add a donation amount, and ensure the messaging aligns with the charity they care about. 

4. Experiment with charities and strategies

Partnering with a charity does more than just elevate your brand’s image; it can also positively impact key metrics such as conversion rates, average order value (AOV), and customer lifetime value (LTV).

Invest in your charity partnerships

When our business actively contributes to the charities you feature, whether through matching donation or round-ups or allocating a percentage of sales, it signals a deeper commitment to the charity. This, in turn, strengthens customer loyalty and boosts engagement.

Test different donation strategies

Experiment with various donation or round-up methods to find what works best for your audience. Strategies like matching donations or donating a portion of each sale often lead to increased conversion rates that outweigh the costs.

Summary

By implementing these best practices—highlighting your charity partnerships early, reinforcing them throughout the Shopify shopping experience, and keeping the message consistent through Shopify checkout—you’ll not only improve conversion rates but also drive more support for your partnered charities. It’s a win-win scenario that benefits both your business and the charities you support.