Warning: kvetching about to commence.

Long story short, I am working on a web site which asks people to donate money to charities that fight hunger.

I thought this would be a simple thing. I have seen Pay Pal donate icons, and EBay We Give icons, and I thought I that I could just use them within the site somehow to direct money to my non-profit of choice . . . silly rabbit, tricks are for bids. Go, I dare you, and read the rules, directions, etc. for these giving programs. It will give you a migraine.

Anyway, I decided to link directly to the charitable sites. It's amazing . . . how many humanitarian sites set up barriers to our generousity.

Yet, isn't the objective of most of their visitors to give? And, if not, isn't it still the site's responsibility to make sure we can donate from each and every page if the urge strikes us? That when we make the decision to be generous, the donate link is right there.

We all know charities need money. We aren't offended when they ask for money. We expect them to ask for money. We understand. The best fund raising sites make doing the right thing synonamous with doing the easy thing. Because even the best intentions often have a short half-life.

I reviewed organizations at Charity Navigator and then went to a few sites that rated highly. I wanted to link directly to Donate pages: sometimes it took as many as four clicks to get there, some donation forms had thirty or more fields to fill out, some didn't look official or secure, some didn't even have the name or logo of the charity visible. All these factors made me want to think twice and cool my jets vs. enter my credit card number and push Submit.

I want my donors to be confident that I am sending them (and their money) to a safe, reputable site and ensure that their "giving experience" is relatively pleasant and satisfying.

So in the end my criteria were:

• a four star rating at Charity Navigator
• a short, secure donation form
• resonable default values for suggested donations (fewer fields and error avoidance)
• and a fast confirmation process (positive feedback upon completion)
  

Serious and sincere text and photos that broke my heart were less easily measured influences.

Because the window of generousity is often small, I choose sites that waxed the paths of least resistance. I don't want my donors to change their minds. I don't want my donors to be confused, frustrated, interupted, distracted, or suspicious - I want my donors to Donate Now.

*By the way the two charities I choose were:
Feed the Children and World Vision, based on the criteria above. How about rewarding a good cause for practicing good usability?