I've been meaning to post this question for a while now. When we implemented a new Tess-driven website a year ago,we included an online donation page that integrated with Tessitura. However, we immediately noticed a big decrease in online giving (we had been using off-site donation engines before). We think that it had something to do with the requirement to login in order to make a donation. When we moved back to using the off-site engine, our online giving went back up.
I'm wondering if anybody has had similar experiences, and if anybody has implemented solutions and/or is looking for some.
Thanks!
Kirk MortensenDBA, TheatreWorks
We use Greater Giving online. We already have a relationship with them for our annual Gala, so it’s easy and cheap to add on their online donation/event registration tool. They email receipts and reports which we use to enter contributions into Tess. It adds complication with reconciling cash, as they have different deposit/withdrawal protocols than our primary processor, but it works.
The complaints we received had more to do with the idea of having to create an account and remember a login to make an online donation. They didn’t seem to expect to be able to store and re-use their cards like PayPal (or even to be able to pay using paypal), but that’s just anecdotal.
Kirk Mortensen
Database Administrator
TheatreWorks
From: Tessitura Web Forum [mailto:forums-tessitura-web@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Lilaia KairisSent: Monday, October 24, 2011 4:05 PMTo: Kirk MortensenSubject: Re: [Tessitura Web Forum] Donation Abandonment
Hi Kirk and Heather,
We're also concerned with streamlining our online donation process as much as possible.
Kirk, can I ask what "off-site donation engine" TheaterWorks used before that your donors preferred?
And to both of you, what part of the login or registration process did you get the most complaints about? Was it just having to select or remember a login and password? Or was it having to re-enter credit card and billing info rather than using a site where it was pre-stored (PayPal, Google Checkout) or having it charged directly to a phone bill?If anyone else wants to reply- please chime in!
Thanks,
Lilaia
New Victory Theater/ New 42nd Street
From: Heather Kraft <bounce-heatherlaidlawkraft3507@tessituranetwork.com>Sent: 10/21/2011 12:23:46 PM
Hey Kirk -
We've had some feedback from donors (especially lower end ones) that they don't want to have to create an account in order to donate as well. We're currently playing with the idea of 'automatically' creating an account if they don't want to create one (with a default login/password based off their info).
For now, we've found that adding some messaging has helped a little bit. This is our current messaging -
If you are not currently logged in to our website you will be asked to sign in or create an account before continuing to the checkout page. This is required in order to enter your billing information into our system and to be able to send you acknowledgments for tax purposes.
Not particularly elegant, but it is a band-aid for us and seems to have soothed the wild beasts a bit.
- Heather
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Ditto on what Kirk said. It was the thought of having to create a login/password. There is some sort of (strange) concept in many people's heads that if they don't create a login/password the company they are interacting with online doesn't store their info. (insert scoffing noise here)
So the idea is that if we bypass that or allow people to be a 'guest' and create a fake login/password we could get around that roadblock. It would possibly result in more duplicate accounts to deal with, but at this point, that seems to just be the way of the world.
HTH,
Heather
Is there going to be a fix in version 12 for this donation login?
Hi MJ,
This concept of "anonymous shopping" or "guest checkout" is currently available through the Tessitura API and some custom websites already take advantage of this functionality.
As you know, Tessitura offers a pre-built ecommerce solution called TN Express Web (TNEW) and as of March 10, 2014 TNEW announced version 5, which includes the ability to enable Guest Checkout. The TNEW path still collects the important billing information such as address & phone, but does not require the customer to add a password. This new Guest Checkout feature is optional.
To learn more about it, you can try out the v5 demo site at http://express.tessituranetwork.com and attend our v5 TNEW webinar on March 26, 2014 at 11:00 CDT.
Best,Karyn
Hi Karyn,
Can you tell me what API methods I should use for Guest Checkout?
Gloria