Optimizing the Donor Checkout Process to Increase Donation Conversion.
CONTEXT & OPPORTUNITY
CanadaHelps’ mission is to make donating easy and accessible for all Canadians.
However, the existing giving basket experience introduces unnecessary friction at a critical moment in the donation journey, particularly for donors who want to support multiple charities in a single session.
Today, donors are forced to leave their current context to view or manage their giving basket, disrupting momentum and increasing the risk of drop-off. This friction directly impacts conversion rates, average donation value, and multi-charity giving, key drivers of platform impact.
INSIGHT & VALIDATION
User behavior and qualitative feedback highlighted a consistent pattern:
- Donors experience disruption immediately after clicking “Continue to Complete Donation”, when they are redirected away from their current context
- Adding a second charity requires abandoning the giving basket entirely, creating confusion and cognitive load
- These moments disproportionately affect high-intent donors—those most likely to give more or give to multiple charities
Competitive analysis reinforced this opportunity. Leading e-commerce platforms (e.g., Shopify-powered sites, Amazon, Kotn) reduce friction by keeping users in context with lightweight, accessible cart previews, patterns notably absent in the existing donation experience.
PRODUCT STRATEGY
We reframed the giving basket as a conversion and trust lever, not just a transactional step.
The strategy focused on three principles:
- Maintain context: Allow donors to review and manage their basket without leaving the page
- Support multi-charity giving: Enable easy discovery and addition of charities directly from the basket
Optimize for accessibility and mobile: Ensure usability across devices and assistive technologies.
SOLUTION DIRECTION
Several alternatives were evaluated
The slide-in basket preview was selected as the best balance of visibility, accessibility, mobile responsiveness, and minimal disruption, aligning donor expectations with proven interaction patterns.
Additionally, the “Continue to Complete Donation” action was reframed to add donations to the basket, rather than redirecting donors away from their current flow, thereby preserving momentum and reducing interruption.
Preserving donor focus and momentum, and making multi-charity giving intuitive.
Preserving donor focus and momentum, and making multi-charity giving intuitive.
OUTCOME & IMPACT
This initiative established clear success indicators aligned to business outcomes:
This case demonstrates how small, focused experiences at high-intent moments can unlock an outsized impact. By treating the giving basket as a strategic product surface, not just a checkout step, we aligned donor needs, accessibility standards, and conversion goals.
My approach is to identify friction at moments of highest intent, apply proven patterns thoughtfully, and design solutions that scale both impact and trust across the platform.
